Mailing address:
Operation Helmet
c/o Dr. Bob Meaders                  Donate by clicking this link:    Make a Donation
74 Greenview Street
Montgomery, TX 77356                Email: ophelm@operation-helmet.org

Telephone: 936-449-9706. Answered gladly 8AM-5PM CST Monday through Friday (sorry, English only)  Reluctantly answered before and after... (this is our home phone also, but if you think it's an emergency, go ahead and call at other times)

We are a 100% volunteer, non-partisan, charitable organization headquartered in Montgomery, Texas (near Houston) with volunteer operations around the country.  99.96% of all contributions are used to send upgrade kits to our troops!  We have less than one-half of one percent overhead which is used to for very limited expenses related to bank charges or resending upgrade kits that didn't reach the addressee. This is a labor of love.  We have no salaries or payroll. Doc Bob covers all office expenses.

14 May 2012: In theater, everything is extended wear. soldiers purchase COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) headgear, pads, caps and other improvisation to TRY to make the ACH comfortable. it does not help. My friend used your pads in Afghanistan in 2010 and said they really do help. I would like to make sure that my unit has the same protection and comfort during our operations. Of the 180 soldiers in this unit, only about 16 go "outside the wire" regularly and use full tactical gear. The current pads diminish protection as Soldiers CONSTANTLY remove the ACH to relieve the headaches and pain caused by the issued pads. SSG, US Army

10 May 2013: Thanks so much for what you do. My element here in AFG rec'd a number of pad sets today. You made everyone's day. Many did not realize that there were options out there and thought that they just had to accept what CIF gave them. The donors that contribute for your program really do make a large difference for us here.  Cpt, US Army

12 March 2013: Comments: BEFORE MY LAST DEPLOYMENT WE HAD THE CIF ISSUE PADS AND THEY GAVE MY ENTIRE PLATOON HEAD ACHES. SO MY PLATOON COMMANDER DID SOME WORK AND GOT A BOX FOR MY PLATOON AND THAT WAS THE GREATEST GIFT HE COULD HAVE GIVEN US. NO MORE HEAD ACHES AND MORE CONCENTRATION ON THE ENEMY. NOW I WANT TO OUTFIT MY COMPANY WITH THEM SO WE CAN HAVE THE SAME COMFORT IN ORDER TO HAVE MARINES FOCUS ON THE ENEMY AND NOT A HEAD ACHE. MSGT, USMC.

3 March 2013 My Cpl has these pads and they are amazing. They actually make you want to wear your helmet, not kick it down a hill. When i go to afghanistan in may i will be going on mulitple patrols a day and would love to have these pads so i dont get migranes from the helmet that i have to live in. USMC. 

27 Feb 2013: THANK YOU!! I never expected to get an email back this fast, and have them sent...I cant even put into words how excited my troops are going to be when I tell them tomorrow morning. You have really made my evening and the entire tour for my joes. The little things really do count here and a comfortable helmet is a god send. Thank you and the entire organization for this Doc. Ill take pictures and send them to this email address once they arrive and you can see the happy joes who's tour you have dramatically improved. SGT, US Army.

15 Feb 2012:Doc Bob, The main concern is that many of our soldiers are removing their brain buckets while on route doing IED clearance which is an extreme concern for our command and higher ups. USArmy

7 Feb 2013: Ok so I talked to my crew about the kits. They all said the same thing about helmets hurting on our long convoys. We wear these things for about 12 hours straight on average and up to 20 hrs. I have a TC and a GUNNER who would like to have one. If you have two more kits to spare, I can hand them out to them. My shipping address can be used to send them and I will make sure they get their pads switched out. Its hard to hear complaining for 12 hours on a convoy as a driver haha. Thanks for all you guys do for us here in Afghanistan, it is greatly appreciated.

