Generation III Extended Cold Weather Clothing System

The Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS ) is a protective clothing system developed in the 1980s by the

United States Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center The DEVCOM Soldier Center, sometimes CCDC Soldier Center (Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center, DEVCOM SC aka CCDC SC), formerly the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC), is a military research com ...

Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part o ...

. The first generation ECWCS consisted of

parka A parka, like the related anorak, is a type of coat (clothing), coat with a hood (headgear), hood, that may be lining (sewing), lined with fur or fake fur. Parkas and anoraks are staples of Inuit clothing, traditionally made from Reindeer, cari ...

and

trouser Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants ( American, Canadian and Australian English) are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending ...

s plus 20 other individual clothing,

handwear A glove is a garment covering the hand, with separate sheaths or openings for each finger including the thumb. Gloves protect and comfort hands against cold or heat, damage by friction, abrasion or chemicals, and disease; or in turn to provide a ...

headwear Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or for ...

and

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serve the purpose of protective clothing, protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from rough ground; stability on slippery ground; and temperature. *Shoes and si ...

items which are used in various combinations to meet the cold weather environmental requirements of the

US military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

(and others). The Extended Climate Warfighter Clothing System, or Gen III ECWCS, is designed to maintain adequate environmental protection in temperatures ranging between .

History

In 1983, The U.S Department of Defense funded a three year development program. This was the start of ECWCS (Extended Cold-Weather Clothing System). In 1984, select units of the Marines, Navy Seals, and US Army were testing sample products in California, New York, and Italy. The next year, a thousand marines were deployed on exercise to Europe and not a single one succumbed to a cold weather casualty. With these kinds of results, and the rave reviews from British forces during the recent Falklands War, 10,000 yards was ordered and development of the ECWCS Parka began. The military garment contractor selected was Tennessee Apparel.

1st Generation

The entire ECWCS ensemble (1st generation) consists of: # undershirt, cold weather,

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...

# rawers cold weather, polypropylene # shirt, cold weather,

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...

fiberpile # overall, bib, cold weather, fiberpile # liner, cold weather trousers, field # liner, cold weather, coat, men's # trousers, cold weather, field, nylon and cotton # parka, extended cold weather, camouflage # trousers, extended cold weather, camouflage # parka/trousers, snow camouflage, white # glove inserts, cold weather # gloves, men's and women's, light duty # mitten inserts, cold weather, (trigger finger) # mitten shells, cold weather, (trigger finger) # mitten set, extreme cold weather # mitten shells, snow camouflage, cotton, white, two finger # cap, camouflage pattern # hood, balaclava # socks, men's, nylon, cushion sole, stretch type # boots, cold weather (Type I-black) # boots, extreme cold weather (Type II-white) # suspenders, trousers, M-1950 The system is to be used in an insulated, triple-layering fashion, with the polypropylene undergarments as Layer 1, the polyester shirt/bib, liners and cotton/nylon trousers as Layer 2, and

Gore-Tex Gore-Tex is W. L. Gore & Associates's trade name for waterproof, breathable fabric membrane. It was invented in 1969. Gore-Tex blocks liquid water while allowing water vapor to pass through and is designed to be a lightweight, waterproof fabri ...

outer garments as Layer 3. The parka and trousers (which have been adapted to the civilian outdoor clothing market) are themselves constructed in a three-layer fashion consisting of an outer layer of abrasion-resistant

taslan Taslanizing or taslanising is a process for making air-textured yarns. Taslan is an expired registered trademark of DuPont for this process, first registered on October 19, 1954. In German the word is Luftex. The process is simply feeding a bundle ...

nylon, an intermediate layer of durably waterproof, windproof, and Gore-Tex membrane (protected with a layer of nylon tricot and originally in a four-color

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

print), and a hung inner layer of unlaminated nylon. The whole is seam-sealed.

The ECWCS parka

The parka – which is a particularly popular component – is characterized by a cobra hood (which fits over a

combat helmet A combat helmet, also called a ballistic helmet, battle helmet, or helmet system (for some Modular design, modular accessory-centric designs) is a type of helmet designed to serve as a piece of body armor intended to protect the wearer's head du ...

) with woven nylon

drawstring A drawstring (draw string, draw-string) is a string, rope or lace used to " draw" ( gather, or shorten) fabric or other material. Ends of a drawstring are often terminated with a sheath called an aglet. The ends may be tied to hold the drawstr ...

adjustable pulls and an attachment piece that allows fastening of a fur

ruff Ruff may refer to: Places *Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community *Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community Other uses *Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader famil ...

