Mannie Gentile: Combat Helmets of the 20th Century: 06/01/2024

Friday, June 28, 2024

United States PASGT (kevlar) helmet part II - Michigan National Guard

This is a continuation of my previous post on the PASGT helmet. Rather than repeat all of that information, kindly go to: https://combathelmets.blogspot.com/2024/06/united-states-pasgt-combat-helmet.html for the complete rundown of another PASGT helmet from my collection.

In 1985 I was working as a graphic artist at a typesetting company in Grand Rapids Michigan. One of my colleagues, Randy, was a sergeant in the Michigan National Guard.

Randy asked me to design a Tee-shirt for his unit. When price was discussed, I told him that instead of money, I'd like one of the new Kevlar helmets which had only just been issued to his unit. He gave me the look of someone who knew that he was being hoodwinked, but he reluctantly agreed. He got the Tee-shirt and I got the helmet; the helmet featured in this post.

Thanks Sergeant Randy.

In the mid 1970s research and development began to find a replacement for the Venerable M1 helmet. The helmet was to be all new - different look, different materials, different capabilities, and eleven percent more protection for the wearer. Commonly called the Kevlar helmet, it is officially called the PASGT - Personal Armor System for Ground Troops.

The US military phased out the steel helmet and opted for a whole new concept in helmet design - ballistic composite resin-saturated Aramid fiber compressed under heat and pressure. This was to be the first composite helmet to enter the world stage.

Where the M1 consisted of two pieces - the helmet and helmet-shaped liner, the PASGT helmet was a one piece. Although the new helmet provided superior protection, it wasn't as versatile as the M1, which, because of its removable liner, could be used as a bucket, a wash basin, a shovel, as well as other handy uses. Many a WWII GI dug his foxhole or soaked his feet with an M1 shell.

The PASGT was commonly called the "Fritz" because of its resemblance to the German helmet of world wars I and II.

Helmets were issued with the "woodland" pattern camouflage cover; this was in the days prior to the US military engaged in desert operations, and was more suitable for Cold War operations against the Soviets.

The rear of the foliage band included two glow-in-the-dark "cat's eyes" allowing soldiers to keep track of each other in darkness.

A hold-over from the M1 is the familiar Riddell suspension system.

As with previous US helmet models, the PASGT has a textured non-reflective surface finish.

The bulges in the sides of the helmet provided clearance for communications handsets.

The headband size was adjustable with a sliding buckle.

The DLA number indicates that this particular helmet was contracted in 1983 - very early in the production run of the PASGT helmet.

As with all American helmets, the webbing and furniture are robust and well-made.

The rim is bound with rubber edging.

Another hold-over from the M1 - though much-modified - are the "A" washers which affix the suspension to the shell.

The chinstrap includes a rudimentary chin-cup.

A final remnant from the old M1 are the metal spring-clips which secure the headband to the suspension. The purpose of the little loop is unknown to me. Perhaps a reader could leave a comment of explanation.

These helmets were issued in sizes extra small to extra large, with fifty percent of the production being size medium.

The PASGT soldiered on for about twenty years before the Army and Marine Corps adopted a newer helmet with a slightly different, and improved, design. The PASGT is still found in the US Navy as well as many reserve units,

Thanks to Sergeant Randy for "appropriating" this helmet from the Michigan National Guard. I hope he didn't end up in Leavenworth prison.

Stay tuned for the third and final installment of the PASGT helmet story featuring another cool helmet from the collection. Until next time...

Mannie

(Again, for more photos of another PASGT, as well as the full story of its development, kindly go to my previous post from a few days ago: https://combathelmets.blogspot.com/2024/06/united-states-pasgt-combat-helmet.html)

Sources

Brayley, Martin J., Tin Hats to Composite Helmets: a collectors guide. The Crowood Press, 2008.

Military One Source, Military Installations, https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/in-depth-overview/natick-

soldier-systems-center-nssc

Yonggiang, Li, Science Direct vol 238, June 1, 2022, Ballistic helmets: Recent advances in materials, protection mechanisms, performance, and head injury mitigation. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359836822002694#preview-section-references

U.S. Army, USAG Natick, https://home.army.mil/natick/my-fort/newcomers

Digital Commonwealth, Massachusetts Collections Online, PASGT helmet development, https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search?page=8&q=PASGT+helmet+development&search_field=all_fields

Reynosa, Mark A., (PASGT) Helmet: an Illustrated Study of the U.S. Military's Current Issue Helmet. Schiffer Military History, 1999.

Reynosa, Mark A., U.S.Combat Helmets of the 20th Century. Schiffer Military History Books, 1997.

Army Navy Warehouse, Using Contract Numbers to Determine Dates on Military Gear, July 7, 2020. https://www.armynavywarehouse.com/post/contract-number-dating

Camopedia, United States, https://www.camopedia.org/index.php/USA

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

United States, PASGT (kevlar) helmet - part I airborne

For starters, we'll begin with this resource: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search?page=20&q=PASGT+helmet+development&search_field=all_fields

It is the photo archive for the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center (NSSC), and is packed with great photos regarding the development of the Kevlar - PASGT helmet.

