Ear protection in combat?

Question

While in combat do people wear ear protection when it's likely that they'll be firing their weapon? Ear muffs or plugs would make it so you couldn't hear things as well but after the first shot or two you wouldn't be able to hear anyway. Do they have ear muffs or plugs on them and wear them when they need to? Kind of an odd question I guess but it's something I've always wondered. Even shooting a .22lr pistol makes my ears ring, and something like 9mm and bigger messes my hearing up for hours.

Answer 1

They have combat earplugs which are reactive, meaning they filter in most noises until a loud blast or explosion goes off. They actually work pretty well, from my experiences using them on the firing range, and at fireworks shows. Guys may or may not wear them out on patrol. They are supposed to.



DO wear ear protection anytime you are firing anything on the range. Soldiers do. Hearing loss will permanently disqualify you from military service. If soldiers get hearing loss, they can be discharged from the military. They screen them after every deployment.



And it makes no sense to get hearing loss when you are young. It's something you will have to deal with the rest of your life if you do.

Answer 2

I have a couple of combat deployments, and admit to never wearing any hearing protection while actually "out and about". In fact, the one time, I was out of the vehicle and was still wearing the ear cups from my intel comms box, I did not know where the enemy fire was coming from because everything was muffled so much. I tried the one-ear-piece rig, and it blew as well. However, I always wear it on the range - even when we were out at some empty piece of desert in Iraq shooting at paper targets.



But in combat - nope. Didn't ever wear seat belts in combat either. I'm just a risk-taker!

Answer 3

During training exercises yes you have ear plugs I've gone partially deaf in my right ear because i kept forgetting to put them while at the range LOL its not a good idea to do such but in combat I highly doubt that the when someone is shooting at you during combat the last thing on your mind is reaching for your ear plugs people get redeployed with bigger issues than not being able to hear trust me in that one

Answer 4

At the range back in garrison yes; on deployment no. For one you want to be able to hear everything your team is saying, It's hard enough to hear them inside a loud Humvee or Bradley much less during a firefight. Also, when it's 140 degrees outside the last thing you want to do is put a piece of rubber and plastic in your sweaty dirty ears.

Answer 5

We get issued Ear Pro ( regular plastic plugs). You can even wear the foam earplugs but my own preference is the plastic variety. They are much easier to clean. Also the one time that you will ear muffs is if you are in an indoor range. They will require you to wear your standard issue ear plugs and ear muffs over.

Answer 6

I was a gunner most of my deployment so i had the headphones as my "earplugs" but when i did dismount, and the ppl who dismounted daily NEVER wore earplugs...



When we came back there were SOoooo many ppl with permanent hearing loss(me included) that they made ear pro a permanent part of our uniform in garrison...

Answer 7

Yes, ear plugs are part of the combat uniform in the US military.

Answer 8

Your ears adjust, so you can still hear the softer noises, but the louder ones ie gunfire are muffled. It stops the ear drum from being vibrated too much.



Ive heard of alot of guys not wearing ear protection and i wouldnt reccomend it. Normally they issue earplugs, and some comms equipment has full ear coverage that blocks out loud noises.



yeah 22 long is pretty loud, but thats more of a high pitched bang. Shooting higher caliber guns without ear protection hurts just a little. haha.



Made my head swim.

Answer 9

No, it is not conducive to awareness and communication with your fellow soldiers.



FOLLOWUP: This must be new. In my day, we only used ear protection for training and not in combat. Must be the new pussified forces that wear tennis shoes for PT also.

Answer 10

they either use earplugs or theres padding in the helmet that helps soften the blow of sound per shot.