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hawkdriver
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Raising this one from the dead. Is there an Army pub for the Air Warrior system? A -10 or something of the sort? Ive got a bunch of questions on the little tid bits that are on the PSGC.

 

•What exactly are the adapter platforms for and how are they mounted to the vest?

•What are the 3 foliage green colored D rings used for on the left side of the vest?

•What are the 6 black colored rectangular rings used for positions throughout the vest?

 

Thats about it for now, hopefully someone issued with the AW vest can possibly explain these Q's.

 

Id imagine some of those rings have to do with the CB setup with the blower etc, and the over water kit being fastened on. Id like to know for sure thought. Trying to catch up on the Army ALSE used presently.

 

There is no hard copy -10 yet, everything is on a ETM, electronic manual. The vest is still controlled with an ALSE number, meaning that you can't just order them, you have to contact the PM, that is how they are controlling them in the system.

My junk is all out in the aircraft right now, but the rectangular rings are for the flotation collar, that is what the bottom of the "U" attaches to.

The adapter platform is MOLLE strapped onto the main pockets to allow more junk to be attached further back on the sides. crew chiefs are more likely to wear these as they get in the way with the seat wings for the pilots. The young guys love to carry enough junk to cripple a strong man, so these allow them to do that.

I can't actually recall right now what those foilage D rings are for. Maybe tomorrow when I come off Ready up and I have my vest back in here, it will jog my memory. OH OH OH, they are for clipping the SEA MKII breathing regulator bag to. Senility is a bad thing!

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There is no hard copy -10 yet, everything is on a ETM, electronic manual. The vest is still controlled with an ALSE number, meaning that you can't just order them, you have to contact the PM, that is how they are controlling them in the system.

My junk is all out in the aircraft right now, but the rectangular rings are for the flotation collar, that is what the bottom of the "U" attaches to.

The adapter platform is MOLLE strapped onto the main pockets to allow more junk to be attached further back on the sides. crew chiefs are more likely to wear these as they get in the way with the seat wings for the pilots. The young guys love to carry enough junk to cripple a strong man, so these allow them to do that.

I can't actually recall right now what those foilage D rings are for. Maybe tomorrow when I come off Ready up and I have my vest back in here, it will jog my memory. OH OH OH, they are for clipping the SEA MKII breathing regulator bag to. Senility is a bad thing!

 

 

Thanks for the reply. Any idea what the other rectangular rings are for on the inside? 2 rings, 1 on each side facing down. I was thinking maybe that was to adapt the Air Warrior holster thigh platform to, That modular holster system that London Bridge Trading. Totally just a guess of mine.

 

Then there are also 2 other rings inside, 1 on each side at like a 45 degree angle rearward facing. Any ideas on those?

 

I'm tracking you on the foliage ring at the left shoulder area for the UBD, but there's still 1 that Ive seen that can be stowed located at the inside left front of the vest. One last foliage green ring at the rear left of the LH main vest pocket.

 

Check it out when you have access to your vest. Ive been looking a lot into this vest and sort of studying the evolution of Army Aviation ALSE. Interesting to look at the ole 21/P vest up to the AW PSGC. My father being a Army combat aviator of the Vietnam conflict criticizes the Air Warrior vest for being "too infantry looking". Personally I think if I were an aviator today Id much rather a PSGC than wearing the old chicken plate with a 21/P over it. Id much rather the option of tailoring my vest than wearing 1 setup.

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I'm out at a FOB, so I don't have my ETM with me, but I do believe that the vertical, rectangular one is for the thigh holster. The aft facing one, that has me stumped, but think it has to do with the back pack life raft. As soon as I can find the ETM, I will let you know.

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I'm out at a FOB, so I don't have my ETM with me, but I do believe that the vertical, rectangular one is for the thigh holster. The aft facing one, that has me stumped, but think it has to do with the back pack life raft. As soon as I can find the ETM, I will let you know.

 

 

Copy that. I was thinking maybe the rearward ones were for the raft pack as well.

 

I have a couple of the old adapter straps from a Block 1 vest that are for the raft pack. Just 2 small approx 2.5 inch wide straps and a female fastex buckle. They would def fit through those side rectangular rings. I saw a pic of the raft pack from the manufacturer's website and I can see the small adapter piece I have fixed to the carriers strap. They are foliage green now, where the 2 I have are the older dark green with black hardware.

 

What sort of distribution statement is on that ETM? I'm doubting because its so new its not approved for public release. But anyways yeah when you get back and have access to it let me know if it mentions for sure about the rings.

 

Thought of another Q; how is the blower pouch worn/mounted? I cant say Ive ever seen pics of it being used or demonstrated etc.

