The United States Army started using the ALICE (All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment) equipment in 1973. The ALICE gear was designed to be a lighter, more functional alternative to the M-1956 Load-Carrying Equipment that preceded it. The ALICE system consists of multiple components that can be attached to a belt with ALICE clips allowing the user to adjust the equipment as necessary. The essential components of the ALICE military backpack system are the equipment belt, suspender system, ALICE backpack, two canteen covers, two ammunition pouches, Entrenching tool carrier, and first aid pouch.
The ALICE pack gear went through several changes throughout the 1960s in order to make it combat ready and suitable for the Vietnam War in progress at the time. The resulting system was regularly used by troops for over twenty years. The adaptability of the system was one of its major strong points. The ALICE clips in conjunction with the numerous eyelets on the individual belt gave the soldier many options as to where to position his gear to allow for the proper positioning of the backpack. The backpack was mounted on an aluminum frame making it much more lightweight than the steel-framed rucksack it replaced. Ammunition pouches with internal dividers were adopted allowing soldiers to quickly remove magazines to fire while in combat. There were initially numerous deficiencies with the system but these were mostly worked out during the early 1970s.
Currently the Army only uses ALICE gear in some training environments. The ALICE gear was replaced by the MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment) gear beginning in 1997. The ALICE gear appeared in the basic Army olive drab color and later in the woodland BDU pattern. The subsequent MOLLE gear had the DCU pattern and most recently in the ACU pattern. Despite being replaced by a superior equipment support system, the ALICE system served the Army well and is still the basic go-to gear of Military enthusiasts.
