227 replies to this topic

[sgtmonroe]

 

2nd and 3rd from left have cylinders rubber band'd  to the magazine in their rifle.[What is that?]

 

Paul Howe has something written on the rolled up part of his sleeve.

 

Howe has a shotgun attached to his CAR-15

 

 

IIRC Paul said his blood type was "written on his sleeve." The "cylinders" are flashbangs (rubber banded to the magazines, for quick access) like the ones you posted attached to the AWS rig (which by the way if a excellent image). There are other pictures of Paul with the CAR/shotgun combo as he was commonly the "breacher" in the group.

[Ealbert]

Correct on the glint tape with velcro....we changed over time from a whole strip of glint tape on the left arm to wearing smaller squares...from my time in the Ranger's would always have an American flag, ear plugs, and glint tape safety pinned in our patrol caps....the Ranger's would always copy what Delta had or wore at the time. My friend was a .50 cal gunner and acquired a hipholster from someone in Delta...when the Regimental Commander came in and saw him wearing it he had a "cow" because it wasn't authorized. It was funny to see how much the community changed up to and after 9/11 

What is the silver rectangle on the left man's vest, glint tape?

 

 

[Ealbert]

A couple of more pics

Attached Images

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[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

Is the large white building  with all the antennae in that last photo you posted the JOC [What does that stand for? Joint Operations Command?] command center, the "Porcupine" mention in the book "Black Hawk Down"?

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

This man is wearing what I believe is a Pro-Tec Classic Full-Cut[Was it called classic at the time?] and a Load Bearing Vest. 

 

[Is that a watch by the flag on his chest? he already wears one on his left wrist?]

 

He has something on his right sleeve but I can't tell what it is probably velcro.

 

 

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

Is the large white building  with all the antennae in that last photo you posted the JOC [What does that stand for? Joint Operations Command?] command center, the "Porcupine" mention in the book "Black Hawk Down"?

I see in an early post you made that that is the JOC, my question still stands, what does JOC mean?

[Ealbert]

Is the large white building  with all the antennae in that last photo you posted the JOC [What does that stand for? Joint Operations Command?] command center, the "Porcupine" mention in the book "Black Hawk Down"?

It's in front of the Joint Operations Center (JOC) when viewing the picture to the left was the hanger...behind the JOC was where we ate

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

D-Boys on the tarmac with MH-6 littlebirds.

[Ealbert]

1stSFODsomalia14_zps19758e31.jpg

This man is wearing what I believe is a Pro-Tec Classic Full-Cut[Was it called classic at the time?] and a Load Bearing Vest. 

 

[Is that a watch by the flag on his chest? he already wears one on his left wrist?]

 

He has something on his right sleeve but I can't tell what it is probably velcro.

 

 

To me it looks like a compass by his flag....from what I remember they just called the helmets - Pro-Tec....on the sleeves of the modified assault uniform some had pockets...later versions all had pockets....there were no pockets on the front bottom of the uniform because the shirts were tucked in and served no purpose 

[Ealbert]

This was from after Somalia but this is what the assault tops looked liked...we had them in woodland and desert....you can see the velcro...again this was post Somalia

Attached Images

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[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

Apparently this was posted on DiTomasso's Facebook but it is gone now. 

"At this point in the day, most of us were out of ammo, surrounded by hundreds of enemy trying to kill us as we defended one of our fallen. There are two things that I have learned over the past 19 years that are the worst that can happen to a soldier. First, to be found wanting of your mates. Second, to be forgotten. I will never forget what happened on 3 OCT 93. I am proud to have served with those that were there that Sunday. Stay in touch, RLTW"

 

 

Note the sandbags strapped to the back of the HMMWV, Paul Howe mentioned up-armoring humvees with spare body armor and sandbags. That would prevent the trunk from being opened.

 

These men are all lieutenants, they should be pretty easy to ID. One is probably DiTomasso.

 

Note the armor of the man on the far left and far right is different[variants of the same or completely different?] 

 

The two on the left of the photo have flight gloves, used for fast roping. 

 

Note the mk 19 on the humvee

 

2nd from right has the sling of his rifle attached to his ALICe suspenders with a Snap Link.

