Last spring, when the top Marine commander in Iraq banned sweat-wicking T-shirts from outside-the-wire use, it was an unwelcome bit of news at the beginning of a hot summer.
At the time, Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer, commander of the forward element of I Marine Expeditionary Force, banned the use of commercially available shirts such as Under Armour, because the sweat-wicking synthetic material that made them so cool and comfortable was also putting Marines at risk. Some leathernecks, after being hit by roadside bombs, suffered even worse injuries because the shirts, when burned, were melting to their skin.
Officials with Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., have developed what they are calling Flame-Resistant Operational Gear, or FROG. By the end of April, Marines in Iraq will be outfitted with the gear, which includes a long-sleeve undershirt, gloves, balaclava and a set of combat blouse and trousers that will replace their combat utility uniform.
The undershirt and the camouflage shirt that goes over it are sweat-wicking. So FROG gear is safer, and it’s more comfortable.
And it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Much in the same way that Marines during the 2003 Iraq invasion wore different levels of chemical and biological protection based on the assumed threat, leathernecks — when this gear is fully fielded — will wear different FROG elements based on the threat. So, on a given day, a commander can tell his men to wear “FROG 1,” meaning the balaclava, undershirt and gloves, with the standard combat utility uniform over it. The following day, if they don’t need it, they won’t wear it.
Safer, more comfortable and heading to the war zone next month. Hard to argue with that.
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