Every time I hear some liberal Democrat ranting about our not providing enough armor to protect the troops I just shake my head and tell myself, that idiot's obviously never humped a ruck in combat. Hell, most combat infantrymen in my day didn't want to wear a steel helmet even though they knew it offered significant protection from head wounds. I wish I had a dollar for every time I had to say, "Put that steel pot on, soldier! Now!" I knew fellow NCO's who volunteered for Special Forces just because those guys never had to wear pots, even into combat. For an infantryman, who must carry not only the weapons, ammunition and communications gear with which to fight, but also the food, water and clothing to sustain his fighting ability for up to several days, everything has a weight to value ratio as well as a weight to mobility ratio. In Vietnam, every paratrooper in my battalion was issued a gas mask in a canvas, carrying bag. After several months in country, I was instructed by the...(Read Full Post)