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

Delta on a MH-6 littlebird, I think the far right is Paul Howe because he has green velcro on his sleeves and a big thing under the barrel of his CAR-15 which I think is his shotgun he attached to it.

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

What building is this? 

 

Note most are green but one is tan [maybe garrisons?]

 

I think 3rd from right is soft-top.

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

This picture is too low resolution to see much, it's a screen cap from "the True Story of Black Hawk Down"

[Ealbert]

B1ZMipb.jpg

What building is this? 

 

Note most are green but one is tan [maybe garrisons?]

 

I think 3rd from right is soft-top.

From where the picture was taken the JOC was on the right and the entrance to the perimeter would have been to the left. This was the hanger where most slept

[Ealbert]

They were all good men and it reminds me how long ago everything was

53619_523627370985000_449956326_o.jpg

Apparently this was posted on DiTomasso's Facebook but it is gone now. 

"At this point in the day, most of us were out of ammo, surrounded by hundreds of enemy trying to kill us as we defended one of our fallen. There are two things that I have learned over the past 19 years that are the worst that can happen to a soldier. First, to be found wanting of your mates. Second, to be forgotten. I will never forget what happened on 3 OCT 93. I am proud to have served with those that were there that Sunday. Stay in touch, RLTW"

 

 

Note the sandbags strapped to the back of the HMMWV, Paul Howe mentioned up-armoring humvees with spare body armor and sandbags. That would prevent the trunk from being opened.

 

These men are all lieutenants, they should be pretty easy to ID. One is probably DiTomasso.

 

Note the armor of the man on the far left and far right is different[variants of the same or completely different?] 

 

The two on the left of the photo have flight gloves, used for fast roping. 

 

Note the mk 19 on the humvee

 

2nd from right has the sling of his rifle attached to his ALICe suspenders with a Snap Link.

 

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

Rangers in front of the same Humvee as the lieutenants from earlier.

 

The man in front has a m107.

 

The man on the left has something on his stock and a very large scope. His magazine has tape on it like in many pictures of rangers, I have read this is to give the magazine a rougher surface, making it easier to grip when covered in sweat.

 

The man in the middle back has 2 magazines strapped together.

 

 

[Ealbert]

here's a couple of more...the one with a patrol cap is Danny McKnight

Attached Images

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[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

What's the point of all the shipping containers and sandbags?

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

This is often seen in black and white mis-identified as Seal Team 6.

 

This is the same area where the photo in post #38 was taken.

 

The man with his face uncensored is Howard Wasdin. Who actually is a SEAL, unlike most of the men, who are C squadron 1st-SFOD-D

[Ealbert]

The sandbags & containers - sandbags were for protection...we received occasional mortar rounds and unfortunately by the right corner of the picture we did receive a mortar round that killed Matt Rierson and wounded quite a few....the containers were probably storage and for interogations...it was a long time ago and I had a lot of deployments since then so memory on the usage could be off

What's the point of all the shipping containers and sandbags?

 

[Ealbert]

We did have a few SEALs with the group...not a large group from memory...I do remember seeing SEALs before we re-deployed from a regular SEAL team...I went jumpmaster school with 2 of them and we talked about Lorenzo Ruiz who was also in our class who was KIA....Ruiz was a very good man that always led from the front

1stSFODsomalia18_zpscdaf071c.jpg

This is often seen in black and white mis-identified as Seal Team 6.

 

This is the same area where the photo in post #38 was taken.

 

image.jpg

The man with his face uncensored is Howard Wasdin. Who actually is a SEAL, unlike most of the men, who are C squadron 1st-SFOD-D

 

[Brian Keith]

LOVE this thread!

Thanks for all the info! Especially Ealbert's contributions.

 

BKW

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

D-Boy Chris Faris playing solitaire in the hanger.

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

PFC Richard "Alphabet" Kowalewski KIA Oct 3rd 1993 age 20.

He joined the army to pa for college.

One week before he was killed he wrote "War is very sad kills everyone in some way," to his fiancee Donna Yarish.

He planned to introduce Donna to his family that thanksgiving.