Some US service members could soon get their hands on a new piece of protective equipment for testing. An evaluation group is looking at ballistic ball caps.
The hats, which look slightly thicker than regular ball caps, could soon be tested and evaluated by some Army and Marine Corps units, said Kevin Kelly, a Department of Defense contractor who works with the Pentagon’s Sustainable Technology Evaluation and Demonstration Program.
Kelly’s group tests and evaluates the performance of commercially available off-the-shelf equipment before the military or federal agencies decide to purchase it at scale.
The hats were on display this week during the annual SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida, a major gathering of special operations service members and defense industry representatives.
Some of the other items on display that Kelly’s team is looking at possibly having service members test included suppressors to reduce heat signatures and biometric devices to prevent swim deaths.
Manufactured by R-12, the ballistic ball caps were created by a surgeon. They include patrol caps — known within the military as “covers” — that soldiers and Marines wear with their camouflage uniforms, as well as neutral-colored ball caps many special operations members are known to favor.
The protective caps could also be worn by law enforcement officers or by personnel in other parts of the federal government where workers could be exposed to harm, Kelly said.
According to R-12, the protective hat “will slow the energy of NIJ Level IIIA threats,” a designation that applies to powerful ammunition fired from handguns, though it does not protect against ammunition fired from rifles, according to the National Institute of Justice.
The manufacturer said that in a shooting scenario, “the kinetic energy of the bullet may still damage the skull and/or cause bruising, bleeding, or swelling in the brain. However, those injuries are treatable and survivable with prompt surgical care.”
National Guard units, including the West Virginia National Guard, have expressed particular interest in the gear, Kelly said, following the deadly shooting attack in Washington, DC, last November in which two service members from the West Virginia National Guard were attacked.
Spc. Sarah Beckstrom died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head. A second service member, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, was also shot in the head and seriously wounded.
The ball caps weigh 11 ounces and cost $365 each, and they should be replaced every two years, according to R-12.
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