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Hood soldiers to get helmet sensors Friday

In an effort to improve its combat helmet, the Army on Friday will outfit thousands of soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, with special helmet sensors designed to record the effects enemy bomb blasts have on troops deploying to Iraq.

About 3,800 soldiers from 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, will wear one of the tiny sensors inside their Advanced Combat Helmet.

The sensor records data from “blast, ballistic, crash and blunt impact events,” according to an Army press release. The data can be downloaded to any computer and then transmitted and stored in the Anti-Armor Task Force Incident Reporting System, the release states.

“We want to take care of the soldier,” Lt. Col. Robert Myles, who leads Program Manager Soldier Survivability, said in the release, adding that the data collected from the sensor will be used “to improve form, fit, and comfort of the helmet.”

The device weighs just over an ounce, fits inside the helmet crown and is covered by the pads, the release states.

“It is imperceptible to soldiers and does not alter the fit or compromise the protection of the helmet,” the release states.

The Army started using similar, blast-recording helmet sensors in December when it issued them to soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Ky.