The History of the ALICE Pack

The ALICE Pack carrying system was developed during the Vietnam war. It was an evolution of pervious carrying system used by the military all the way back in World War 1, but it had to be updated over the years as combat conditions and situations changed.

This hub details the evolution of the current military ALICE Pack.

The doughboys of World War I had a Utility Belt to which they could attach such things as a canteen, a pistol holster, or a knife sheath. Trench warfare didn’t require the self-sustaining equipment, so no significant load carrying equipment was needed. The GIs of World War II and the Korean War also had a Utility Belt for various attachments. This too was sufficiant for those fighting conditions.

It was in the Viet Nam War when things needed to start changing. The soldiers of the Viet Nam War had a completely different set of fighting conditions in the Southeast Asian jungles.The missions were longer, and soldiers were off in the jungles with their squads. Supplies and equipment had to be carried by the team, or they had to do without.

Under Viet Nam fighting conditions, soldiers needed to be able to carry their own equipment with them, the simple utility belt was no longer sufficient. So, beginning in 1965 the Lightweight Individual Clothing And Equipment (LINCLOE) program undertook to develop a lightweight load-carrying system and all purpose military backpack.

Several detailed studies had been made during the five years previous to LINCLOE. In 1961-2 the Lightweight Rucksack made of water-proof nylon, weight a little over 3 pounds, replaced the cotton canvas duck version which weighed over 5 pounds. This philosophy of choosing light weight sturdy materials was the guiding force of the development of carrying equipment.

With the deployment into Viet Nam, the necessity of accurately assessing needs and solutions required and received much attention. All through that War the Department of the Army was working with a contractor, Natick Laboratories to develop the kind of standard pack that would provide ease of transport of the necessities of life and battle.

The development went slowly, due to requirements of the new kind of war in the jungle. The concept was developed for suspenders to which could be attached such items as small arms ammunition cases, water canteen covers, entrenching tool carriers, field first aid dressing cases, etc. A field pack frame with a removable shelf was added. This allowed for larger and more bulky loads.

During 1968, as the Viet Nam War became more intense, field assessment of various aspects of the LINCLOE carrying system led to numerous changes in design of all the components. These new designs were rigorously tested in Fort Benning, Fort Clayton, Fort Greely, Fort Lee, and other Army installations.

Major changes included:

• The individual equipment belt was changed to provide for more convenient and more secure attachment of the suspenders and other items carried on the belt.
• A combat vest was experimented with, but rejected and replaced with plastic quick-release fasteners.
• The entrenching tool carrier was a molded plastic.
• A plastic case for carrying the first aid materials was adopted.
• Plastic belt strap keepers were utilized for the water canteen cover.

In 1969 generals, non-commissioned officers and the contractors held numerous meetings and evaluations. They concluded that a new load carrying system was required. As a result, during 1970 and 1971 a set of recommendations for the above mentioned components were developed. The most important development was the inclusion of a set of suspenders anchored on the belt, both of which were adapted for numerous attachments. Most of the reliance on plastic was discarded in favor of nylon fabric and metal.

Origionally the LINCLOE carry system included a large large pack size with a small pack as an alternative. In 1970 a medium pack size was developed and rigorous testing took place for all three models. By March 1972 so many deficiencies and shortcomings were identified that the Army directed Natick Laboratories to quickly make changes for packs to be tested in June 1972. One of the major deficiencies was the difficulty in getting small arms cartridge magazines out of the pack and ready to use. Inner flaps were replaced effectively with simple strips of nylon fabric to divide the cartridge magazines.

In this 1972 activity the belt, the suspenders and four other components, 1) the entrenching tool carrier, 2) the field first aid dressing case, 3) the case for small arms ammunition, and 4) the water canteen and its cover received standard specifications. In the final evaluation the medium and large ALICE packs were acceptable and the small pack was rejected as unnecessary. In January of 1973 all these arrangements were finalized and the system was designated All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment or ALICE.