Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/901315
„existence load". Fighting bearing equipment, remaining elements of to be transported by possibility. During the Cold War, GI equipment, due to the possibility of a total war, was so extensive that "existence load" was divided into mandatory equipment that was carried in packs and into less important equipment to be transported only by vehicles and usually stored in a duffel bag. In order to enable comfortable portability of "existence load", two perfect ALICE field packs were developed at the turn of the 1960s and the 1970s. Despite the fact they were solutions born in the 1960s, they were and still are used in 21st century. They were not fully replaced by more modern products because of their simplicity and durability. HISTORY Carrying of the equipment is one of the basic problems faced by every army staffer. On one hand, as much equipment as possible should be carried, so that soldiers can conduct long-term missions with proper equipment and have at least the minimum convenience in field conditions. On the other hand, a large amount of equipment limits mobility due to the excessive burden. The search for balance between those issues resulted in various solutions. However, a unified backpack system was developed no sooner than in the 1970s. In practice, solutions used during WW II and later on in the Korean War appeared to be inconvenient and offered small volume. M1956 LBE provided only the minimum space for personal equipment carried in a butt pack and the possibility of strapping a sleeping bag or a poncho to suspenders. As a matter of fact, during the Vietnam War, two modern backpacks were developed - Lightweight Rucksack of 1961 and Tropical Rucksack of 1965- 1967. Both were produced mainly for the purposes of the conflict in SE Asia and have seen limited use. What is more, Lightweight Rucksack had a shifted center of gravity (as it was fixed to the bottom of the frame) while Tropical Rucksack was too small to be used as general-purpose pack in other areas of operations. The necessity of having better designed equipment was noticed, first of all, by the future chief of the LINCLOE program, Eldon C. Metzger, the designer of both early nylon packs. He thought that future load bearing systems must include backpacks in several sizes, so unit commanders could choose the method of transportation of equipment according to the mission requirement. Metzger spent a major part of his service in mountain infantry, so he had a different point of view than other decision-makers. He was the one who contributed to development of ALICE packs. Program LINCLOE LINCLOE (Lightweight Clothing and Equipment) was the R&D program focused on designing of new unified load bearing system. The bedrock for LINCLOE were formed by two earlier research programs – 1962 "Study to Reduce Load of the Combat Infantryman" and 1964 "Study to Conserve the Energy of the Combat Infantryman". In 1965, the US Army officially announced a request for lightweight equipment system (LINCLOE QMR - Quantitative equipment