Personal protective vest assembly and methods of assembling same

A personal protective vest assembly comprising:

• a carrier vest including:
• a front vest panel assembly adapted to overlay a chest of the wearer;
• a rear vest panel assembly adapted to overlay a back of the wearer;
• and
• a plurality of attachment straps removably coupled to the front vest panel assembly and the rear vest panel assembly;
• the front vest panel assembly including a front vest panel body extending between a front vest upper portion and a front vest lower portion along a vertical axis and between opposing front vest side edges along a horizontal axis;
• the front vest panel body including a forward facing outer surface, an interior facing outer surface, and an inner surface defining a front vest ballistic panel pocket therein;
• the forward facing outer surface including a pair of lower front vest fastening sections defined along the front vest lower portion orientated in a mirrored relationship along the vertical axis;
• each lower front vest fastening section including hook & loop fabric material extending from a corresponding front vest side edge towards a center of the front vest lower portion and including an interior edge spaced a distance from the corresponding front vest side edge and having a concave arcuate shape extending from an upper end of the front vest lower portion to a bottom edge of the forward facing outer surface;
• and
• a first flexible body armor panel positioned within the front vest ballistic panel pocket and including a ballistic material panel including a plurality of layered material segments defined between a strike face and a wear face, each of the layered material segments including a different ballistic material.