(early models of the parka lacked this attachment piece). There is a two-way, full-front slide fastener to provide full-face protection, leaving only the eyes uncovered. The parka has raglan shoulders/sleeves, a non-freezing, double-pull zipper with

storm flap A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm) ...

and seven snap closure, a flap-covered pocket on the left sleeve with

hook and loop Hook-and-loop fasteners, commonly known as Velcro (a genericized trademark), hook-and-pile fasteners or touch fasteners are versatile fastening devices that allow two surfaces to be repeatedly attached and detached with ease. Invented in the m ...

(

Velcro Velcro IP Holdings LLC, trading as Velcro Companies and commonly referred to as Velcro (pronounced ), is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of ho ...

) closure, adjustable hook and loop wrist cuffs, armpit ventilation zippers and double reinforced elbows. A badge/insignia tab with snap is located on the storm flap. There is an interior back ventilation opening, two slash (handwarmer)

cargo pocket In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in case o ...

s on the lower front (with extra large flaps and double hook and loop single snap closure on each) and an inside draft skirt ( windskirt) with elastic

drawcord A drawstring (draw string, draw-string) is a string, rope or lace used to "draw" (gather, or shorten) fabric or other material. Ends of a drawstring are often terminated with a sheath called an aglet. The ends may be tied to hold the drawstring ...

s and barrel-locks at the waist (without pulls). There are also two concealed map pockets at the front zipper with hook and loop closures that can be opened without unzipping the parka.

2nd Generation

The second generation (2G) ECWCS included two different layers made with Polartec fabrics: the Polartec Classic 300 shirt and the Polartec Classic 200 overalls. When used in combination with other layers in the ECWCS system, the system provides protection between . The parka was improved by vents to help deal with the condensation problems resulting from the use of "waterproof-breathable" fabric. A lightweight underwear set was also introduced to combine with or substitute the polypro undergarments.

3rd Generation

The third generation 3G or GEN III Extended Climate Warfighter Clothing System is a radical re-design of the system. It features seven new layers of insulation including three Polartec fabrics: two layers of Polartec Power Dry and a layer of Polartec Thermal Pro High Loft. It has also featured PrimaLoft Silver Insulation USA in the extreme cold weather parka and trousers. The 12 components of the GEN III ECWCS include: # lightweight undershirt and drawers # midweight shirt and drawers # fleece cold weather jacket # wind cold weather jacket # soft shell jacket and trousers # extreme cold/wet weather jacket and trousers # extreme cold weather parka and trousers Initial fielding of the system began in August 2007 to the

73rd Cavalry Regiment The 73rd Cavalry Regiment is a Cavalry Regiment in the United States Army, first formed in 1941. Three squadrons of the 73rd Cavalry Regiment ("Airborne Thunder") provided reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition ( RSTA) to the Bri ...

in Afghanistan. The water-resistant "soft shell" is far more breathable than any "waterproof-breathable" garment and is used for most field applications, back-stopped by a waterproof nylon parka. Levels of Protection *Level I: Sandy-colored Light-Weight

Polartec Power Dry Silkweight Undershirt & Drawers *Level II: Sandy

Polartec Power Dry grid fleece Mid-Weight Shirt & Drawers *Level III: Sandy Polartec Thermal Pro polyester High-Loft Fleece Jacket *Level IV: Nylon Wind Jacket *Level V: Water-repellent stretchable nylon soft shell Cold Weather Jacket & Trousers *Level VI: Extreme Wet/Cold Weather

Jacket & Trousers *Level VII: Extreme Cold Weather soft shell with PrimaLoft Silver Insulation USA Parka & Trousers Total weight:

References

Sources

TM 10-8415-236-10
''Operator's Manual for Extended Cold Weather Clothing System Generation III''
1 November 2014. *

, Natick, MA
''Use and Care of the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS)''
January 1986.
"ADS Operational Equipment"

External links

Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS) Factsheet
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915100848/https://peosoldier.army.mil/portfolio/index.asp?id=6f5ad3a8&pagenumber=68 , date=2012-09-15

Generation III

Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS) Factsheet
United States Army uniforms Military equipment introduced in the 1980s Cold-weather warfare Camouflage systems