Once the inner ears are gone, Skelly knows all too well, they re gone for good. Ohlin said the best way to keep other soldiers from that plight is to teach them the importance of wearing hearing protection. Just as important, he said, is wearing them correctly. The new Vehicular Intercommunications System will protect soldiers' hearing while also improving efficiency. When wearing an earplug that's properly seated, the user's voice pitch should sound lower than usual, Ohlin said.
Maintenance is another key factor in the amount of hearing protection provided by crew helmets.
Cracked seals and torn ear cups make soldiers more vulnerable to noise than they may realize, Ohlin said. Thanks to audiologists and engineers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Army Communications-Electronics Command, tankers, mechanized infantrymen and artillerymen are about to get a new helmet that offers improved hearing protection. That cancels out the initial sound, reducing the potential for ear damage. The new helmet will eventually be fielded to all tankers, and a similar helmet designed for mechanized infantrymen and artillerymen will be fielded Armywide beginning in March. You use your ears to locate snipers and patrol members, and to determine the position, number and type of friendly or enemy vehicles.