BELVOIR
Fort Belvoir officers and NCOs warm up before taking on the new Army Combat Fitness Test. See page A6.
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New capabilities highlight Army’s list of critical protective eyewear
January 16, 2020
Walker Gate Bridge project awaiting final approvals By Rick Musselman Belvoir Eagle arrison Directorate of Public Works is awaiting final approval from federal and state agencies to begin constructing a new bridge that will replace the current structure just inside Walker Gate on Mount Vernon Road. Chris Landgraf, Fort Belvoir Directorate of Public Works acting director, provided details about the Walker Gate Bridge project, including several government requirements which must be met before proceeding. Landgraf said the project’s been delayed by requirements from the National Environmental Protection Act, which indicate the need for more coordination with an outside agency, impacting all documentation and the design. During the NEPA process, a state agency required an architectural evaluation of the bridge.
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File photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey
Staff Sgt. Tyvieo Woods, a medic for B Company, 4-23 Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, provides security during an aerial traffic control point mission near Tall Afar, Iraq. By Joe Lacdan Army News
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t. Col. Ginger Whitehead has seen the gruesome consequences when Soldiers chose to don eyewear that didn’t appear on the Army’s authorized list. Deployed Soldiers have suffered severe damage to their eyes or lost their sight entirely. “We have seen some really horrific injuries with roadside bombs,” said Whitehead, the product manager for protective equipment at Program Executive Office Soldier, Fort Belvoir. Using eyewear approved from the list, which features 27 products that have undergone extensive testing, could mean the difference between saving a Soldier’s vision or them going blind, Whitehead said. “The Soldier’s face is all chewed up,” Whitehead said. A2
Housing
“But, when they pull his glasses off, where the skin is intact around their eyes, where you know, without a doubt, that eyewear saved their eyes.” To help protect Soldiers from serious injuries during combat missions, PEO Soldier has tested several protective eyewear models in compiling the authorized protective eyewear list, or APEL. The Army introduced a lens model on the APEL that adds a new capability to the Army’s Soldier Protection System: an advanced transition protective lenses. The Transition Combat Eye Protection, or TCEP lens, features sensors with a greater sensibility than traditional transitional lenses, responding to visible light instead of UV rays. The transition happens in milliseconds, allowing Soldiers to go from sunlight to indoors quickly, without temporarily A4
3D Mammograms
losing their situational awareness to see incoming projectiles or enemy attacks. Typically, commercial transition lenses can take up to 5-10 minutes to transition and adjust to changing light levels. Often, they don’t darken in bright sunlight if a Soldier sits inside of a Humvee. The TCEP lenses will. “It’s a one-second button,” said Capt. Michael McCown, assistant product manager of head protection at PEO Soldier. “It’s not like your transition lenses that you get from your doctor that change as you go in and outdoors … it’s electronic.” It can also be set to transition automatically. PEO Soldier also unveiled a cold-weather goggle that can resist fogging in colder conditions. Soldiers can access the Army’s APEL list at https:// www.peosoldier.army.mil/ equipment/eyewear/. A7
New ACFT Tests
Photo by Paul Lara
Belvoir Walker Gate is closed for replacement.
See Bridge, page A5
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