DES MOINES, IA (CBS) -- When some people see a problem, they complain about it. But other folks actually do something about it, which got one Iowa unit a national award for its game-changing invention.
SSgt. J. Winkowski with the Iowa National Guard says, "A little over a year ago, 3,000 Iowans were deployed to Afghanistan. They were confident they would have a big impact on that country. What they didn't know was how much they would impact the way wars are fought forever."
When they say goodbye, soldiers are trained to believe they're ready for war. Winkowski adds, "But when we get there, things are almost never the way you anticipate."
Like when new machine guns show up, changing your battle plan. Winkowski says, "In the Army, you have two guys run a machine gun. One carries the machine gun. The other carries the ammunition. That was a problem for us because we didn't have enough personnel to split up those jobs."
And one persone couldn't carry much ammo alone. So one firefight into their deployment, Winkowski says, "We sat down and said, something needs to happen. We need some type of solution. It was kind of joked at the time that we wish we had something like Jesse Ventura in the movie Predator. Running around, he's by himself. He's got this huge ammunition pack on his back."
Hollywood got them thinking. Winkowski says, "We kind of watched the movie, kind of saw how that was."
But Iowa innovation made it work. Winkowski says, "We used some welding with some ammunition cans, used some ratchet straps, used some wire ties, used some wood, glued some wood together. You'll see how the ammunition is kind of coiled up inside the backpack and it feeds through the chute directly into the machine gun. And so we go out and get into another huge firefight, where we're surrounded and outnumbered. And it works out great!"
So good, the Iowans earned awards for the ammo backpack that saves manpower, that increases mobility and what Winkowski says, "That will absolutely save lives down the road."
Dozens of ironman packs are already in use across Afghanistan by American forces and they're confident that number will continue to grow.
The Ironman Pack can carry up to 500 rounds of ammunition. It's named after the Iowans who make up Task Force Ironman.