DoD seeks uniform bug protections - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

DoD seeks uniform bug protections

When training in the field, are bugs swarming your cammies?

Military uniforms now are treated with pesticides under a patchwork of policies that give various levels of protection — and in some cases ask troops to treat their own clothing before deploying.

But military’s top insect experts are working to develop a forcewide standard for treating military uniforms with bug-repellent pesticides.

“We still have some work [to do] in establishing a consistent standard across the four services,” said Maureen Sullivan, director of the Pentagon’s office for environmental management.

Current standards for bug protection are set by the individual services.

Coordinating them is complicated by the slew of changes and additions the services have made to their approved military wardrobes in recent years.

“Many years ago, we basically had two uniforms — the day-to-day uniform and the [battle dress uniform]. Now we have so many different types of uniforms with so many different types of fabrics,” Sullivan said.

“We need to work through the interaction process between these various pesticide treatments and that type of uniform material,” she said.

Deploying troops are required by U.S. Central Command to have uniforms treated with a common insecticide known as permethrin, which repels bugs such as mosquitoes, ants, fleas and head lice.

The command does not specify the level of protection.

That level varies with the type of fabric and method of treatment.

For example, flight suits made with flame-resistant fabric do not retain treatments of permethrin well and the chemical washes off easily.

Pesticide treatment typically is not a key factor when uniforms are in the development phase, Sullivan said, but she and others are advocating for the services to consider bug protection early in the development process.

The Army, for example, is distributing flame-resistant Army Combat Uniforms that are pre-treated at a factory.

Yet service members who receive uniforms that are not treated at a factory must apply the pesticide themselves before deployment.

That involves putting the uniform in a bag, adding water and a pesticide mixture, and following detailed instructions for shaking, removing and drying.

“It’s a complicated process,” Sullivan said.

She is encouraging factory treatment of all uniforms.

“The best would be … to get factory treatment and take it out of the hands of each individual service member as one less item on their workload,” Sullivan said.

“I personally feel it is inappropriate to ask our members to go through that rigmarole before they deploy. … They have plenty of other things to do.”