However, the flak jacket is supposed to be worn underneath the vest, not replace it. Using the armor as a load-bearing system has its drawbacks, particularly for Marines riding in tightly packed amphibious tracked vehicles or Light Armored Vehicles.
"Now you can’t shed the gear and just wear the flak, and that’s important when you’re crawling around on the inside of an amtrack," Maxwell said.
Flak jacket
The new body armor that replaced the old-style flak jacket fared well in Afghanistan, possibly because of its insulating qualities.
"Generally, the flak was fairly well-accepted," Maxwell said. "It probably had something to do with the fact that it was cold here."
The only complaint Maxwell heard about the armor came from a large Marine, who said the flak jacket collar choked him.
"He’s got like an 18-inch neck, and he said he went from a large to an extra large to an extra-extra large, and he said the neck size seemed to be the same," Maxwell said. "He can’t keep his cinched down."
CamelBak
But while the body armor fared well, Marines found fault with the personal hydration system that comes with the MOLLE system, often referred to by its brand name, CamelBak.
"The CamelBaks all are leaking," Maxwell said. "They’re leaking from the valve, and they all want a shut-off valve."
Once the valve breaks, there’s no way to know when 100 ounces of water will come dribbling out. Many Marines complained of awakening to a wet sleeping bag or soaked gear after the hydration systems slowly leaked water all night.
And if the CamelBak breaks, there are no more to be had in the supply tent. They are part of a Marine’s one-time-only issue of the personal equipment known as "782 gear."
"There’s no resupply capability at all for a CamelBak," Maxwell said. "So if any part breaks, you’re SOL. There’s no way to get any resupply, and of course, things break when you walk around the desert."
The broken water bags caused problems for leathernecks with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit who never expected their hydration systems to let them down.
Normally, each Marine would carry two one-quart canteens plus a two-quart canteen. But in Afghanistan they chose to rely on just the two one-quart canteens and a CamelBak.
"For example, Lima Company went up north on this nine-hour patrol that lasted for nine days, and many of the Marines only had two quarts of water with them because the CamelBaks were shot," Maxwell said. "So, that was a problem.
"This is information for the follow-on MEU: Without a backup capability, you’re not going to have any water. It was a mistake, probably, looking back."