You'll remember Kit Up! broke the news in May about the Army's selection of the Medium Ruck -- a middle-road backpack that allows troopers to carry enough gear for a couple nights at a remote firebase or COP.
The Army selected an external frame design along the lines of the current MOLLE Ruck, with a 3,000 cube+ capacity.
"It's going to the capability for Soldiers to carry equipment between that 24 and 72 hours," said Lt. Col. Mike Sloane, a top PEO Soldier official. "The intent is to have everything they need but not too much, because when you're climbing up and down the mountains of Afghanistan, every ounce counts."
"We're trying to right-size the Soldier for a specific mission and tailor his equipment to do that."
The Medium Ruck is now being issued to Soldiers kitting up for deployment to Afghanistan in their new (now it's called OEF Camouflage Pattern) MultiCam. And the airborne center is in the process to get the same pack certified for airborne ops.
For right now the Army is issuing this in OCP for troops heading to Afghanistan, but it will become part of the service's inventory of issued equipment and will be available in UCP (or whatever else the Army settles on for its camo evaluation), Sloane told Kit Up!
