Helmet helpers seek assistance

When Gunnery Sgt. Phillip Limon told his wife he wanted an upgrade kit for his standard-issue combat helmet, she thought it was just an additional expense in the name of comfort.

However, after further investigation Shannan Limon came to the conclusion that the nearly $100 kit was not just for comfort but for survival.

At $127 plus shipping, not all military personnel can afford the helmet

upgrades, she said. When her husband called the company looking for a discount, the two were given the name of Operation Helmet, a nonprofit group that sends the upgrade kits to Americans deployed or deploying for combat areas.

As money is gathered by Operation Helmet, kits are sent to those who request them.

Now Shannan Limon has made it her mission to solicit $30,000 for the group to ensure that all 300 members of her husband's company, the 7th Marine Regiment, have upgraded helmets.

While making the five-hour trek from their current home in Twenty-nine Palms to Santa Maria to visit family, Shannan said, “I was thinking the whole time, ‘How can we get this money to help these guys?'”

The two Santa Maria High School graduates are now turning to the public to find the needed funds.

Tax-deductible donations can be mailed to Operation Helmet, 74 Greenview St., Montgomery, TX 77356-8456. Donations will be directed to Limon's regiment if the envelope includes “Attn.: Gunnery Sgt. Phillip Limon.”

Donations can also be made through the group's Web site at www.operation-helmet.org. On the Web site names can also be added to the waiting list, to receive a kit when money is available.

The BLSS kits, which are made and sold by a company called Oregon Aero, consist of seven specially engineered pads and a four-point chin strap and harness. The pads are waterproof, self-wicking, buoyant and shock absorbing, according to the company.

Shannan Limon, whose husband now has a helmet outfitted with the kit, said his helmet went from fitting like a bucket on his head to more like a football helmet.

The standard kevlar helmets protect against bullets and shrapnel but, she noted, they do not cushion the head against a fall or protect it from an explosion.

Phillip Limon added that the original helmets are loose and can obstruct vision when they slide around.

He added that the five different adjustments possible with the upgrade kit allow the helmet to sit snugly around his head.

“It doesn't move, especially when we have to get quickly on the ground,” he said.

Phillip Limon originally heard about the helmet upgrades from a vendor on base. When he inquired about purchasing the upgrades through the military, he was told not to count on it. But if the kits are purchased privately, they are authorized by the military to be worn.

The kits are being supplied to Army personnel and Navy Seabees, but not to the Marines, according to Phillip Limon and Operation Helmet.

Malia Spencer can be reached at 739-2219 or mspencer@santamariatimes.com.

October 18, 2005