Mask liner giving Airmen a second skin

  • Published
  • By Lanorris Askew
  • Warner Robins Air Logistics Center Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  A simple innovation in chemical protection gear could save thousands of Airmen’s lives and millions of Air Force dollars, according to the support equipment team here.

Known as the second skin, or SS, the recent addition to the MCU-2P and the MCU-2A/P personal protective gas masks adds a literal extra layer of protection against chemical, biological and nuclear warfare agents.

“The idea is simple, but I think it’ll do wonders for the masks,” said Don Waddell, from the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center here.

Made of a rubber-type material, the second skin is an overlay for the mask which extends the time it is effective in a hostile area. Before the addition, the masks had to be discarded after exposure to chemical agents, but with the second skin the masks may be used again by removing the skin after the decontamination process and replacing it with another.

According to the team, the price difference between the SS and a mask is astronomical and that little piece of rubber saves the Air Force roughly $170 per mask.

Earl Duck, an equipment specialist, said the masks are being given to Airmen who are, or could be, deployed to a hostile area.

Because of the emphasis on air and space expeditionary forces, this means almost everyone in uniform, he said.

While the actual protection levels of the masks and the second skin are classified, with or without the skin the masks provide wearers a high level of protection against chemicals such as blister and nerve agents, said Johnnie Kincaid, the program manger. The second skin however, expands that protection to the next level with additional thickness.

The Air Force’s initial development of the SS was done at Brooks City-Base, Texas, but the original group to develop the SS was the Army through the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Edgewood, Md., for use with their M-40 masks.

Sustaining the skins and all technical responsibilities are handled through center here. In addition, the Defense Logistics Agency is the supply source and covers all procurement and distribution.

In the past three years more than 314,000 masks have been fielded, and since the first quarter of 2003, when the second skins were first available, more than 500,000 have been put in storage at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

The new skins are issued as needed to people deploying to potential high-threat areas, said Laurie Beebe, an engineer. All new mobility Airmen are issued a mask, and workers here fill those new needs as well as replacements daily, she said.