we have different helmets now than back in the gulf war. a different design, different padding, different chinstrap. it's a lot different. but they do about the same thing.

i'd second adding battery life. instead of a solar charger that he won't be able to use EVER, get him an external battery that he can charge, or just a battery powered charger. since he's light armor recon, he'll have vehicle access. i'm army recon, and i've never had my ipod die in 3 year-long deployments. you always get a chance to charge it. and since he's the medic, they'll treat him good. the other point i wanted to bring up is solar-powered anything in combat. everyone thinks it's always sunny and awesome in the desert. far from the truth. if it is sunny, you're usually working twice as hard and don't have time for solar. good luck to him and i hope he has an easy deployment.