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"Woodland" reenactors?


Sabrejet
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  • 2 weeks later...

I am up in Arkansas now, Hot Springs, but close enough to consider doing Operation Eastwind in Oklahoma.

 

Are there any other Woodland Reenactors around here?

 

Timo

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  • 4 months later...
DeltaOscarAlphaUSMC

I am both a Desert Shield/Storm reenacter and a woodland reenacter!

My Gulf war kit is nearly finished, I'll post pics some day.

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Pogranichnik92

My unit does some Grenada/"Woodland" Cold War-era. Seeing as the majority of us do Soviet/Warsaw Pact, we needed someone to be an opposing force for displays, so 1980's/early 90's GI has been in the works for some time now.

post-142026-0-07436100-1387415451.jpg

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DeltaOscarAlphaUSMC

Very nice loadout, yes sir.

I'll post some picks of my current Gulf war kit as soon as I have the time.

Loving this topic!

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Also, I had a question for all you veterans out there: Were you issued Tan boots towards the end of deployment?

 

Members of my unit were each issued a brand new pair of fuzzy desert boots and a new DCU uniform just two days before the plane ride back to the USA.. Frankly because our uniforms were falling apart and there was no way we could have redeployed back to the states looking like we did.. Many of the soldiers boots were repaired with 100 mph tape (duct tape) and our uniforms were even worse... faded, worn out and stained black from wearing chemical suits for a month straight.

 

Kration

2/18 Inf 197th Bde

Attchd to 24ID

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DeltaOscarAlphaUSMC

 

Members of my unit were each issued a brand new pair of fuzzy desert boots and a new DCU uniform just two days before the plane ride back to the USA.. Frankly because our uniforms were falling apart and there was no way we could have redeployed back to the states looking like we did.. Many of the soldiers boots were repaired with 100 mph tape (duct tape) and our uniforms were even worse... faded, worn out and stained black from wearing chemical suits for a month straight.

 

Kration

2/18 Inf 197th Bde

Attchd to 24ID

 

Was it a Chocolate chip BDU or a 3 color desert?

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We got our tan boots about a week before we left Bahrain to come back to the states and were not allowed to wear them until we told we were going home that night. So the first time and only time I wore them in the desert was March 13 1991. I wore them 2 other times while home on leave then gave them to the MCAS El Toro museum. So IIRC they were issued to us in the beginning of March 91 after the shooting had stopped.

Mack

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DeltaOscarAlphaUSMC

We got our tan boots about a week before we left Bahrain to come back to the states and were not allowed to wear them until we told we were going home that night. So the first time and only time I wore them in the desert was March 13 1991. I wore them 2 other times while home on leave then gave them to the MCAS El Toro museum. So IIRC they were issued to us in the beginning of March 91 after the shooting had stopped.

Mack

 

Why wouldn't they let you use them in the actual desert?

 

Daniel.

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Also, did you guys ever see any Desert camo MOPP suits, or were they all woodland/ OD green?

All we had were woodland cammo and OD mopp suits.. we also did not have the desert cammo flak vest covers...

 

Kration

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flashesandovals

Also, did you guys ever see any Desert camo MOPP suits, or were they all woodland/ OD green?

Here's all info on individual NBC gear: http://www.desertstorm1991.com/files/NBC/NBC.htm

And here's the green, woodland and 6-color CPOG variations: http://www.desertstorm1991.com/files/NBC/NBC_Overgarments.htm

 

I own 4 sets of them, all 1990 contract dates. Never seen any pics of them actually being worn in ODS.

Some USMC units wore British made 6-color NBS suits however. I do have pictures of that...

 

Cheers

 

Pascal

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DeltaOscarAlphaUSMC

Check out these pictures of the British made chocolate chip NBC overgarment used by USMC in ODS:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/135494-usmc-desert-storm-nbc-suit-question/&do=findComment&comment=1023412

 

 

Here's all info on individual NBC gear: http://www.desertstorm1991.com/files/NBC/NBC.htm

And here's the green, woodland and 6-color CPOG variations: http://www.desertstorm1991.com/files/NBC/NBC_Overgarments.htm

 

I own 4 sets of them, all 1990 contract dates. Never seen any pics of them actually being worn in ODS.

Some USMC units wore British made 6-color NBS suits however. I do have pictures of that...

 

Cheers

 

Pascal

 

Thanks! Really Helpful.

 

Daniel.

