4th Infantry Tests New Tactical Body Armor

New Outer Improved Tactical Vest Has Pros and Cons

Soldiers with 4th Infantry Division have the chance to test the new Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV) and seemed to find both good and bad things to say about the new vests.

There are several new design changes about the new vests, which were easy to keep in mind while trying on the new vest. The new style has to be donned over the head like you would pull down a sweatshirt, pulling it over the head and then pulling down. To get the vest on properly some of the soldiers had to assist one another with the effort.

The new vest features a quick release that makes the vest come apart in pieces. This is supposed to be incase there is an emergency where you have to remove the vest suddenly. The soldiers were not totally sure what to make of this feature, but all who tried the vest said it did seem to make removing the vest a swift operation.

“You tend to note that the weight seems to be distributed a lot more evenly than it was in the old vest,” said Private First Class Joe Piotrowski. PFC Piotrowski is a member of the 4th Division Infantry.

“More Kevlar is found on the inside too,” said Piotrowski.

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Several soldiers remarked that the vest could get twisted easily and then it was very uncomfortable. “I managed to untwist it and then I didn’t have any more problems,” said Potrowski.

Like all new equipment this will take some getting used to. While the jury is still out among the 4th Infantry division soldiers, the vest is slated for wide use in the Iraqi Theater later this year.