The US Army is looking for qualified vendors with improvements to the improved Combat Vehicle Crewman (iCVC) coverall that may be utilized to develop design and specification enhancements for the new enhanced Combat Vehicle Crewman (eCVC).
In this US Army photo you can see the current iCVC which saw evolutionary improvements over the previous legacy design which goes back to at least the 1970s. It is an FR one-piece garment that is also issued in OCP (MultiCam).
The Sources Sought Notice released yesterday by the Natick SSC Contracting Office on behalf of US Army Product Manager, Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment (PM-SCIE) eCVC will consolidate the capability requirements of the one-piece improved Combat Vehicle Crewman (iCVC) Coverall into a single uniform and other enhancements over the current iCVC.
The eCVC shall be a two piece uniform ensemble which can be joined together creating a one piece coverall which does not compromise FR protection.
The eCVC two piece configurations shall allow the Mounted Soldier the ability to have more functional movement in a dismounted position with a full combat load and utilize the Army Combat Shirt (ACS) when in a dismounted operation, as well as reduce heat burden.
The big issue here is that they want to make the CVC a two-piece garment that can be converted into a one-piece. This is to enhance cooling and comfort. Additionally, we understand that there is interest in combining the Army Aircrew Combat Uniform (A2CU) with the CVC to reduce the burden on the supply chain.
Interested parties should respond by 1200 EST on 1 February 2013.
Not an armor or aviator guy so… I have always wondered about the adherence to the jumpsuit vice two piece BDU’s like everyone else wears. I totally get that the pilots are required to have the flight suit so they can zip it down and tie it around their waist while in the O Club (look at me! I can fly!) but what is the deal with Tankers? One would think the crazy cross draw chest holster and boots would be enough.
I am in armour (UK) and we hate coveralls… Got rid of ours and we now just wear normal combats.
JB, I think the main reason, which they said in the press release, is the FR protection. the one piece will probably protect you slightly better than a two piece in that environment. The issue as they said is cooling, and I also imagine, releaving yourself in the field, which would make a separable garment a lot more comfortable. I’m sure there are tankers on here that could share, haven’t asked my armor friends how they pull that off, nor do I really want to know all that much. They also mentioned dismounted operations, which if you throw armor over, will be hot, and you’ll probably have to take your armor off to releave yourself. I can also see holes for LCG vests, or similar, being put in them (if they’re not already) for high temperature operations.
Well the whole deal is that it’s NOMEX. Some guys have the two piece aviator uniform A2CUs but those are not SI in the Armor Branch.
In regards to CVCs and comms, please god fix the issue with Spaghetti cables I have no idea why a cable stops working.
I’m not armored but I had been in tank platoon before. Speaking from experience I would rather wear the A2CU than my CVC’s. Oh though don’t get me wrong wearing the CVC uniform has it’s benefits such as built in drag strap but a CVC is useless when you’re no longer doing tank movements. Plus some reason it was always frown upon when we walked around in CVC’s yet when we wore our regular FRACU’s or A2CU’s no one ever said a thing.
When i say i never been armored i mean my MOS, 68W, is not armored by default. My first unit was a mech unit
Why not make one FR uniform that everyone can wear? Wouldn’t that really “reduce the burden on the supply chain.”? There are already two FR uniforms available in the supply system, let the Armor guys choose from one of those.
how many tankers are catching on fire these days?