Iraqi Badassitude

This is a follow-on to the two posts by Aaron, titled “Looking more BA than you really are”. I have included a picture of myself with two Federal Police Officers in Baghdad. I would like you to focus your attention on the Officer in the middle.

You will notice that this particular Police Officer has a couple things on his uniform that while definitely making him look more badass, essentially serve no purpose. Let’s start at the top and work our way down. Observe this man’s helmet. What do you see? You should see a pair of goggles and the black bracket looking thing sticking out in the middle. That bracket is known as a “rhino mount”. The rhino mount is what holds your night vision goggles (NVGs) to your helmet at night time (*Note: NVGs are not really goggles at all, they are more like an optic that just hangs in front of your face). A lot of Americans like to keep that mount on their helmet all of the time because some people have a hard time attaching it to their helmet. With the rhino mount attached, the only real place to put your goggles is between the mount and the helmet. Now, believe it or not, the Iraqis do not own night vision goggles. So, what is the purpose of having the rhino mount on your helmet? Simple…the Americans do it.

Move your way down to this man’s right thigh. Strapped to his leg you will see what we call a “leg” or “drop” kit. The purpose of this kit is to allow a soldier to carry additional supplies in a convenient location. Medics will typically wear these with extra tourniquets and maybe some bandages. Logically, these medics will close the bag so that none of this equipment falls out and gets lost. The man you see in the picture had his kit unzipped with absolutely nothing in it. So, what is the purpose of having an empty bag tied to your leg? Simple…the Americans do it.

Now we move to my favorite part of this gentleman’s ensemble; the knees. You can clearly see this man is wearing kneepads, but what may not be so clear is what he’s wearing between his boots and his kneepads. Well, what I’m about to explain to you is what really makes this guy....special. A lot of Americans wear kneepads when they go out on patrols. Some wear them because they have weak knees, and others wear them because their unit requires that they be worn as a safety precaution. Kneepads can become incredibly uncomfortable if worn for hours on end because they stop the circulation of blood in your legs. Many soldiers, to include myself, like to strap them around our ankles because they are out of the way but still close enough to be easily accessible if needed. So if you haven’t figured it out yet, this man is in fact wearing two pairs of kneepads: one around his ankles and one around his knees. So, what is the purpose of wearing one pair of kneepads around your knees and another pair around your ankles? Simple…It’s BADASS!

-QB