Then And Now

Modern body armour adds to the already enormous loads for modern soldiers. 

Modern Soldiers Heavy Equipment -
Means Men Need Help Getting Up.

With weapons, food, batteries and other gear, US infantry in Iraq and Afghanistan sometimes carried as much as 100lbs (45 kg) of kit while on foot patrols, and although some improvements in body armour technology such as the introduction of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), may eventually reduce the weight, its still a real bulky weight.

Similarly the issue of the rifleman's loads have been an issue for the British Army going back well into the Victorian period ..... In a British Army report in 1864, it was stated that the British Infantry man carried 60lbs (27 kg) including clothing and 3 days rations, but bearing in mind the relative smallness of the average soldier at that time, it was nearly double their body weight.

By 1945 the War Office said that 46lbs (21 kg) of equipment etc should be carried for fighting order, and 63lbs for marching order ... by 1951 it was thought the ideal equipment weight should be one third body weight, but this was only aspirational, as shown by the fact that by 1964 (Borneo conflict), it had risen to 80lbs (37 kg) for a rifleman, a figure which remained the case in the Falklands, in 1982.

Jane’s Defence. reported that in 2010, British infantry soldiers, Paras and Royal Marines are regularly hauling equipment weighing about 140lb (63.5 kg), which is nearly twice as much as the packs 'yomped' by soldiers in the Falklands 28 years ago which were around 80lb (37 kg). As a result it said that they were suffering from an unprecedented number of ankle and spinal injuries because of the incredible weights they had to carry.

According to the Ministry of Defence, British infantry soldiers were carrying around 145lb (65 kg), 20lb (9 kg) more than their US counterparts in Afghanistan:

• This comprised of basic sustainment and survivability kit (57lb, 25.8 kg), the typical rifleman also carried 57lb (25.8 kg) of “lethality” equipment, including ammunition, hand grenades and two mortar bombs.
• Thermal weapon sights and other surveillance and target acquisition equipment raised this by 5.5lb (2.5 kg) plus the the Osprey body armour system, which weighs 20Ib (9 kg), and helmet.
• Company commanders also had to carry extra communication equipment, and light machine gunners .... plus many soldiers carried even more 'extra' rifle ammunition (who could blame them).

Because of conditions in Afghanistan (no secure supply lines, and heat), they also carried 5 litres of water and even cans of oil. Foot patrols also carried heavy jamming devices, aimed at blocking all mobile signals and preventing the remote controlled detonation of roadside bombs.

The United States forces had also seen a marked increase in “load bearing” injuries, and so the British MoD announced new measures, which would see the average weight of kit reduced by 27.5lb (12.5 kg) when fully implemented. The British Army’s new VIRTUS Load Carrying System was introduced in the effort to reduce weight .... but as far as I could determine, by 2017 the total load weighed 63.9 kg (141lb), divided as follows:

• Assault Order, including VIRTUS system with body armour (4.99 kg ), CBRN kit (4.71 kg), rifle and 4 magazines: 31.5 kg.
• Patrol Order, including more clothing, belted MG ammunition, etc: 16.26 kg.
• Marching Order, including more rations, sleeping bag, shelter etc: 16.17 kg.

Since the average weight of a British soldier is around 70 kg (154lb), that means that he (or she) will be carrying very nearly their own weight when in Marching Order, and still nearly 48 kg (105lb) in Patrol Order.

Roman Heavy Infantry and Equipment

However, two thousand years ago, things weren't so different for the premier military force of the day .... the Roman Legionaries. Heavy infantry Roman troops around 21 AD had to march around 30,000 paces (22 miles or 36 kilometres) marches in full battle kit.

This full kit consisted of body armour (heavier chain mail or lighter segmented armour), a gladius (sword), a scutum (shield), and two pilum (spears). This gear weighed upwards of 44 pounds (20 kg). To add to that weight, troops also carried a sarcina (backpack - often on a long cross pole called a 'furca'), which as well as personal items, such as spare clothes and hygiene equipment etc, also contained fifteen days cold rations, plus had attached a spade, saw, pickaxe and small wicker basket (for soil moving or other uses), when building a marching camp each night. With the addition of the back-pack and accoutrements, it could easily reach 100lbs (45kg) of kit all in marching order.

Its strange that after two millennia, there is so little difference in top armies expectation of a soldiers burden. Historically about 70lbs (32 kg) has always been considered a decent load range, but the average infantryman can carry more on long marches ('yomping' in British Paratroop parlance). 

However, during battle, when troops need to move faster, it's always expected that troops would drop their backpacks to lessen the load for fighting but this can mean being separated from ammunition, water, field dressings etc ... all of which can be life threatening.

Its this fear of being left without the necessities of combat that means that every effort to lighten  the soldiers burden result in nothing happening .... soldiers will stock up with everything that they fear that they may need in a combat zone.