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DeltaOscarAlphaUSMC

All we had were woodland cammo and OD mopp suits.. we also did not have the desert cammo flak vest covers...

 

Kration

 

Did you at least have Helmet covers?

 

Daniel.

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DeltaOscarAlphaUSMC

By the way, here are some pics of my current Desert Shield/storm loadout.

post-150236-0-06556900-1387984605.jpg

As you probably have noticed; There are a lot of things missing, like a chemical suit, Gas mask, a real USGI K-pot...

These things I will buy over time, but for now this is what I could find in Europe.

post-150236-0-25318700-1387984458.jpg

My basic DBDU

post-150236-0-62104300-1387984606.jpg

Rear view.

Note that the Kevlar helmet & cats eyes band aren't real.

Obviously the M4 is completely unaccurate for DS.

I'm also missing a pair of boots!

 

Daniel.

PS: Suggestions are more than welcome.

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Fender Rhodes

While I didn't serve in Desert Storm (joined just after), USMC gear issue was roughly the same for the first few years of my enlistment. A few observations for you as it appears by your questions (and user ID) that you are going for a USMC impression.

 

1. Ditch the helmet band...more often than not, we did not have them.

2. Two ammo pouches were standard issue. So ditch the extra one. The pouches should be worn as far towards the hips as you can get them...so they aren't under you when you go into the prone position.

3. Butt packs - This has been covered in other threads and responses, but they were private purchase and we only wore them when we weren't carrying rucks. When we did wear them, the large first aid kit was attached to the left side of the butt pack. Canteens were worn snug up to the butt pack. Also, most of the time the butt packs were of the M1961 canvas variety...they tended to last longer (ie, were more durable) than the nylon ones.

4. Can't tell from the pics but the canteens should have green NBC caps on them and we always taped the cap down with some green riggers tape.

5. When we wore flak vests, we wore our LBE over the vest but with the shoulder straps underneath the shoulder pads. That way the whole vest/harness could be taken off in one shot. Also, we privately purchased pistol belt extenders that way we wouldn't have to adjust the length of the pistol belt to go around the vest. The pistol belt remained fitted to your actual waist size and the extender was worn to increase the pistol belt length enough to be worn over the vest.

6. We always pinned the boonie's chin strap to the back of the hat and never wore it like you are in your pics. We used black safety pins that came with ammo bandoliers to pin them.

7. By the time I got my chocolate chip cammies, they came with full sized EGA club patches. Desert cammies were organizational clothing and we were required to turn them in.

8. I wore Panama-soled green jungles boots almost exclusively. I was later issued a set of black, Panama-soled jungle boots with quick lacing loops. I wore them for a little while (around 1993-1994 time frame) as the Marine Corps was debating over whether or not to do away with the green jungles altogether. They made the decision to keep them and I went back to the green ones until around 2002 when the Corps finally outlawed their wear.

That's all I got for now.

Keep up the good work...you're getting there.

S/F

FR

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DeltaOscarAlphaUSMC

While I didn't serve in Desert Storm (joined just after), USMC gear issue was roughly the same for the first few years of my enlistment. A few observations for you as it appears by your questions (and user ID) that you are going for a USMC impression.

 

1. Ditch the helmet band...more often than not, we did not have them.

2. Two ammo pouches were standard issue. So ditch the extra one. The pouches should be worn as far towards the hips as you can get them...so they aren't under you when you go into the prone position.

3. Butt packs - This has been covered in other threads and responses, but they were private purchase and we only wore them when we weren't carrying rucks. When we did wear them, the large first aid kit was attached to the left side of the butt pack. Canteens were worn snug up to the butt pack. Also, most of the time the butt packs were of the M1961 canvas variety...they tended to last longer (ie, were more durable) than the nylon ones.

4. Can't tell from the pics but the canteens should have green NBC caps on them and we always taped the cap down with some green riggers tape.

5. When we wore flak vests, we wore our LBE over the vest but with the shoulder straps underneath the shoulder pads. That way the whole vest/harness could be taken off in one shot. Also, we privately purchased pistol belt extenders that way we wouldn't have to adjust the length of the pistol belt to go around the vest. The pistol belt remained fitted to your actual waist size and the extender was worn to increase the pistol belt length enough to be worn over the vest.

6. We always pinned the boonie's chin strap to the back of the hat and never wore it like you are in your pics. We used black safety pins that came with ammo bandoliers to pin them.

