Jump to content

USAF Special Forces Grouping Direct From Afghanistan!


Ngrovcam
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hey all!

 

I have gotten to know a USAF Academy grad and met some ofhis buddies...all of them top notch guys and officers. I told them about my interest in militaria and one of them got deployed. the other day my friend delivered me a bag. I AM SO THRILLED!

 

post-64499-0-78418400-1356572835.jpgpost-64499-0-07922100-1356572845.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool collection indeed. But just before I came to the site here, I had been on the phone with an aid to my US Senator. And earlier this morning I actually spoke with my congressman. Both are preparing to return to Washington to participate in the debate and vote on our current & proposed national budget. It is a difficult issue. Where is the waste and what (who) do we cut?I'm not trying to bring politics into the discussion but we DO have a fiscal problem in this fine nation of ours.

 

And I know that this point is a relative drip in the bucket, but as I looked at the images I couldn't help wondering how much that tactical balistic helmet and other gear that looks essentially unused cost the Air force and thus the US govenrmant and thus the tax payers. And I couldn't help but wonder how many other friends, little brothers, kids, are loading up. (Tradition, right?) Jeez, I recall a buddy in the Army reserves passing out camo coats and pilots gloves from the trunk of his car.

 

It's just a thought. Sorry to be a downer. Happy New Year......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice stuff. But just a FYI. USAF "Special Forces" is unheard of but there is AFSOC, consisted of CCT, TACP, PJ, SOWT. Which one is this airman?

 

 

I do not know sir.... Could you provide what each of those means? I could give a guess

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool collection indeed. But just before I came to the site here, I had been on the phone with an aid to my US Senator. And earlier this morning I actually spoke with my congressman. Both are preparing to return to Washington to participate in the debate and vote on our current & proposed national budget. It is a difficult issue. Where is the waste and what (who) do we cut?I'm not trying to bring politics into the discussion but we DO have a fiscal problem in this fine nation of ours.

 

And I know that this point is a relative drip in the bucket, but as I looked at the images I couldn't help wondering how much that tactical balistic helmet and other gear that looks essentially unused cost the Air force and thus the US govenrmant and thus the tax payers. And I couldn't help but wonder how many other friends, little brothers, kids, are loading up. (Tradition, right?) Jeez, I recall a buddy in the Army reserves passing out camo coats and pilots gloves from the trunk of his car.

 

It's just a thought. Sorry to be a downer. Happy New Year......

 

 

Your response is not a downer, You just dont know what You are talking about. Helmet pads/straps, clothing, hats (anything that is worn against the skin) is issued to an indvidual and that is it. There is no turn for reissue on these items. If You turn them in ( if You can find someone who will take them), they just go in the trash. They are Yours to use until no longer needed, then discarded. No one wants themselves, Sons or Daughters crawling around in a pair of pants riding up their butt that was worn by someone else. The helmet is old style issue and most likely no longer issued in AFSOC anyway. All the items shown are used, and for the claymore bag is a throwaway item, much like a pin on a grenade. As for Your buddy passing out coats and gloves from the back of his car, You might want to mention that to Your Congressman rather than preach to someone for legit stuff He was given

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Air Force Special Opertions Command consists of several specialized functions including CCT or Combat Crew Training , the TACP is the Tactical Air Control Party, PJs are the Para-rescue / "jumpers", and the SOWT are the Special Operations Weather Technicians. Never mind the Army of One: In the modern military it takes a well organized village to really raise hell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A suggestion: Talk to your USAF friends who knew the guy and ask what exactly he does. I'm surprised that you didn't ask much questions about this airman when you obtained this grouping. Rule of thumb, gather as much information you can on grouping or it would become a "lot of items".