2 Feb 2013  I have head pain after a full day of wearing my ach (helmet) from the pad that don't offer a whole lot of comfort at all and I send big artillery bullets down to help infantry units fight the enemy so I have to wear my kit almost all day for 18 hours. PFC, US Army

21 Jan 2013: All is good here in Northern Afghanistan. I just wanted to thank you once again for the donation of the ACH pad inserts. I have issued them to my guys and I am glad to report we absolutely love them! This will not only make our day a little bit easier, but helps me keep these guys focused on finding IEDs instead of ways to justify taking their ACH off. So from 1st PLT, xxx ENGINEER COMPANY and all of us here in Afghanistan, thank you!

4 Dec 2012:Firstly, I'd like to say these Kevlar Pads i ordered are amazing. And i mean that.I am not some Marine sitting in an office taking advantage of the hard work we do patrolling over here in Afghanistan. The pads i have, i purchased. However, now im interested in getting a kit for my platoon. We are outside everyday and i constantly have guys asking if they can take off their optics due to the rubbing from our (for the lack of a better word) terrible pads. LCPL, USMC

21 Nov 2012: Several Soldiers are complaining of improper fitting and wea r of the helmet. The padding is extremely uncomfortable, and wears out quickly. Thank you very much for your thoughts and consideration.  As I am sure you have heard things are very hard to come by these days here.  With the talk of draw down, the supplies are dwindling to the point of fights over here.  Again, Thanks for your help!

27 Sept 2012: Duties: Scout Sniper Security/Overwatch Operations. Comments: the pads me and my Marines currently have disrupt our concentration. We are a Scout Sniper team and we operate mostly 75% of the time at night meaning we use Night Vision Optics. these weigh heavily on our helmets and the pads we have do not provide enough cushion for them to maintain our survivability. thank you so much for what you do and God bless you all. CPL, USMC

16 Sept 2012: The current pads make it extremely difficult for me to do my job. As a medic I need to concentrate to give fellow soldiers the medical treatment they need. With the current pads, the constant headache makes it hard to keep a clear head and perform my duties. Medic, USMC

12 Sept 2012:  I have heard nothing but exceptional things about these pads your company offers. Our unit consist of 44 men and women who on a daily basis are in truck or on foot patrol disarming IED's around the country of Afghanistan. The current pads are giving grief to myself and fellow soldiers within a few minutes to an hour after wearing our helmets consistently. Putting something on your head to protect it is nice however with the standard GI Pads issued by the Army it is rough on heads causing stress and major headaches. Let alone a pain of something straddling your head without really a good source of padding. We would all be greatly appreciative of any donations given to us by anyone out there that is willing to help us. Thanks to what you do and most certainly thanks for your support to the US Troops serving their country across the globe. God Bless! SGT, US Army

14 May 2012: My current pads are rock hard and over any extended period of time they cause headaches and pain. My old pads make it nearly impossible to wear any helmet for longer than 10 or 15 minutes. After that I would remove my head protection to work more smoothly. I badly need new pads to help me think straight and allow me to wear my helmet for longer periods of time.  SGT, EOD, USMC

21 Apr 2012: Hello there Mr. Meaders, I just wanted to let you know we received the helmet pads about 5 days ago. I passed them all out and the guys put them in. 5 days later I've heard nothing but rave reviews of the new pads. The guys say they are much more comfortable and the discomfort is gone. I want to thank you and your organization for the donation. It's nice to know there are people out there like you all that care enough about the little things and actually make a difference in our lives over here. SPC US Army

3 April 2012: During my  last deployment to Afghanistan several marines in my unit had the helmet pads sent to them from your org. and even without using them i can tell that they are of much better quality than the issued pads. The issued pads quickly get compressed and turn into a very hard foam block which is very uncomfortable and often times fall apart to the point that they wont even stay inside the helmet. I would appreciate it very much if you could outfit our Assault section with a better helmet pad.

