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Soldier Nanotech Research Breaks New Ground

LTC Charles Dean ME '93 aims to cut soldier load weight in half with new studies from Iraq and Afghanistan

When Charles Dean came to MIT for graduate study in mechanical engineering, he was already a captain in the U.S. Army who had commanded an infantry company in Germany at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Dean studied heat transfer at the cryogenics lab in Building 41, and after graduating with his SM in 1993, he went on to teach at his alma mater, the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), and serve his country as a soldier-scientist.

Now a lieutenant colonel, Dean is conducting a ground-breaking study of the loads soldiers carry into combat, using current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as his laboratory. The study is significant because it is the first analysis of soldier load ever performed during actual combat operations; all previous load studies were performed during peacetime training.

Dean's data bears out decades of anecdotal evidence that soldiers carry back-breaking loads, often well over 100 pounds. In addition to hampering mobility, carrying such a burden is physically exhausting, and "comfort" items--like cold-weather clothing or extra food--are often sacrificed.

The research is part of an overall Army effort to modernize the individual soldier through technology. Part of this effort is taking place at MIT's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN), where Dean serves as uniformed liaison to the Army. Nanotechnology will help lighten the soldier's load through miniaturization and multifunctionality, and Dean's study is a powerful motivator for the MIT research.

Now in the second phase of a three-part study, Dean and his seven-member team are collecting data on Army aviators in Iraq and Afghanistan. The first phase, which took place in 2003 in Afghanistan, focused on dismounted infantry soldiers. Dean collected detailed data on nearly 800 paratroopers having 29 different duty positions, weighing them with and without their equipment and noting exactly what equipment they carried. Nearly every soldier carried a fighting load of 60-70 pounds, and most carried more than 100 pounds during approach march.

Dean's report concluded the Army must address weight reduction systematically, noting that drastic action would be required to meet its 2010 goal of reducing the approach march load to 50 pounds.

While overseas in August and September, Dean is sending weekly letters to the ISN about his team's activities and observations. The letters, which are available on the ISN web site, offer the MIT community a unique window into the current combat conditions of American soldiers.