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Initial Combat
Experience Yields Positive Feedback for Land Warrior
Soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division's 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry
Regiment, were the first to take Land
Warrior and Mounted
Warrior systems into combat. During the training and evaluation
at their home base, soldiers were critical about some of the
system's performance but after using them in combat they indicated
the system is working better in actual combat situations than
it did in testing.
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Sgt. Daniel
Garza, RECON Platoon Squad Leader who was also interviewed from
the field, was a skeptic when training with Land Warrior last
summer. But after six weeks in combat with Land Warrior, he
said, "If given the choice, I would not go outside the
wire without it." Sgt. Garza talked about using the Land
Warrior system during a recent raid: "I was able to see
where both my squads were, and we were able to see where the
target vehicles were." He said one of his complaints during
initial testing was about the weight of the system, about 10
pounds in a typical configuration. He said that he has "done
a 180 in terms of how I feel about the system." Enhanced
situational awareness is a payoff that more than offsets the
increased load. About the weight, he said, "After a while,
you don't even notice it."
Land Warrior addresses issues of confusion in close combat
situations and allows team leaders to see the locations of other
dismounted Soldiers and leaders as well as the enemy. Capt.
Mike Williams, Company A commander reaffirmed this role has
been fulfilled in combat "It provides a sense of comfort
in reducing the fratricide potential... Everyone knows where
everyone else is on the battlefield and everyone knows where
everyone else's direct fire is." Capt. Williams said the
system has proven "extremely reliable" in combat situations,
adding that it has held up in Iraq's extreme heat and desert
terrain.
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