 

AFSOC- Air Force Special Operations Command

CCT- Combat Controller Team

TACP- Tactical Air Control Party

PJ- Pararecuse

SOWT- Special Operations Weather Technician

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the clarification regarding these items: My primary focus was the helmet; I was not aware that the current generation of helmets were not reissued. And this helmet seemed to be of fairly recent manufacture: 05. ( You say that you think this is an old model.) Is this practice the same of other ballistic protective gear? (A sincere question. I really don't know.) I do know that civilian kevlar used by law enforcement is often destroyed & replaced after a certain period of time as natural exposrre to dirt, grime & persperation diminishs the items protective nature.

 

My "aqauintance" with the shop in his trunk was found out by the reserve tech in his unit and the incident was passed on to the unit commander who handled it at "administrtively:" basically a slap on the wrist. The unit commander it turned out had a bigger problem at the moment as many reserve personnel with govt. issued credit cards were running up tabs on things entirely unrelated to deployments, not paying their tabs, and leaving Uncle Sam with the default. At the time, such practices were not isolated incidents.

 

I'm sorry to have come off as preachy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No worries, A common misconception pepole have. Helmets are issued to You and You keep them until Issued another or You leave. Thats why You see so many for sale. Just the cost of gathering them up sorting them, then sterilizie them and then putting back into the system would be more than the original price of the helmet. Do a search or the boards and You will find a few threads where members have found dumpsters filled with old Kevlars and ACHs. The Helmet shown is indeed mfg. in 2005, but most SOC until have switched to the 'GUNFIGHTER' style (cut out for the tactical comm headsets) which would make the helmet shown as obsolete as a Kevlar issued during Grenada. You are correct that Kevlar does have a shelf life and exposed to to extremes degrades them, another reason they are not reissued.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

445th Bomb Group

When I left the active-duty Army at the end of my enlistment in the late 1990’s, I was required to return all items issued by the Central Issue Facility. That included my Kevlar helmet, LCE, rucksacks, canteens, cold weather gear, etc. If you were short an item you would have to pay for it. I was also required to turn in the desert BDUs, boots and boonie hat that I had been issued for a training assignment in the Middle East. The DBDUs and boonie hat had all been issued at least once before, the previous users had written their names and units inside them. The Kevlar jump helmet that I received from CIF looked like it had been issued several times, I had to purchase a new sweatband and cover for it. The only items that you were allowed to keep back then were your initial issue uniform items from basic training. Of course, that was the old Clinton-era ‘Cutback Army’ and things are probably a lot different today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All armor has a shelf life.

After a couple of years one would not want to wear in in combat as rain, sun and dirt all deplet its stopping power rending it useless.

 

owen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stinger Gunner USMC

No worries, A common misconception pepole have. Helmets are issued to You and You keep them until Issued another or You leave. Thats why You see so many for sale. Just the cost of gathering them up sorting them, then sterilizie them and then putting back into the system would be more than the original price of the helmet. Do a search or the boards and You will find a few threads where members have found dumpsters filled with old Kevlars and ACHs. The Helmet shown is indeed mfg. in 2005, but most SOC until have switched to the 'GUNFIGHTER' style (cut out for the tactical comm headsets) which would make the helmet shown as obsolete as a Kevlar issued during Grenada. You are correct that Kevlar does have a shelf life and exposed to to extremes degrades them, another reason they are not reissued.

Seriously? a helmet is a personal issue item in the Air Force because your can't wear a helmet that has been on someone elses head? So you mean I wasn't supposed to be issued a late 80s Kevlar and flak jacket that had been used by countless Marines before me, had cracks, mold, caked on mud and other random unidentifiable bodily fluids When I did my deployment in '04? I guess we do things different in the Corps that the Air Force does! Of course we also still use Vietnam era aircraft and weapons and I lived in not 1, not 2 but 3 barracks that should have been condemed due to molds, infestations, lack of running water and electricity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have a very nice set and it isn't your fault that you do, take good care of it. That being said these items are organizational issue and should have been turned in. These are not "next~of~skin" items. The notion about ballistic items having limited operational use might be true but that doesn't mean it can't be relegated to training status. There is always a need for old stuff to be used in the rear area on a non~operational basis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...