Do modern day soldiers always carry the 100 to 120 lbs of stuff - P-vest, weapons, ammo, radios, ruck, extra ammo into the fight?

SFC Ralph E Kelley — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 08:30:58 -0400

One of the things we did during my tenure (early 70s to early 90s) was we would cache, under security, our rucks before moving to a recon area, ambush site or attack objective. We carried on our bodys only our fighting gear to the fight. Total weight was between 30 and 40 pounds.
We had the old flak jackets but they were something we wore in the vehicles. The majority of the Scout Sgts I knew left them in the rear - we didn't ever wear steelpots or flak jackets on patrols, because we would break contact if compromised.
Do you not do that now? If not maybe a re-look at that technique.

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Sep 30 at 2018 8:33 AM

SFC Ralph E Kelley — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 08:33:59 -0400

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Sep 30 at 2018 8:57 AM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 08:57:47 -0400

I don't believe all of them do.

Response by LCpl Donald Faucett made Sep 30 at 2018 9:17 AM

LCpl Donald Faucett — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 09:17:23 -0400

Crossing the Forward Edge of Battlefield Area. FEBA, with essentials.

Response by Cpl Glynis Sakowicz made Sep 30 at 2018 9:28 AM

Cpl Glynis Sakowicz — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 09:28:42 -0400

And try telling the VA that there really is a service incurred injury when your knees and back are in constant pain years later...

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Sep 30 at 2018 10:35 AM

MCPO Roger Collins — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 10:35:44 -0400

That makes sense, also answers one question about women in combat. What about risk of being separated from your full ruck?

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 30 at 2018 11:20 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 11:20:25 -0400

Carrying a lot of water these days, at least in Afghanistan. That's a good 30 lbs right there.
That and IOTV, ammo, batteries... adds up in a hurry.

Response by SPC Casey Ashfield made Sep 30 at 2018 11:46 AM

SPC Casey Ashfield — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 11:46:56 -0400

I didn't do a single mission carrying a full rucksack. If I did bring my full ruck, it was for when I needed lots of extra stuff. Extra ammo, more water (even though the truck had about 10 gallons of it) MREs, sleeping gear if the mission was more than a day. And the ruck stayed in the truck.

More often than not I carried an assault bag, either the issued one or the one I owned. All based on mission parameters. Sometimes it would stay in the truck, sometimes I would carry it. Again all based on mission parameters. I kept the essential gear on my plate carrier such as ammo, 3L of water (at least), first aid kit, night vision, M9. Had at least 1 set of extra batteries for everything electronic. My lightweight patrol setup was about 60 pounds with no pack.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Sep 30 at 2018 4:23 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 16:23:10 -0400

I was curious about the Roman soldiers: It's been estimated that a Legionary could carry anywhere from 66 lbs. (30 kgs) to over 100 lbs. (45 kgs) of gear and weapons.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 30 at 2018 4:59 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 16:59:27 -0400

Very well said, same here during the early 70's, even more lite with the LRRP or out on OP.

Response by SGT Philip Roncari made Sep 30 at 2018 5:38 PM

SGT Philip Roncari — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 17:38:02 -0400

Don’t really know what the youngsters hump today (more than we did back in Vietnam in the Sixties) but my unit had two and variations of them,one was the company movement upon leaving the LZ full rucks until operational objectives met,movement along our AOs ,company perimeter to company perimeter full rucks,patrolling from company perimeter weapons,ammo, water,C rats for one day rucks left with stay back platoon.

Response by SGT Matthew S. made Sep 30 at 2018 8:23 PM

SGT Matthew S. — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 20:23:59 -0400

My first deployment to Iraq (2003), we did a lot of foot patrols in Baghdad. The squad's M113 was left at the building we occupied, and we never carried a pack. Body armor & helmet, weapon, basic ammo load, water, and any extra sensitive items & extra batteries. I don't think we even had a manpac radio.

Second time around was route clearance patrols with half the Platoon at a time. When we went on cache searches or in pursuit of insurgents, one (maybe two) people carried a manpac radio (one of the smaller ASIPs), and everything else stayed in the vehicles. Other than that, no packs.

This may be an apples-to-oranges comparison, though, as I never did a multi-day operation on foot; everything was based from vehicles at worst.

Response by LTC Jeff Shearer made Oct 1 at 2018 7:11 AM

LTC Jeff Shearer — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 07:11:25 -0400

I have carried more than my share of 100+ lb rucks however caches were just part of business.

Response by Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth made Sep 11 at 2023 8:36 PM

Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:36:13 -0400

Carry the same type of atuff but it is made out of lighter materials...stull heavy though.