Live Fire with Chuck Holton

Since the start of the Global War on Terror, the American military has undergone a radical transformation. Not only have its tactics evolved to counter the asymmetrical threat with which it’s been presented, but its war-fighting equipment has experienced an almost total face lift.

In 2001, American troops were going to war with un-armored HUMVEES, green camo “salad suit” uniforms and weapons left over from the cold war. As the war progressed and spread to Iraq, soldiers started evolving to survive – welding on steel plates and stacking sandbags in the floorboards of their vehicles to counter the IED threat.

When the politicians and top brass finally caught up with the needs of their front-line warriors, new body armor was issued and standard operating procedures were updated to make them relevant to the current conflict. A new form of digital camouflage was developed that got rid of the need to issue several sets of different-colored camouflage.  Nevertheless, many of the changes that have come to today’s military began with bottom-up experience rather than top-down directives.

Case in point: When I was in Iraq in 2005, most of the soldiers I was embedded with were wearing “Under Armour” – a type of garment made of moisture-wicking material that helped them stay cooler in the brutal summer heat. Under Armour was designed to be worn under body armor, hence the name. It was even an issued item in some units.

But then military medical personnel started noticing a problem with Under Armour – in an IED blast it regularly melted to the skin of those wearing it, causing ghastly secondary burns. By my second trip to Iraq in December 2007, Under Armour had been banned from all military operations.

This created an opportunity for other companies to fill the void in our troops’ moisture management needs. One of those companies is called DRIFIRE – which was founded to provide comfortable, cool clothing that was also flame resistant.

At a book signing in May, I met Chuck Rossi, an officer with the DRIFIRE company. We got to talking and he ended up sending me a bunch of his product to try out. I immediately fell in love with it – not because I had much need of flame resistance around my farm in West Virginia, but because the fabric felt like cotton, unlike the stretchy-sticky feel of other moisture-wicking clothes. Plus, it dries very, very quickly, and that’s a plus for me when I travel, since most of the time I’m doing laundry in the hotel sink.

Here in Afghanistan, DRIFIRE has been a hit with the troops for those reasons, and because it can help protect them in a fire. I’m now a proud advocate for the company, and if you or someone you love is serving in harm’s way – I highly recommend that you pick some up.