I've seen pix of what's supposed to be Challenger Crews on the move to Basra. My question is, they don't seem to being wearing body armor? Did they, and if the did, any pix of the type? THANK YOU in advance!

Matt

Matt hard to answer without seeing the evidence, are we talking GW 1 or 2?, reason i ask about the photo is it makes the yes or no answer easy, you could have a situation were the rules say you must do this, but at some point crews may take a break and not do this, if you see what I mean.

Body armour was available and if you recall in GW1 the RTR Sgt killed because he had lent his to someone else due to shortages.


Bob G

Matt, If you Google Challenger 2 Basra you'll see evidence of both and there is pictures of some crew members wearing and there oppos not. They type of body armour worn is the older pre osprey with a single small plate front and back in temperate DPM.
Regards

Stuart

Sorry I didn't specify, but I was asking about GW2. And I've found pix of both wearing and not. I was wondering if there was a space issue with the body armor making it tight inside the vehicle. I mean I know in a tank space is at a premium...

Thanks again!

Matt

Hi Matt,

Although I haven't seen the pictures you may find that during the first early days crews may not have worn the issued Combat Body Armour - CBA this was a soft armour with added ballistic plates. When we where deployed to Bosnia there had been supply issues and my set was on the small side, I found it easier to wear under my Windproof Smock than over it!

CBA was issued but the early Osprey was in short supply (see the news reports) and this is likely to have been body armour in question. CBA is quite close fitting think of it as a body warmer unlike the later Osprey which is quite bulky. Soldiers the world over will often make decisions based on risk versus comfort and less about what they should and shouldn't wear. Although recently things have changed as there is a need to reduce the risk of injuries.

Regards

Brian

First In Last Out - Follow the Sapper!

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."

That's the answer to what I was asking...

Thanks to everybody for the help it is appreciated!

Matt