American soldier American soldiers are the backbone of the U . S . Army and the player ' s main allies in the " " add - on for " Fallout 3 " . American soldier . American riflemen wear winterized combat armor and are armed with R91 assault rifle s . They have superior health and armor compared to their , but inferior weapons and are vulnerable to Crimson Dragoon s and snipers . The basic U . S . infantryman has about twice as much health as a basic Chinese soldier , and is about on par with a Chinese special weapons unit ( and also roughly on par with an Enclave soldier ) in terms of skill and durability . American sniper . American snipers wear winterized combat armor . They utilize a sniper rifle . They are effective against Chinese infantry . American special weapons units are about on par with Chinese special weapons units in terms of skill and durability . Unlike their Chinese counterparts , American special weapons units do not have increased skill or durability in relation to the basic infantry unit . They have notably lower Charisma than other soldiers . American inferno unit . American inferno units wear winterized combat armor and carry a flamer . They are effective against Chinese infantry and entrenched positions . They are always male , but their race is random . American special weapons units are about on par with Chinese special weapons units in terms of skill and durability . Unlike their Chinese counterparts , American special weapons units do not have increased skill or durability in relation to the basic infantry unit . American launcher . American Launchers wear winterized combat armor . They are armed with a missile launcher . They are effective against entrenched positions and Chimera s . American special weapons units are about on par with Chinese special weapons units in terms of skill and durability . Unlike their Chinese counterparts , American special weapons units do not have increased skill or durability in relation to the basic infantry unit . American T - 51b unit . This troop type wears a winterized T - 51b power armor and is armed with an R91 assault rifle . They are only seen patrolling in and around the U . S . Army field headquarters . They are always male , but their race is random . Oddly , unlike their powerful counterparts seen during the final battle at the Oil Refinery , the American T - 51b units at the U . S . Field HQ are only slightly more durable and skilled than the basic U . S . infantry soldiers ( although they do have superior armor ) . Power armored soldier . Wearing winterized T - 51b power armor , power armored soldiers are armed with AER9 laser rifle s , 10mm SMG s , R91 assault rifle s , Chinese assault rifle s , super sledge s , scoped Gauss rifle s , minigun s , flamer s , and Fat Man s . They are very effective against all Chinese forces . Their only weaknesses are pulse fields . Most of these appear in the final confrontation with General Jingwei . Power armor soldiers are very powerful , with high health and good armor giving them slightly better durability than even a Non - player character companion or a super mutant master . U . S . paratrooper . Only one U . S . paratrooper appears in the simulation , dropping from the ceiling of the Cave Outpost in The Guns of Anchorage and leaving his scoped Gauss rifle for the player to take after his winterized combat armor fails to protect him from . It is not worth trying to save him , because his death is a scripted event . The player character in the simulation is also a paratrooper . Appearances . American soldiers only appear in the " Fallout 3 " add - on " " . Bugs . If the Lone Wanderer takes too much time while trying to kill General Jingwei , power armored soldiers will attack the Lone Wanderer . This happens as the player character is assigned a temporary affiliation with the Chinese Faction so the dialogue with General Jingwei can occur - otherwise he would be forced to attack on sight by his AI . Although the Chinese turn hostile after the dialogue , the affiliation remains and the American faction , appearing only as the power armored soldiers , is hostile due to this affiliation .