Captain Michael Greene, a weapons and sensors officer for Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224, checks connections on his Joint Protective Air Crew Ensemble before practicing entering an aircraft with the new gear Tuesday.Photo by: Cpl. Justin Eckersley



from Marine Corps News

Story by Cpl. Anthony Guas


MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, SC (Dec. 9, 2005) -- Fifteen Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224 aircrew are testing a new flight suit designed to protect them from chemical and biological contamination.

The new suit, which is called the Joint Protective Air Crew Ensemble, was designed to replace the chemical protective undergarment currently worn underneath the flight suit.

The Joint Protective Aircrew Ensemble is a program managed under the Joint Service Materiel Group Individual Protection Commodity Area according to the Naval Sea Systems Command Web site, www.dcfp.navy.mil/cbrd/ip/jpace.htm.

The Navy is the lead service for development of an ensemble providing chemical and biological protection for all service aircrews, including those in both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft, according to the Web site.

“The Marine Corps has been using a variation of aviation NBC gear for many years,” said CWO3 Steven Dancer, the Marine Aircraft Group 31 NBC defense officer. “This new suit has a lesser impact on the pilot and keeps the logistical burden down.”

The new suit has increased biological and chemical agent protection, flame protection and shelf/service life. Additionally, the heat stress from wearing the suit has been decreased.

“A lot of the users got together to better the suit,” said Dana Thompson, a chemical individual protective equipment analyst contracted from the Air Force Operational Testing Evaluation Center. “The main issues were to decrease thermal burden and to make it a one piece suit.”

The project began in 1999 and is currently in the operational phase, according to Thompson. The Bengals’ aircrews will wear the flight suit for a couple of months, to test their durability.

“The suits are supposed to be worn 480 hours and only laundered four times (during the test),” Dancer said. “They are also supposed to last 16 hours after contamination.”

In a threat, the new suits will take less time to put on, according to Dancer. Unlike MOPP gear, these suits can be worn during flight, thus freeing the pilots of the burden of having to carry around extra gear.

“The new suit is more versatile,” said Capt. Michael Greene, a VMFA(AW)-224 weapons and sensors officer. “It is not so bulky and designed better for flight.”

The Bengals feel privileged that they have the chance to test the suits and provide feedback that will make it better for other service members.

“It’s good that someone actually listened to our critique and developed something different,” Greene said. “I think that it’s great the squadron has the opportunity to help in the development.”

After the testing has concluded, the data will be compiled, and submitted for review. The milestone decision authority will use the Bengals’ feedback to help them decide if these new suits will be purchased.

“If there are no problems then they will vote to keep them,” Dancer said. “They should be out to the fleet by FY07.”

So far, the Joint Protective Air Crew Ensemble has been tested for about 50 hours and according to the Bengals, the aircrews prefer the new suit since it provides more protection and is more comfortable.

SECURITY PROCEDURES — U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dale Herrman, right, assigned to Bravo Company, 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, 155th Brigade Combat Team, describes to Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Abeyta the procedures to escort a group of Iraqis, who operate the dump trucks at the north gate of Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Dec. 6, 2005. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Michael J. O'Brien

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraqi Government Announces Election Curfew
Iraq to Close All Borders During Elections
Suicide Bombing in Kandahar Wounds Three

Operation Enduring Freedom
al-Qaida Leader Praises Taliban Attacks
New Afghan Parliament Members Gather

Welcome Home!
3,000 Texas National Guardsmen Return From Iraq

Fox News
Richard Pryor Dies at 65
Reverse Thrusters Didn't Kick In Before Midway Accident
Former Sen. Eugene McCarthy Dies at 89- Video: McCarthy Dies
Reggie Bush Wins Heisman
Brazilians Guilty of Killing Nun
Judge Tells Vioxx Jurors to Keep Deliberating
Hawaiians Begin Search for King's Time Capsule
White House TestsReadiness for Bird Flu- Video: Pandemic Preparation
Airline Tragedy (Nigeria)
Explosion Rocks London Suburb Fuel Depot
SPORTS NEWS AND SCORES

Reuters: Top News
Vioxx jury to resume deliberations Monday
Battle ready
Airline M&A to be fed by hedge funds: USAir CEO
Iraq hostage deadline passes
Families seek bodies of Nigeria plane crash victims Video
Protesters denounce WTO at Hong Kong rallies
Reaction to remarks on Israel surprises Iran
Iran parl't approves fourth oil minister nominee
UN talks set road map for Kyoto beyond 2012

