Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor | An 82nd Airborne Division soldier has his head fitted for an Advanced Combat Helmet...... read more read more
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Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - 1st Sgt. Gabriel Harvey was only expecting to pick up new pair of boots and few other items when he showed up at Fort Bragg's Rapid Fielding Initiative facility.
Instead, he became the main attraction at a media event.
Harvey, First Sergeant of B Co, 407th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, was recognized as the 750,000th soldier to receive an RFI kit containing the latest individual Army equipment when he completed an RFI draw with his company Sep. 21.
Harvey was greeted by the Army General in charge of the RFI program and received a plaque in honor of the milestone.
"It's very exciting to know that 750,000 soldiers have received this equipment. It's comforting to know that (the Army) getting this equipment out as quickly as possible to the soldiers going off to combat," Harvey said.
The RFI program was established in 2003 to deliver technologically advanced equipment that meets the ever-changing demands of the modern battlefield into the hands of Soldiers as quickly as possible, said Brig. Gen. Mark Brown, head of the Fort Belvoir, Va.-based Program Executive Office Soldier, which directs RFI operations.
RFI kits currently consist of 84 individual and small unit equipment items that enhance soldiers' combat effectiveness and improve their quality of life in the field. The equipment includes: Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment, which allows soldiers to adjust their loads to tailor mission requirements; Advanced Combat Helmets, which are lighter, tougher, and more comfortable than traditional Kevlar helmets; Ballistic Spectacles, which offer improved eye protection; and advanced, silk-weight cold weather gear.
The "menu" of RFI equipment is constantly being adjusted to meet the needs of Soldiers in combat, Brown said.
"We're never done. We are continuously modernizing equipment every day from the lessons we learn from the battlefield and we're constantly incorporating those lessons into the equipment," he said.
Soldiers may receive multiple RFI issues in order to ensure the equipment they have is the most up-to-date. This was Harvey's second RFI draw. This time, he was issued cold weather gear, new boots, a hydration system, and an improved first aid kit.
Knowing they have the latest and greatest equipment has to offer is a combat multiplier for him and his troops, Harvey said.
"We feel we're the best trained soldiers in the world. But it just makes us more comfortable knowing we also have the best equipment in the world when we deploy," he said.
| Date Taken: | 09.21.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 09.22.2006 09:16 |
| Story ID: | 7804 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 531 |
| Downloads: | 172 |
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