It is a dully-colored helmet with a pair of goggles located on the brim of the helmet, along with a card on the right side. It has a very rough "mass produced" look to it, as it is issued to all NCR soldiers and MPs.
Locations
Most NCR troopers will spawn with this as their primary headgear.
The DT even at max condition is quite low. This is due to the fact that steel helmets were not meant to be bullet proof, rather to protect from flying shrapnel and debris. The helmets would be quite useful while inside old buildings, as they would protect from falling chunks of building material, and the brim would be useful outside, to protect from the sun.
According to John Sawyer, the helmets "likely would have used metal with cloth over the top, which was fairly common in the 20th century."[1] They are most likely made en masse out of melted down scrap metal, and pressed into shape.
Behind the scenes
The following is based on unverified behind the scenes information and may be inaccurate.
The helmet appears to be influenced by both the Brodie helmet, as used by most Americans and British commonwealths in World War 1, and wide-brimmed pith helmets, used before, during, and after the same time period.
End of information based on unverified behind the scenes information
Bugs
Playstation 3 Sometimes, the trooper helmet will be on the side of the player character's head. Reloading a save or entering/exiting a building should fix this. [verified]