Or do they risk going deaf?
When I was in the Forces we always used earplugs (or we wore big honkin’ headphone-type ear defenders) on the firing range, but never in the field. On the range your main concern in hearing protection; everything moves slowly and according to strict rules, so it’s unlikely you’ll miss a verbal command that would put someone in danger. In the field you need to be able to hear your buddies so you can coordinate what you’re doing. I’d rather lose a little hearing than have a bullet tear through my chest.
Operators of large guns (Marine and army artillary and guns aboard ships) do use quite elaborate ear protection.
I knew members of mortor crews that also used ear protection. In Viet Nam, I used ear protection (cotton stuffed in them) during shellings and on trips on gunships. However, I found that I needed to be listening for instructions, comments and other noises when on the ground and moving.
So at those times I did not have anything in them.
I’m reading Black Hawk Down:
Yes. On the firing ranges we were always supposed to use ear protection. A lot of guys didn’t bother though (me being one of them) and subsequently suffered from hearing loss. Personally, being that I was the armorer and required to be at EVERY range no matter what the weapon, I’m surprised that I can hear any damn thing any more.
Word to prospective trainees…when they tell you to wear the damn ear plugs on the .50 cal range, just do it.
Yeah. I learned that the hard way.
I got caught next to an m82a1(with the big ass muzzle brake), right to the side of it, without hearing protection. It juggled my innards, and gave me a 3 day headache.
I didn’t get any ringing in the ears, but I’d guess it did permanent damage 
At Human Engineering Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, my father and his team did an extensive study on hearing protection in combat. To keep it simple, the research boiled down to this:
In enviroments where hearing unexpected orders, rapid personal movement, and immiment danger were present (ground combat), hearing protection reduced the capability of the troops.
In enviroments where repeated and continuous exposure to high intensity sound was present, but individual athleticism and a need to respond to unexpected orders were not present (artillery, firing range) the absence of hearing protection reduced the capability of the troops.
In cases such as tank crews, hearing protection combined with an intercom is ideal.
Would it be useful to have hearing protection on one ear, so that you’d have a spare if a sudden BANG rattles your other ear? I understand (from watching “Platoon” I think) that a similar technique kept one eye dark-adapted when flares were launched at night.
Nope. Ears don’t adjust to loud noise. They just get damaged by it.
Derleth: I know that. I was just using the quote as an answer to the OP that soldiers don’t wear plugs in combat.
I was shooting my AR-15 many years ago (back in the early 80s, IIRC) and I had forgotten my earphones. I fired off a couple of rounds, waited for the brass to cool, and use them as makeshift earplugs. They worked fairly well.
according to some ex-grunts I know, they would sometimes use the kind of earplugs that are on a cord. They’d attach the cord to their helmets or boonie hats, so they could put the plugs in or pull them out as desired, without fumblimg for them.
Better than nothing, I suppose, but the earplug-on-a-leash thing is a better compromise.
Unfortunately not. At the range yes. At least in the 60’s and 70’s, not even in live-fire training exercises (that may have changed now).
You don’t want to have muffs or earplugs on during field combat (unless you are on a ship or at the breech of long range artillery).
There is no reason that our combat soldiers need to go deaf. There are electronic devices that can protect the ears from explosive noise and allow you to hear ordinary sounds quite well. Some even AMPLIFY non-explosive noise.
I use such hearing protectors at the range. I’d like to see small earplug sized equipment developed for our combat soldiers.
This would be a great project for private industry and the DOD. Any entrepreneurs out there? Please feel free to go with the idea, and don’t forget to give the proper credit for the idea to NEURODOC…
True, but the brain can adjust to what it hears. A loud repetitive noise will seem louder the first time you hear it, but as it continues the brain can begin to shut it out until it becomes backround noise. Its still as loud, and it still will damage your ears, but the brain knows it is there and can then listen for other sounds that it didn’t hear earlier because of the shock.
We used similar hearing protection in the mortar crews for the mortar “leaders” and “calculaters” and I suppose the gunnery uses similar things also. The regular crew members normally used double protection i.e. earplugs and earphones on the top. When the sound level rises over 120 Db, you’ll need them.
- at least my field handbook for urban combat says so. Firing high-powered weapons indoors - or worse, being in a building when a grenade goes off in the next room - will take away your ability to hear for a long time, anyway.
S. Norman
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Derleth *
**
In my comparative anatomy class, we were taught that mammals have a muscle in the inner ear (the stapedial muscle, if my spelling is correct) that serves to pull the stirrup (“stapedius”) away from the ear drun during really loud noises. This is why loud sound don’t seem so loud after all.
For a really interesting (to me, anyway) sidetrack–in mammals, the bones of the inner ear are analogous to bones found in the jaws of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. During evolution, the mammalian jaw evolved to be composed of only one bone. Some of the bones that used to be in the jaw migrated to the inner ear and are what we commonly call the hammer, anvil, and stirrup. Thus, the stapedial muscle is analogous to a muscle that fish, amphibians, and reptiles use to close their mouth!
My father-in-law has an ear protection device call the “Wolf whisper”, or something similar. Basically a very protective set of ear muff with microphones on each ear. The microphones shut off when the decible level spikes, to protect the ear. When the decible level is lower, you can hear just fine. In fact, the mics are pretty damn sensitive, and you can turn them up and hear better than you would otherwise. I’d bet some of those Delta force types wear something similar.