The increasing numbers of soldiers with bone or skeletal muscle injury are being isolated. These injuries are caused by carrying heavy weapons, weighing more than 59 kilogram, army officials said. tear

A survey was conducted to determine the number of soldiers suffered fractures due to heavy weight, stress and sprains and various other orthopedic conditions, which have forced them to isolate from the rest of the battalion, said Gen. Peter Chiarelli

Most of the injured soldiers are from Afghanistan because the road conditions are rough and uneven. These are far challenging than the conditions in Iraq. Though the injuries are remain unaffected on the ability of combating soldiers, but army officials want to reduce the carrying weight to prevent further weight-related injuries.

One of the underlying causes is the poor aerobic fitness of the soldiers. Thought the army recruits those people who are physically fit but unfortunately their bones are not prepared as per demand of jumping and running. In the past three years the numbers of non-deployed troops have extended from 2000 to 3000 and the Army has 20,000 so-called non-deployables.

Almost half were injured in the battle field and half were suffering musculoskeletal injuries due to heavy load. “When you see such kinds of injuries, you try to get rid of the thing bothering you,” Chiarelli said. “Every non-deployable soldier we have is an issue for us.”

The simple rule is that the soldiers should carry gear, half of their body weight.

The problem is the same for the infantrymen as in the ancient time. This is the problem we are trying to overcome.