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Show TIM '.Aug. 22, 1985 OFF dents were required to by Ruth A. Mecham and Page Eversole, Human gineering Laboratory Twenty-on- e Dugway emwere ployees recently sent to a remote wooded area of ' Aberdeen Proving Ground, . Md., witness strange projects in BDU and MOPP-Igear. The projects involved removal and replacement of various pieces of equipment, M60A3 tank power pack, transmission of M60A3 tank, M109 tank breech block, and the M60 V s crea-tures- in baggy suits, with large unexpressive eyes and mouths that wouldn't move as they talked. . Directorate and Lockheed Engineering Management Services Company - O), it was no invasion. For these people it was just another day, working- on a project using Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear (MOPP-IVjoint services program. The D049 tests are conducted in response to requests for information from the. services and unified and specified commands. Operational testing performed on existing method for estimating effects of wearing MOPP-Igear for typical military V tasks. The time necessary to do a task in BDlTs is multi- V : top of his head.. gear and his turn awaits monitoring equipment in test program. (US Army photo by Ruth A. Mecham) ksjJL- ' - V pt:r .r - . corplied by the MOPP-Irection factor to estimate the time in which the task can be completed. This analysis provides a quick assessment of a unit's ability to perform a mission. v BRL uses the. data to. assess unit effectiveness using Army Unit Resiliency Analysis, a computer program developed to simulate battle V Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) with the chemical protection MOPP-I- a BRL has developed gear is protective clothing used by soldiers in combat to protect them from chemical and biological agents. There are four levels of MOPP gear ranging from the regular VOLUNTEER in full Re- . Students from the Ordnance Center and School at Aberdeen, volunteered to as- sist Dugway in the test perstu formance. Seventy-fou- r each test sequence. Monitoring heart rate, ture serves two purposes. It skin and core body tempera- allows researchers to watch time it takes to complete a task while wearing the gear Division of the Ballistic search Laboratory (BRL). ments. suit to the most protected category, level TV, At level IV, the soldier is covered from the tip of his toe to the and body temperatures are received every 24 seconds. The information is displayed on a screen, stored in a computer and made available in printed format at the end of MOPP-I- V since most military tasks need to be 100 percent accurate," said Dr. Charles Wick, physical scientist in the VulnerabilityLethality equipment, often requires moving to areas away from Dugway to test the equipment in different environ- scenarios where wearing MOPP-Igear is one factor. Each student's heart and V . , body temperature was monitored constantly during the jpg'fe-- - - ; , in- participants at once. Updates on their heart rates concerns is the increased ; site. To help obtain as much . gear either lose accuracy or require an increase in the time required to perform a task or both. "One of our This project called D049, is a Department of Defense terized system the Human Engineering Laboratory (HEL) maintained at the test formation as possible under simulated battlefield conditions, students wear a transmitter that weighs 48 ounces. Signals are sent to and displayed at the base station. This allows researchers to monitor activities of 24 test Other tasks included the repair of a M901 Antitank combat vehicle traverse mechanism, as well as the recovery of an M60A2 tank. All tasks were performed in simulated battlefield conditions so that researchers could gather and determine time data information. Soldiers wearing ). MOPP-I- ' machine gun. For anyone passing by, between July 22 and August 14, it might have looked like creatures from another planet had Invaded, however, for employees of Materiel Test (Lock-heed-EMSC- evaluation through a compu- per- form normal maintenance En- mi- - students for safety factors and provides detailed information on how hard the body is working under various conditions such as air temperature, humidity and the wearing of MOPP-I- Lockheed. Lockheed-EMSC- O, under contract by the Army and assigned to Dugway, provid. ed the people to conduct the test, monitor weather and collect samplings condi-tion- and time data during Lockheed-EMSC- task. O also responsible for all s, the was video and photographic records along with the collection of test data. ?The complexity of running a test this large rquires total cooperation from everyone involved," said 2nd Lt. Jeff Stiefel, project r, from Dugway's Mater iel Test Division. "The su& f port given by Lockheed BRL, HEL, and the Ord' nance School has been the m key to the success of this project to date," continued Stiefel. . 33 Students volunteered knowing they would be sub: . jected to heat and m adverse-conditions- Coordination was provided by Capt. Charles Dunn, from the Ordnance School. ft. --JL V "Having to work with gear. major departments as completing our Safety is of the utmost concern. If the heart rate or body temperature of the student increases beyond set limits tiie student is given a rest or removed from the test. The HEL system alerts researchers when a student is approaching a critical le- vel. Researchers adhere to "We have been performing this test on all types of equipment and personnel such as helicopters, tanks, signal teams and tion to the joint services and their commanders," said Cliff Shields, test officer for ..... n : -- misstep requires real cooperation. we have interest in soldiers.; . There is a need to develop doctrine for maintenance in nuclear, biological or chemical environments. Data we receive froip this project will help deve- this doctrine," Dunn. f: r: saty The D049 tests done s Aberdeen, are just a few,: the ongoing research done of by Dugway in support biolo-and chemical warfare to i gical defense. The results multi- - ' engine aircraft: I feel it will provide important informa- well We're involved because lop guidelines the Surgeon General's office has set for critical physiological conditions. ft two as of these tests give the soldier and commanders needed information to survive in chemical and biological environments and contribute greatly to the country's national oi (Lc " t - l i r llf- - i GROUP PREPARES tar S'-- ! ! - :. S$mc M88A1 TANK RECEIVER driven by student in MOPP-I- V fevy- - K?? gear (Lockheed photo by Jim Elliot) i I i Hi |