AP World News
Commander Held in Chinese Villager Deaths
Iran Invites U.S. to Bid on Power Plant
Poland Orders Probe Into Alleged CIA Jails
Israel Won't Rule Out Strike Against Iran
Thousands Protest Against WTO in Hong Kong
China Says Toxin Levels in River Falling
Brazilians Convicted of Killing U.S. Nun
Egypt: 26 Percent Turnout in Elections
Nobel Winner ElBaradei: Nuke Risk Remains
U.N. Climate Talks End With Pivotal Deal
Syria Slows Sanctions Momentum at U.N.
Russian Rally Marks Dissident Anniversary

Military.com
Violence Mounts Before Elections
Pentagon has 'Plenty of Investment Dollars'
Marine Barracks Helps Wounded

CENTCOM: News Releases
IRAQ: U.S. PATROL FINDS MUNITIONS CACHE ALONG SIDE OF ROAD

Department of Defense
Iraqis Have Lead in Election Security - Story
Forces Deal With Different Enemy in Anbar - Story
Six U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq; Munitions Found - Story
Iraqis Capture, Prosecute, Convict Terrorists - Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Group Sends Holiday Gifts to Troops - Story

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Bush: U.S. Has Solid Strategy
Terrorists Aim to Sway U.S., Media
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (pdf)
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (pdf)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Technology Helps Send Greetings
Course Improves EOD Training
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army Casualties - Story

Today in History
0384 - St. Damasus I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1572 - Spanish troops begin siege of Haarlem
1620 - 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock
1688 - King James II arrested
1710 - Battle of Villa Viciosa (France beat Habsburgers)
1718 - Battle at Frederikshall Norway
1719 - 1st recorded display of Aurora Borealis in US (New England)
1792 - France's King Louis XVI went on trial, accused of treason
1816 - Citizens of Geneva thwart Savoyard invaders; Indiana becomes the 19th US state
1844 - 1st dental use of nitrous oxide, Hartford, CT
1872 - 1st Black US Governor took office, Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback (Louisiana)
1882 - Boston's Bijou Theatre, 1st American playhouse lit exclusively by electricity, gives its 1st performance, Gilbert & Sullivan's "Iolanthe"
1893 - 11 fishing ships wash up at Wadden Sea, 22 killed
1899 - 2nd defeat of "Black Week" - Battle of Magersfontein - Boer leader Cronjé vs General Methuen
1901 - Marconi sends 1st transatlantic radio signal, Cornwall to Newfoundland
1903 - British forces under MacDonald & Young march into Tibet
1906 - US President Roosevelt attacks abuses in the Congo
1909 - Colored moving pictures demonstrated at Madison Square Garden, New York NY
1916 - David Lloyd George forms British war government
1917 - 13 black soldiers hanged for alleged participation in Houston riot; German-occupied Lithuania proclaims independence from Russia
1919 - Boll weevil monument dedicated in Enterprise AL
1928 - Buenos Aires police thwart an attempt on President-elect Herbert Hoover
1930 - Bank of the United States opens in New York NY
1931 - British Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Newfoundland; Japan leaves the Golden Standard
1937 - Italy withdraws from League of Nations
1939 - New anti Jewish measurements in Poland, proclaimed
1940 - Russian General Zhukov warns of German assault
1941 - Germany & Italy declare war on US; Japanese occupy Guam; Dutch government in London declares war on Italy; Japanese attack Wake Island (only failed WWII-landing)
1942 - Australian/Dutch guerrilla troops evacuated to Timor near Australia
1944 - Surprise attack on House of Keeping Axe, 29 prisoners freed
1945 - Het Parool publishes 1st Captain Rob-strip
1946 - UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) established (Nobel 1965); Spain suspended from UN
1951 - Joe Dimaggio announces his baseball retirement
1953 - KTVA TV channel 11 in Anchorage (CBS) becomes Alaska's 1st TV station
1954 - USS Forrestal christened in Newport News VA
1956 - Anti-Russian demonstrates in Stettin & Wroclaw Poland
1958 - Upper Volta (now Bourkina Fasso) gains autonomy from France; 4th (last) Dutch government of Drees falls
1960 - Black Sunday - Riot in Algiers, 114 die
1961 - Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes, in Israel; JFK provides US military helicopters & crews to South Vietnam; SST prototype "Concorde" 1st shown (France)
1967 - 6.5 earthquake in West India, 170 killed; People's front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) established
1969 - Libya adopts constitution
1972 - Astronauts Cernan & Harrison become 11th & 12th on the Moon
1973 - West German chancellor Willy Brandt normalizes trade with Czechoslovakia
1978 - 6 masked men bound 10 employees at Lufthansa cargo area at New York Kennedy Airport & made off with $5.8 million in cash & jewelry
1979 - Great Britain grants independence to Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)
1981 - Spacelab I arrives at Kennedy Space Center; UN Security Council chose Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru as 5th Secretary-General; Argentine President/General Roberto Viola flees
1983 - 1st visit to Lutheran church by a pope (John Paul II in Rome)
1984 - Mauretania military coup under Colonel Maawiya Ould Sid'ahmed Taya
1985 - Computer store owner in Sacramento CA killed by package bomb
1986 - South Africa censors press
1990 - 13 die in 83 vehicle accident in Chattanooga TN (I-75), due to fog; US 69th manned space mission STS 35 (Columbia 11) returns from space
1991 - William Kennedy Smith found not guilty of rape
1992 - Nor'easter storm hits New York, doing $650 million+ worth of damage
1993 - Eduardo Frei elected President of Chile
1994 - Russian troops pull inside Tsjetsjenië
1997 - Federal judge orders Microsoft not to bundle IE4 in Windows

