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“From having the old ones, these have a better fit and easier ventilation in case you warm up too much,” said Spc. Jon Erik "Ollie" Olivarez. “I feel like they are a little bit warmer.”
“Definitely a better system.”
The “old ones” referred to here, are actually the Army’s current Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System, seven levels of clothing “designed to maintain adequate environmental protection between +40ºF and -60º F,” according to a publication from The U.S. Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center titled USE AND CARE OF THE EXTENDED COLD WEATHER CLOTHING SYSTEM (ECWCS), and dated 1987.
It's been more than 30 years since that document was published, and in early December of 2023, Olivarez, of B Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division, found himself in the wide expanse of Donnelly Training Area, Alaska. He was there participating in exercise Wolf Valkyrie, a brigade-level training exercise during which temperatures regularly dipped below zero, and Olivarez and the rest of 1st Brigade’s soldiers continued to test the Army’s newest seven-layer system: the prototype Cold Temperature and Arctic Protection System.
Now in their second winter of testing by thousands of soldiers across the division, the Arctic Angels of the 11th are continuing to push the limits of the system to give the Army informed feedback on what a new cold-weather clothing system needs to be able to do to survive in the Arctic. A mission that was laid out in the Army’s 2021 document, Regaining Arctic Dominance.
One part of that strategy spells out the need for improved readiness of units in the Arctic and also lays out one very specific task: “The Army must provide equipment for Arctic-capable formations able to operate at extreme temperatures, down to -65o F for multiple days at a time.”
That task became a priority with the reactivation of the 11th in June of 2022, and then- Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. James McConville’s order to equip the division for their mission of mastering the Arctic.
However, as Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commanding general of the 11th, noted during a presentation called “Developments in the Arctic” at 2023’s Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition, there is a truth about trying to operate in the Arctic.
“If you sweat, you die,” he said.
Since June 2022, more than 10,000 Arctic Angels have been equipped with the CTAPS, and while some of the pieces look nearly identical to the Army’s legacy ECWCS, that’s where the similarities end.
“The intent of CTAPS was to be a completely new, built-from-the-ground-up, integrated clothing system leveraging state of the art materials,” said Maj. Ryan Ogden, assistant product manager for the extreme weather clothing and equipment portfolio at PEO Soldier. “The design features and improvements came directly from soldier surveys, focus groups, and collaborating with Arctic Warfare SME s and Instructors, such as the Army Mountain Warfare School and the Northern Warfare Training Center.”
Nowhere is the innovation clearer than the CTAPS Prototype Extreme Cold Weather Parka, which takes the place of the ECWCS level 7 parka.
The new jacket comes with a host of features seen on leading commercial outdoor gear, and details built for surviving the Arctic: Aerogel insulation, an exterior treated with durable water repellant, and multiple exterior pockets.
There are also smaller, more bespoke details, like oversized zipper pulls for use with gloves and increased ventilation, that are appreciated by soldiers like Olivarez who need to survive, fight, and win in temperatures as low as 65 below zero.
“The best part is probably how the hood works,” he said. “I’m able to tighten down the crown so it stays secure either on your head, or on your helmet.”
“And the pockets,” he continued. “wide pockets in the front so you can keep extra gloves, and pockets on the inside to keep your contact gloves, so they’re closer to the body and more warm.”
With Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 24-02 approaching in February, the CTAPS may be in for its toughest test yet: A force on force fight across more than 500,000 acres of training area in the interior of Alaska, where temperatures historically average near zero.
But it’s part of the mission of mastering the Arctic, and as Command Sgt. Maj. Vern Daley said at AUSA earlier this year, the pursuit of that mission not only improves equipment for the Army, it improves its warfighters.
“We believe we produce a better soldier up north, just to be frank,” he said to the crowd. “Because they have to be.”
| Date Taken: | 01.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.31.2023 18:59 |
| Story ID: | 461159 |
| Location: | ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 498 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, CTAPS Enters Second Winter of Testing with 11th Airborne Division, by SFC Michael Sword, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