1 Feb 2012: HAVING BEEN DEPLOYED WITH IN THE PAST YEAR AND WEARING MY ACH ALL THE TIME OVER THERE I CAN SAY THAT THE ISSUE HELMET PADS ARE HORRIBLE. THE CAN MAKE THOSE LONG PATROLS VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AND IN A PLACE LIKE THAT YOUR HELMET BEING COMFORTABLE IS A MUST. THE ISSUE PADS, ONCE FILLED WITH SWEAT ONE TIME, ARE ALWAYS HARD AS A ROCK AND NEVER REALLY FORM TO YOUR HEAD. LIKE I SAID EARLIER I AM THE XO FOR AN INFANRTY RSTA (Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition) COMPANY AND WE WILL BE REDEPLOYING HERE IN THE NEXT xxx MONTHS. I AM REQUESTING ENOUGH PADS TO OUTFIT THE COMPANY BUT ANY THING WOULD BE A START. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS AND I HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON. THANKS IN ADVANCE. 1Lt US Army   Should we help these troops? Hopes high, bank account low; can YOU help?

15 Nov 2011: Every day I wear my helmet for at least 8-10 hours when outside the wire. I have to wear them on dismounts to keep myself safe, even though they give me terrible headaches because of the constant pressure each "pad" puts on my head. I'll admit I do not always wear my helmet in our armored vehicles, because it tends to hurt so bad, even though when im inside the vehicle is one of the most important times to wear it due to IED's. Ive tried everything to soften them up such as, washing them excessively, placing heavy items on them to make them a little more flexible, all with negative results. If I had comfortable pads, i'd never take my helmet off which could definately save my life one day.

25 Oct 2011: I have received a set of helmet pads from SGT xx, just like to thank you for the donation and how much better these pads are. Its a lot more comfortable to wear my kevlar now and I actually dont mind having them on. Big difference and greatly appreciated. I'm currently with XXXXXX, in Sangin, Afghanistan, a lot of the Marines out here could use these! CPL, USMC, Infantry.  (we today sent him 150 for his Company)

13 Sept, 2011: Explosives Expert By far the most comfort in a Helmet I have ever Had I have seen these pads put to the test and marines that should of had severe concusions had very minor or no concusion at all while others wearing the older harnness were rattled something fierce. If you care about you troops you'll get these pads and spread the word for donations. SSGT, EOD.

24 June 2011: We used the pads (sent by OpHelm) last year in Afghan and they worked very well for us. However a few of the pads stitching have come loose over time.  To be honest with every thing we put our helmets through i'm surprised any of them made it back. The only reason i'm asking for these kits are because my teams going back soon and our shops budgets fading fast. Every little bit we can save helps us get the tools and gear we need to have a safe and successful deployment. I know from personal experience that when leaning over an IED, our helmets placement and comfort definitely comes into play. If only we could get the higher up to understand that we'll be doing great. Helmet pads are not on their list of necessities. Any assistance you could offer my team would greatly appreciated. Thank you. EOD, USMC

20 May 2011:After an hour, the headache keeps me from being able to concentrate on complex tasks and my shooting accuracy goes down significantly (it's really apparent when I compare my targets from my first hour of shooting with the helmet vs my second hour).  This scares me a little since I know I'll have to wear my helmet for long periods of time and still need to be able to shoot accurately.

28 March 2011: Due to the lack of comfort with the current pads, helmets are not worn as tightly as needed which greatly increases the risk of concussions/TBI. We are a route clearance unit (finding, defusing/disposing of IED's).

20 Jan 2011: Wearing the ACH for long hours results in severe discomfort at the end of the day; just in time to put it on again for a night mission or the next day. Its not intolerable, but its one more factor that works against us. It would be nice to actually have a comfortable helmet. 1LT, US Army12 Jan 2011:My Soldiers take off their helmets to relieve from headache in the vehicle which is dangerous in moving vehicle with limited headspace. we have received injuries just from hitting a bump in the road and bouncing your head off the roof. The current pads bother everyone's foreheads. SFC, US Army (It's not just IED's that can disable troops).