Armored Infantry Squad

I can't see a thing out of this helmet!

Beside the heat rays of the invaders, the most iconic weapon of the Martians is the terrible Black Dust. The Black Dust is a incredibly lethal chemical weapon that can eat through flesh in seconds, reducing the victim to little more that a collection of dissolved meat and bones loosely held together by whatever clothes they happened to have on at the time. A single grain of Dust when inhaled is more than capable of killing a man, dissolving the lungs and organs from the inside out.

Conventional gas masks and leather gloves when paired with the standard uniform have proved effective at keeping a soldier alive for brief exposures, but are insufficient in fighting in a Dust covered environments or sustained dust bombardment. To improve on this, the Army began to develop a dedicated dust suit which would allow soldiers to continue to resist the invaders even in locations that would kill a soldier in standard issue gear. Based off of diving suits the Armored Dust Suit (ADS) developed by Westinghouse were light enough to actually be viable on the battlefield at a grand total of 50 lbs as well as provide suitable protection.

The distinctive suits are not the only thing that sets armored infantry apart from the more regular infantry units. Their rifle is substantially more powerful than the M1903 Springfeild, firing the same .50 cal BMG cartridge developed for the new Browning .50 cal machine gun. This increase in firepower is almost a necessity as armored infantry are often committed into the face of the strongest Martian attacks as the invaders have taken to the habit of blanketing their preferred breakthrough point in Black dust.