Operation Helmet

August 29th, 2006

There are plenty of troop-support groups out there, all doing good work. We like to think the Hobbit Hole is one of them. However, one group I’ve come across stands above our own efforts, head-and-shoulders, literally.

The group is Operation Helmet.

Their mission is to pass the word about a major improvement to the kevlar helmet now used by the US military. The breakthrough, in this case, is an upgrade kit that replaces the 50-year-old-design suspension system inside the helmet with a set of special foam pads held in place with velcro.

The pad system is standard on the new Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH). However, upgrade kits are available for earlier versions of kevlar helmets. The pad system provides significantly improved protection against blunt-force trauma, and increased comfort for the wearer.

This is very much a good-news-bad-news situation. The good news is that the pads work, and the government has already purchased almost a million of them over the last two years, at a cost of about $100 each. $100 is cheap insurance against fatal or crippling brain injuries.

The bad news is that not all helmets have been upgraded, and many of the troops, and their commanders, are unaware of the existence of these pads. Or they have no mechanism for getting them.

Operation Helmet provides extensive links to medical and technical data, and even links showing how to install and fit the pads. It also has a link where people can donate money to purchase helmet pads for a particular servicemember, or just donate to their general fund.

I could go on about the great work Operation Helmet does, but Doc Bob, the retired Navy flight surgeon who founded the group, does a better job than I could ever do.

While we welcome all visitors to the Hobbit Hole, Operation Helmet is doing such vital work that we would be remiss in our duty of supporting the troops if we didn’t help give them all the publicity we can.

Entry Filed under: General, Troop support