Live from Annual Training – New Army tents are not half bad

By Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs– June 17, 2011

By Command Sgt. Maj. Rafael Conde

32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team

For as long as I can remember, the Army issued a shelter half — three poles, three pegs plus a rope — to each Soldier as a means of protection from the elements during field problems. The system worked by having two Soldiers put each half of their issued tent together to make a small two-person tent.

The system made several assumptions — first, you must find two Soldiers that could at least tolerate each other for a minimum of 10 days in the field. Then you had to make sure that each Soldier brought all of their equipment to ensure a successful marriage of two tent systems — we refer to this as pre-combat checks and pre-combat inspections, or PCCs and PCIs. Then you have to make sure you choose a good place to set up a location for your tents.

Even if everything worked in your favor, once the rain came, the tents would always fail. This forced the Soldier to purchase commercial tents to attempt to keep their equipment dry. The purchase of “civilian” tents was the misery of every command sergeant major. Once all of the tents were erected, it made Fort McCoy look like a KOA camp site.

This year, two battalions and several companies of the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed to the field with the latest high-speed Army-issued tent. The one-man rain-proof tent consists of a floor, a rain fly, poles and tent pegs. Total weight is less than three pounds. The great thing about the tents is that each Soldier has their own living space — we no longer expect two Soldiers to share a tent, especially after being in the field without a shower for a couple of days.

The new tents were put to the test on Wednesday as we received heavy rains throughout the day. The tents not only held up, but the Red Arrow Soldiers were able to keep their equipment dry and have a dry place to sleep. At last, the Army got it right.

We hope to issue all 32nd IBCT Soldiers their own tents prior to next year’s AT.

Stay tuned for more blogs in the coming days. What are some of your more memorable field shelters, expedient or otherwise, from back in the day?

(blogging from Fort McCoy, Wis., at annual training).