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Female Civilian Designs A New Lightweight Body Armor For The Marines

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A newly designed body armor will be delivered to the U.S. Marines in 2019. Flora “Mackie” Jordan, body armor engineer at Marine Corps Systems Command (Marcorsyscom) is able to come up with a modular body armor that is effective as the present body armor but is 45% lighter.

According to the Marcorsyscom, Jordan, who joined them 5 years ago, has led a team to develop the new body armor by using unconventional means. What she did in collecting data, was to dress in full gear and marched alongside with the Marines in field exercise. This helped her understand how the Marines use the gear and their problems they encountered while using the present body armor.

"I was in body armor the whole time, I was eating MREs, we were sleeping in tents. It was a very miserable experience," said Jordan as quoted by the Marcorsyscom news report. "But it really gave me an understanding of how Marines use the gear, what the issues are, and helped me gather the data we really needed.”

After several design changes, Jordan and her team were able to come up with a body armor that is lightweight and comfortable. It can also be customized to fit different sizes and body shape of Marines can is compatible with existing gear.

Jordan added that “Marines are at the center of everything we do. From a design standpoint, we took into account a lot of human factors and how Marines wear it and move with it on. We looked at its compatibility with packs when Marines are hiking, or how well it holds up to different environmental conditions—from flames to extreme cold to maritime.”

In recognition of Jordan and her team’s work, they have been awarded the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America “Promising Innovations Medal” from the Partnership for Public Service. Jordan also become the first civilian marine to win an award in the award’s 16-year history.

During her free time, Jordan is studying for her Masters in Engineering Management at George Washington University.

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