Birthdays
1475 - Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici), Pope (1513-21)
1781 - Sir David Brewster, Scottish physicist/inventor (kaleidoscope)
1797 - Hiram Paulding. Union Rear-Admiral
1835 - Adolf Stoecker, German anti semite/PM
1836 - Jan Boissevain, Dutch politician/ship owner
1863 - Annie Jump Cannon, US stellar spectroscopist (Harvard-classification)
1882 - Fiorello La Guardia (Mayor-NY, 1933-45)
1911 - Nagib Machfus, Egyptian writer (Nobel 1988)
1936 - Hans van den Broek, Dutch foreign minister (-1992)
1937 - Adrian J. Vlok, South African NP-minister of Law & Order (1986- )
1939 - Tom Hayden, 60's activist/Mr Jane Fonda/(Representative-CA)
1941 - Max Baucus (Senator-MT)

Passings
0711 - Justitianus II, emperor of Byzantium, dies at about 42
1282 - Llywelyn ab Gruffydd, monarch of North Wales (1246-77); Michael VIII Paleologus, Byzantine emperor (1259-82)
1573 - Alardus/Eilard de Waterlant. duke of Alva, hanged
1582 - Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, marquis of Soria, dies at about 75
1595 - Philip III van Croij, prince of Chimay/general, dies at 69
1610 - Forges Dimitri, czar of Russia, murdered
1686 - Louis II Condé, duke of Bourbon, dies at 65
1718 - Charles XII, King of Sweden (1697-1718), shot dead
1756 - Theodor A. Freiherr von Neuhoff, German adventurer/king
1899 - Andrew "Andy" Wauchope, British general-major, dies in battle; Lord Winchester British marquis/major, dies in battle
1994 - Stanislaw Maczek Polish/British general-major (WWII), dies at 102; Yao Yilin, Vice PM of China (1979)
1996 - Robert Bromston Thesiger Daniell, soldier, dies at 95; W.G.G. Duncan-Smith, fighter pilot, dies at 82

Reported Missing in Action
1964
Tadios, Leonard M., US Army (HI); DIC March, 1966

1965
Horsky, Robert Milvoy, USAF (IA); C123K shot down, remains recovered June, 1974

McKnight, George Parker, USAF (LA); C123K shot down, remains recovered June, 1974

Salinas, Mercedes Perez, USAF (TX); C123K shot down, remains recovered June, 1974

Stewart, Donald David, USAF (NC); C123K shot down, remains returned June, 1974

1966
Alfred, Gerald O., Jr., USAF (WA); F4C shot down, possibly ejected at sea

1968
Galbraith, Russell D., USAF (OH); RF4C shot down