Under Body Armour Combat Shirt & other kit for The Front Line

The innovative Under Body Armour Combat Shirt (UBACS) is just one of the items that MOD clothing specialists have developed in response to the demanding conditions that British front line men and women are encountering on contemporary operations in the various theatres of operation around the globe but especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The UBACS standard issue in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is designed to be worn under protective body armour. I assume that is if body armour is available for the lack of it has, so far, cause the death of a number of British Service personnel on operations. The body of the long-sleeved shirt is made of a special fabric that absorbs sweat – ideal when soldiers are fighting in often formidably hot and uncomfortable conditions.

While, I am sure, this shirt is very welcome, personal individual body armour for each and every trooper would be more welcome still.

"Considerable time, effort and money goes in to ensuring that our troops are provided with excellent kit that allows them to perform to the best of their capability, said Head of the Defence Clothing team, Colonel Silas Suchanek, “and we know the UBACS has been a hit since the demand for it has been incredible. This is all about investment in our front line and it drives everything we do."

Ensuring that our troops are provided with excellent kit that allows them to perform to the best of their capability, to quote the good Colonel would, in my opinion, mean especially that each and every service man or woman is issued with his or her individual set of body armour that he or she does not have to share with other troopers. Like PPE in industry such kit is PERSONAL and should not be handed about.

Maybe one of those days the British government is actually prepared to put its money where its mouth is an give decent kit to our troops. I do not even want to start on the radios that do not work under certain conditions, which means they don't work most of the time properly. This is a disgrace.

"When I joined the Army”, Col. Suchanek stated, “serge and wool were the order of the day, irrespective of the climate we were serving in. I am proud and delighted to be part of an organisation that works so hard to deliver excellence to our people."

Most of the kit that is issued nowadays, and that, for instance, includes the shemah or kaffiah, that the SAS likes to wear, initially was bought by the troops themselves because it was good stuff. Now, as is the case with the Shemah, it is issued, even in camouflage colors. The Norwegian shirt that is now standard was, originally, not so many years ago, unavailable as issue and only because troops bought it from NATO surplus themselves slowly the MoD adopted it. This goes even as far as boots and other kit. Many troops buy their own simple because the MoD cannot be bothered to actually procure decent stuff regardless of what Col. Suchanek may be saying. Then again, under the current government and not just this one alone, the military and especially procurement has been all about saving money. It is therefore surprising that we are not losing more personnel in the areas the British Forces operate in.

© Michael Smith, February 2008