and comfort as Marines move into various firing positions. Boots – Equipment-bearing hiking boots or specialized hiking shoes. Combat Helmet and tactical goggles – Lightweight Helmet or other Kevlar helmets Nomex balaclava – A hood with a large opening for the eyes. NOMEX is a flame retardant fabric that was developed during post-Korean War era for use by aircraft pilots that has since been found useful for many other applications. Ballistic vest – Interceptor Body Armor. Marine Corps's Modular Tactical Vest (MTV) Special equipment Most of the recon patrols or insertions are either in maritime, amphibious environments or on the ground. They have to rely on equipment that is essential to their mission. Both recon assets contain a Table of Equipment (T/E) that has combatant diving equipment. A Marine within a recon platoon will be assigned as the "Special Equipment NCO", fully responsible for the procurement and maintenance of the equipment when operating in the field. Force Recon's Parachute Loft, or Paraloft section has in addition to their "mission-essential" equipment, the Parachutist Individual Equipment Kit (PIEK) and Single Action Release Personal Equipment Lowering Equipment (SARPELS) for their parachute capabilities. Combatant diving The scuba equipment listed under the T/E set by the US Navy for the Marine Corps reconnaissance: Draeger MK 25 rebreather unit – The rebreather unit is a pure oxygen SCUBA system that scrubs the diver's exhalation of carbon dioxide and recycles the remaining oxygen into the breathing loop. Since it is closed-circuit, it does not release a trail of bubbles unless the diver is surfacing faster than the oxygen is consumed. Bubbles could reveal the presence and location of the diver and compromise the mission. Deep See Squeeze Lock – diving knife with a beta-titanium blade. Useful when snagged in fishing nests or other submerged entanglements, many of which are nearly non-visible underwater. Aqua Lung Military Snorkel Flex Tube – Standard-issue snorkel. Aqua Lung Rocket Fin – Standard-issue swimfins. Aqua Lung Look Mask and Mythos Mask – Standard-issue diving mask. Mythos mask contains a blow-out, one-way valve at the nasal piece to expel water that is in the goggles. Diver's Weight Belt, (WB67/WB68) – Weight belt is used to neutralize excess buoyancy under the water. Case Soft Diving Weights, (September-M-2/Sep-M-5) – Additional weights that can be released individually to proper buoyant level. Scubapro Twin Jet Fins – Split fins are fairly new to the Marine Corps T/E, since