Military OPS Wear Ear Protection?

[n556]

I know this might sound stupid but does the normal grunt wear ear protection?

[technique]

Every pic I see, a lot of the guys are wearing standard little foam ear plugs.

I also saw on one of the embedded media blah blah blah shows....

They were following some troops around and they came around a corner and BAM! the guy out in front started firing at enemy troops...the other guys behind him hit the deck and put in hearing protection before the gave support...I think one guy was like screaming F**K!!! after the shot and holding his ears. I found that odd.

[Stormfeather]

Normal grunts wear ear and eye pro at all times when training. As far as during mission, more often than not, the answer is no. Cant communicate when you got earplugs/muffs on, thats just the way it is.

[dwa]

Normal grunts wear ear and eye pro at all times when training. As far as during mission, more often than not, the answer is no. Cant communicate when you got earplugs/muffs on, thats just the way it is.

you must be deaf then. if you weren't wearing ear pro you were wrong.

[Stormfeather]

lol, after all these years of doing this job, yes I am legally deaf in my left ear, I do have to wear a hearing aid, and anybody whos been in a combat situation knows exactly what im talking about.

[dwa]

lol, after all these years of doing this job, yes I am legally deaf in my left ear, I do have to wear a hearing aid, and anybody whos been in a combat situation knows exactly what im talking about.

well in my combat situations with 1/27 2 BDE 25th ID and 2/27 3 BDE 25th ID, wearing PPE to not end up legally deaf in one ear and wearing hearing aids was encouraged and we had NCO's who adhered to standards. i don't know the sum of your experience but i am curious how you haven't been med boarded being legally deaf in one ear.

[steelrain82]

when i was in the marines we were supposed to wear ear and eye pro on the range. but alot of us wouldnt wear ear pro so we could get used to the sounds. in combat nobody wore ear or eye pro unless you wore glasses. im not def but my ears constantly ring.

[cineski]

I'm surprised they don't wear hearing protection with microphones implanted in them. That way they can hear normal level talking, communications, but the gun shots and explosions are muffled. Kinda like what some guitarists use on stage.

[StoneRoots]

I like to take out my HD weapons and fire a round or two off without ear protection every two or three months. It is very easy to place rounds when you have eyes and ears on, but how many of us will have that luxury if put into a self defense scenario? I know if someone just kicked in the back door to my house, my first thought will not be going for my eyes and ears...

[ReconDoc242]

I never did.....that being said I have paid the piper with some hearing loss. Our unit didn't use suppressors as much as i'd like until 2005.

[steelrain82]

Yeah sometimes when I'm at the local indoor range, I take out me ear pro for the same reason as stone. It gets you used to firing indoors, so if you ever have to it doesn't scare the hell out of you.

[Hayashi Killian]

I'm surprised they don't wear hearing protection with microphones implanted in them. That way they can hear normal level talking, communications, but the gun shots and explosions are muffled. Kinda like what some guitarists use on stage.

There are ones like that. They use electronic filtering designed to filter out sounds of gunfire, flashbangs, and more. Some of them also have communication equipment built into them or allow for headsets to be worn easily. The problem is they are EXPENSIVE.

[Army]

Lots of ear-pro during training....lots of nothing during convoy or patrol. Can't afford to NOT hear what's going on.

Left ear is pretty much gone from RPG and mortars, right has about 60% remaining.

[n556]

lol, after all these years of doing this job, yes I am legally deaf in my left ear, I do have to wear a hearing aid, and anybody whos been in a combat situation knows exactly what im talking about.

Do they give you the option of wearing ear protection?

[Army]

Sure, there is always the option. But the other side of that option is not being able to hear commands over the noise.

Ear-pro won't help much when an EFP is blowing a hole through your truck.