7. By the time I got my chocolate chip cammies, they came with full sized EGA club patches. Desert cammies were organizational clothing and we were required to turn them in.

8. I wore Panama-soled green jungles boots almost exclusively. I was later issued a set of black, Panama-soled jungle boots with quick lacing loops. I wore them for a little while (around 1993-1994 time frame) as the Marine Corps was debating over whether or not to do away with the green jungles altogether. They made the decision to keep them and I went back to the green ones until around 2002 when the Corps finally outlawed their wear.

That's all I got for now.

Keep up the good work...you're getting there.

S/F

FR

 

Thanks!

I had seen pictures (and movies) of some Marines using cats eyes bands.

gulf-war-marine-500-1x7rz7l.jpg

Below, the movie "Jarhead" (not to be taken too seriously, it is a movie after all.)

%BB%E7%B8%B7%C7%D1%BA%B9%C6%C7%BF%A1%BC%

 

 

As for the boots I will be getting both the Jungle boots and Altama tan boots (both for late DS impression and Iraq 2003 impression).

I think my canteen is just a commercial one, or some sort of variant. Sadly I wasn't able to find the one with the NBC cap.

I found the LBE more comfortable to wear over the shoulders of the vest, I'm not gonna wear the vest for airsofting anyway, just reenactment, where being comfortable isn't that important.

All in all, thanks for all the suggestions, it's nice to hear from actual veterans and not rely on pictures alone.

 

PS: Thanks for the tip on mag pouch placement, it was kind of cumbersome to go prone with it.

 

Daniel.

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Did you at least have Helmet covers?

 

Daniel.

Dan,

Yes.. we had choc chip helmet covers.. when we deployed they took our BDU's at Ft Stewart and we were only issued two sets of chco chip DCU's..... we wore those two sets for 8 months in the deep desert.. washing them in trash bags filled with water or detergent in buckets.. after 8 months of sun, sweat and constant wear you can imagine what shape they were in, not to mention a month of wearing chemical suits over them... That's why they had to issue a new set to come home in... they were really trashed. Where we were at there were no tent cities, hamburger stands or PX's.. just desert.

It was really tough to get replacement clothing like boots.. we had guys walking around with duct tape holding their boot soles together and after some delay they would finally get another pair of jungle boots.. Jungle boots in the desert are terrible.. sand enters the boot from the small screened vents and chews your feet up and destroys your socks daily..

What's funny is a day or so before everyone moved up north to start the ground war QM units came around and dumped all of the gear they had been hoarding for 6 months instead of issuing.. all of a sudden we had bales of scarves, socks, long underwear, sundrie boxes containing sun screen, sun glasses etc.. all kinds of freaking stuff that we could have used in the prior 6 months.. we had to throw most of it in the burn pits... Our vehicles were already overloaded and we had no room to carry it.

 

Interesting times for sure

 

Kration

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DeltaOscarAlphaUSMC

Dan,

Yes.. we had choc chip helmet covers.. when we deployed they took our BDU's at Ft Stewart and we were only issued two sets of chco chip DCU's..... we wore those two sets for 8 months in the deep desert.. washing them in trash bags filled with water or detergent in buckets.. after 8 months of sun, sweat and constant wear you can imagine what shape they were in, not to mention a month of wearing chemical suits over them... That's why they had to issue a new set to come home in... they were really trashed. Where we were at there were no tent cities, hamburger stands or PX's.. just desert.

It was really tough to get replacement clothing like boots.. we had guys walking around with duct tape holding their boot soles together and after some delay they would finally get another pair of jungle boots.. Jungle boots in the desert are terrible.. sand enters the boot from the small screened vents and chews your feet up and destroys your socks daily..

What's funny is a day or so before everyone moved up north to start the ground war QM units came around and dumped all of the gear they had been hoarding for 6 months instead of issuing.. all of a sudden we had bales of scarves, socks, long underwear, sundrie boxes containing sun screen, sun glasses etc.. all kinds of freaking stuff that we could have used in the prior 6 months.. we had to throw most of it in the burn pits... Our vehicles were already overloaded and we had no room to carry it.

 

Interesting times for sure

 

Kration

 

Well that kind of sucks, you went 8 months without Desert gear! The whole uniform issue is understandable though, it was America's first trip to the desert, and I guess supplies were low.

 

Daniel.

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Why wouldn't they let you use them in the actual desert?

 

Daniel.

They wanted them to be clean and not full of sand when we arrived back at MCAS El Toro.

Mack

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