The facility is in Natick Massachusetts.

Since 1947 the Natick labs have been responsible for the research, design, and development of helmets, body armor, clothing, and many, many other things that involve the personal protection of the soldier, including the PASGT helmet.

Natick nerds obtain critical measurements for the design of the new helmet.

Didn't I see this in a Frankenstein movie?

Here is a blurb from the Defense Department regarding the history of the Natick labs:

Construction of the Quartermaster Research Facility (QRF) at Natick, authorized by Congress in October 1949, began in November 1952. A year later, the QRF was redesignated as the Quartermaster Research and Development Center, and four years later as the Quartermaster Research and Engineering Command. July 1961 saw the activation of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine at Natick and a year later the QREC was placed under the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC). In November 1962, the QREC was redesignated as Natick Laboratories and the following year the Food and Container Institute moved to Natick. In July 1967 the Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility relocated to Natick.

In the early 1970s NATICK embarked on a new helmet project that was part of an overall protection system known as PASGT - Personal Armor System for Ground

Troops - generally referred to as the "Paz-get".

It was a start from scratch effort which kept very little of the old M1 design, and forged ahead into the future with the world's first composite combat helmet, in this instance, made of Kevlar.

Side-by-side of the new and the old. The earliest PASGT models were painted with a modified ERDL camouflage pattern.

Natick scientist with wicked comb-over posing with calipers and prototype helmet.

The PASGT helmet is usually referred to as the "kevlar helmet", also the "k-pot" and the "Fritz" helmet for it's resemblance to the German helmet of the First and Second World Wars.

The various elements of the airborne-version of the PASGT helmet.

The protective properties of the helmet were extensively tested and refined, along with the protective body armor which is part of the PASGT system.

All of that R&D resulted in a brand-new helmet, and the modern symbol of the American service member for the next twenty years. Introduced in the mid1980s, the PASGT helmet proved a superior and worthy successor to the venerable M1 helmet at the end of its fifty-year run. The M1 helmet saw our military through three wars and numerous smaller conflicts; it was an excellent helmet that had simply become obsolete as new weapons and new materials became available.

As the Poindexter brothers demonstrate, the new PASGT provided more protection for the brain than did the old M1.

This graphic provides a picture of how much of the brain was protected by the PASGT helmet.

Prior to coming to my collection, this helmet had been on display at Natick labs for many years and eventually ended up, forgotten, in a closet. I received the helmet from the employee who was assigned with cleaning out that closet...funny the way s things show up on my helmet wall.

The bulged sides were specifically designed to accommodate the slim-profile of current radio handsets...

as well as headsets.

The profile shows the similarity to the German Stahlhelm design.

The only M1 influence that remains is the Riddell suspension; even the headband is different.

The rim is bound with a heavy plastic strip. The anti-reflective surface treatment is shown to good effect in this photograph.

All of the webbing and hardware is particularly robust, and the chinstrap is fastened with a heavy-duty snap.

The chinstrap incorporates a simple, but effective, chin-cup which is quite comfortable.

Mounting furniture utilizes through-holes in the shell, each could be a weak-point in this otherwise well-designed shell.

In the days of the M1, and even the earlier versions of the PASGT, the headband was secured with metal spring clips, velcro bands are utilized in the PASGT

The DLA number indicates that the helmet was manufactured under the1987 contract, and the embossment in the dome indicates that this particular helmet was manufactured in 1998 or '89.. Unicor was one of a few companies which produced the PASGT helmet.

The camouflage cover was made in or after 1998.

The button hole-like slits allow for foliage to be attached to the cover.

The airborne-modification kit includes a yoke strap and a rubber shock-absorbing pad at the nape. Additionally, there is a rubber disc in the dome, which is missing on this example.

The yoke passes through two slits at the rear of the helmet, and is fastened by velcro.

Similarly, the chinstrap passes through slits on the lower edge of the cover.

I can only imagine some Natick wag tricking this out as DC Comics Sargent Rock's helmet.

I have interviewed soldiers who wore both the M1 and the PASGT, in all instances they preferred the PASGT for protection, comfort, and even looks. A friend in the 82nd Airborne noted that he and his colleagues thought that the helmet "looked cool."

A small length of paracord feeds through the foliage slits on the cover to secure the elastic camouflage band in place.

Glow-in-the dark "cat's eyes" help the goodguys identify each other in the dark.

The "woodland" pattern of camouflage was adopted in 1981, replacing the Mitchell pattern of the Vietnam era.

For the purposes of my collection, the PASGT is my final US helmet in the 20th Century chronology. In the early 2000s the PASGT was phased out in favor of a visorless version which provided as much protection with more capability, specifically for firing a weapon from a prone position.

I think that the PASGT helmet was a worthy successor to the iconic M1.

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.