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April 13, 2006
Look sharp, Marine, but not if it kills ya
According to an article at Military.com, Marines in the sandbox have been ordered to stop wearing commercially manufactured, non-military issue sportswear, for the best reason possible: it can kill them.
Camp Taqaddum, Iraq - Under direction of Marine Corps commanders in Iraq, wearing synthetic athletic clothing containing polyester and nylon has been prohibited while conducting operations off of forward operating bases and camps.
The ban on popular clothing from companies like Under Armour, CoolMax and Nike comes in the wake of concerns that a substantial burn risk is associated with wearing clothing made with these synthetic materials.
When exposed to extreme heat and flames, clothing containing some synthetic materials like polyester will melt and can fuse to the skin. This essentially creates a second skin and can lead to horrific, disfiguring burns, said Navy Capt. Lynn E. Welling, the 1st Marine Logistics Group head surgeon.
Whether on foot patrol or conducting a supply convoy while riding in an armored truck, everyone is at risk to such injuries while outside the wire.
“Burns can kill you and they’re horribly disfiguring. If you’re throwing (a melted synthetic material) on top of a burn, basically you have a bad burn with a bunch of plastic melting into your skin and that’s not how you want to go home to your family,” said Welling.
According to Tension Technology International, a company that specializes in synthetic fibers, most man made fabrics, such as nylon, acrylic or polyester will melt when ignited and produce a hot, sticky, melted substance causing extremely severe burns.
For these reasons, Marines have been limited to wearing clothing made with these materials only while on the relatively safe forward operating bases and camps where encounters with fires and explosions are relatively low.
[...]
This point was driven home recently at a military medical facility located at Camp Ramadi, a U.S. military base on the outskirts of the city of Ramadi, arguably one of the most dangerous cities in Iraq.
“We had a Marine with significant burn injuries covering around 70 percent of his body,” said Cmdr. Joseph F. Rappold, the officer in charge of the medical unit at the base.
The Marine was injured when the armored vehicle he was riding in struck an improvised explosive device, or IED, causing his polyester shirt to melt to his skin. Even though he was wearing his protective vest Navy doctors still had to cut the melted undergarment from his torso.
His injuries would not have been as severe had he not been wearing a polyester shirt, said Rappold.
For years servicemembers with jobs that put then at a high risk of flame exposure, such as pilots and explosive ordnance disposal personnel, were kept from wearing polyester materials because of the extra burn threat. Now, with so many encounters with IED explosions, the Marines are extending this ban to everyone going “outside the wire.”The camouflage utility uniforms are designed to turn to ash and blow away after the material is burned, but the burn hazard is still present, said Welling, who recommends wearing 100% cotton clothing while on missions.
This tracks with what the U.S. military learned from the Brits' experiences during the Falkland Islands War, back in '82. Argentina successfully hit Royal Navy warships with French-made Exocet missiles; the subsequent fires proved unecessarily deadly to the English sailors, as a result of their polyester uniforms.
In the years since World War 2, synthetic wonder fabrics had become poplular with Western militaries; cotton and wool wrinkled easily, and the troops always looked sharp in their polyester duds. But, as in Iraq, the well-creased and always-pressed uniforms had a distressing way of melting onto and then fusing into the sailors' skin.
As a result, the U.S. Navy -- the branch with which I have the most familiarity -- decreed that wool and cotton would be the only materials authorized for shipboard wear. The Navy said that cotton could be pulled off -- even when burning; it wouldn't stick to skin, making the burns much less serious.
As an aside, it's always a bad idea to wear synthetics when flying commercially, for the same reason. Cotton, leather, and for Pete's sake, closed-toe shoes.
Anyhow, it's nice to see that the military is taking a common-sense step to ensure that the Marines are learning from the past to prevent future casualties.
Posted by Mike Lief at April 13, 2006 12:27 AM
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Comments
Unfortunately, synthetics work better than cotton and wool at all the things a Marine needs his clothing to do: Keep him warm when it's cold, keep him cool when he's hot, keep him dry when it's wet, and reduce friction.
Synthetics are lighter in weight, lower in bulk, and generally more durable. So Marines will continue to use them, opting for some measure of comfort and convenience in the face of what they will perceive as a relatively low risk of burns.
And what Marine will see a burn as being worse than a piece of shrapnel in the brain?
Posted by: LT at April 13, 2006 09:27 AM
LT
Read the whole article; Marines are good at following orders, and this move to ditch the synthetics is not a suggestion.
The Marines are getting the word out that IEDs can melt the clothing, and most of the grunts probably fear burns more than most other kinds of injuries -- shrapnel included.
Any Marines out there care to comment?
Posted by: Mike Lief at April 13, 2006 12:33 PM
Yah I'll comment.
Any Marine in my unit caught wearing one of those faggety tight t-shirts will get his ass PTed into the ground, if not beat.
Being cold and hot is part of being a Marine, and if you can't do it without looking like a goddam fairy, then do it in the Army.
Synthetics my ass.
Posted by: Gunny at April 14, 2006 10:38 AM