ALICE pack pain was coming my way in the hot desert town of Niland where the Naval Special Warfare Desert training compound is located.

Niland is the kind of shite-hole desert town you see in movies like No Country for Old Men or maybe a twisted Tarantino film about meth tweakers in hot sands.

There I was, a Navy SEAL trainee, it was summer and hotter than hell, hitting 115°F most days. It sometimes got so hot out there that we couldn’t put explosive blasting caps in the ground in our demolition exercises, because the heat of the ground would set them off. 

 

What Is an ALICE Pack?

It is another acronym created by the military to simplify things. It stands for, All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment or (ALICE) pack.

The ALICE pack system has the following components:

  • Cover, Field Pack
  • Field Pack with liners
  • Metal Frame
  • Shelf with pockets for Cargo Support
  • Lower back strap
  • Waist strap
  • Shoulder straps with quick release

It is basically the father of the MOLLE pack system that would explode post-2001.

The ALICE Pack was standard military issue since 1973. If you can believe it, it is still in use today!