No, becasue in ace, earplugs don't have negative effects, so you put them in, and never take them out, might as well be standard gear.

They have new non-electronic earplugs that block sounds over a certain decibel level while allowing a whisper to get through. I think Surefire makes them.

http://www.surefire.com/ep3-sonic-defenders.html

I own a pair and wore them for a couple of days, quite amazed by how well they worked. I think they gave me a ear-ache, though. Maybe didn't let my ear breath. Not sure.

i think goldblaze has a very good point.. since there are no negative effects (in general) we could consider them as standard gear.. no need to add them as an extra item

voted up. I think, it should be part of the default soldiers equipement, so a soldier doesn't need to think about that issue.
Any Soldier should have them by default, but making it optional could result in a more enthralling gameplay in rescue missions, when the hostage does not have them.
in that case, earplugs could maybe become a valuable Item and having them would definitely not hurt the game.

I don't know about ear plugs, but from what I know the Special Forces use those special headphones that allow you to hear normal, but filter out very loud noise such as nearby explosions and gun fire.

I believe the cap with the green headphones in the ArmA3 gear selection are those things. The helmets in ArmA3 might also have those build in?

Not sure how to convey this in the game. I love the fact that guns are loud in ArmA3, I am tired of the generic shooters barely making any impact with gun sounds, but if you use those headphones/earplugs, people may not understand and complain about the unrealistic gun sounds.
This would need to be implemented somehow in an understandable way.

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Psycho, I think these might be the ones you're talking about:

http://www.earplugstore.com/earmuffs.html