Again thanks for the replies Hawkdriver, I really appreciate it.

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The blower has never been issued. The aircraft are modified with power cords for it, but they are not issued. I have a blower motor that was given to me for demonstration purposes when we were first issued our Air Warrior back in '06 We have been issued the blower pouches, but never shown how to wear them because the motors are not being issued. From what I can tell, it clips on that D ring on the left side of the ves or can be clipped lower if you want. Again, I would have to see in the IETM. The blower pouch zips down the middle of the bag and usually get thrown away.

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The blower has never been issued. The aircraft are modified with power cords for it, but they are not issued. I have a blower motor that was given to me for demonstration purposes when we were first issued our Air Warrior back in '06 We have been issued the blower pouches, but never shown how to wear them because the motors are not being issued. From what I can tell, it clips on that D ring on the left side of the ves or can be clipped lower if you want. Again, I would have to see in the IETM. The blower pouch zips down the middle of the bag and usually get thrown away.

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The blower has never been issued. The aircraft are modified with power cords for it, but they are not issued. I have a blower motor that was given to me for demonstration purposes when we were first issued our Air Warrior back in '06 We have been issued the blower pouches, but never shown how to wear them because the motors are not being issued. From what I can tell, it clips on that D ring on the left side of the ves or can be clipped lower if you want. Again, I would have to see in the IETM. The blower pouch zips down the middle of the bag and usually get thrown away.

 

That would explain why Ive never seen images of it. Also would explain when I see tons of those pouches for sale on ebay all the time haha. Do you know if that was designed for use with that JSAM mask system? What is the current aircrew protective mask? I'm really behind in Army ALSE. I got lost after the AIRSAVE came out. Its quite amazing how much things have changed in Army equipment both for aviators and ground pounders over the past 9 years.

 

Was the Air Warrior you first got issued the Block 3? It sort of confuses me looking into it, but is the green like the original test phase setup, Block 1 being the woodland, and block 2 being the UC pattern/ACU color, then 3 is the UC/ACU color but modular? What on earth were they thinking with the original styles with the huge removable main pockets? I never understood that. I got some pics Ill have to post of lil tid bits Ive collected over the years of misc AW stuff.

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That would explain why Ive never seen images of it. Also would explain when I see tons of those pouches for sale on ebay all the time haha. Do you know if that was designed for use with that JSAM mask system? What is the current aircrew protective mask? I'm really behind in Army ALSE. I got lost after the AIRSAVE came out. Its quite amazing how much things have changed in Army equipment both for aviators and ground pounders over the past 9 years.

 

Was the Air Warrior you first got issued the Block 3? It sort of confuses me looking into it, but is the green like the original test phase setup, Block 1 being the woodland, and block 2 being the UC pattern/ACU color, then 3 is the UC/ACU color but modular? What on earth were they thinking with the original styles with the huge removable main pockets? I never understood that. I got some pics Ill have to post of lil tid bits Ive collected over the years of misc AW stuff.

 

 

You call them Block, the Army calls them Gen. Gen I was the original bright OD solid green. These pouches had nothing sewn to the outside of them and these were used as prototypes and not issued as far as I know. Then Gen II followed, it was immediately made in Woodland pattern. It also had the removeable pockets and on the outside of one pocket was a holster and a HEED bottle holder. The theory was that if the pocket was damaged, another pocket could be put into it's place. When ACU came along, the Gen II was then made in ACU pattern, but the design was the same, so they are both known as Gen II. I was issued Gen III as one of the first units in 2006, when we got to Iraq and replaced the 101, half of them had Gen II and the other half had Gen III. Today, I am again issued a Gen III, but the material has changed. Instead of a cotton feeling Nomex, it now has a waxy appearing rip stop. It looks like someone took a current issue ACU and impregnated it with wax, but it is actually a nylon.

The current protective mask is the M-45

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so how does work when you have the helmet on and i allways thought the personal had the ones that look like long hose that hooked into the a central type unit that was on the belt for the unit had a bult in mic system to use when wearing them for flying dutys in a nbc event ..

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Well, first, the days of trying to mask in the cockpit are over, someone finally realized that was a stupid idea. So, we don our NBC before the flight. There is a specific aviation suit, but I've never trained with it, we have always used the JSLIST suit like the ground guys wear. I always put it over my armor and vest. The M-45 does have the hose for the blower unit, but the mask can be worn with or without the hose and most people prefer to wear it with the filter screwed directly to the mask. If you do fly with the hose, you simply screw it on the mask, install the filter onto the other end of the hose, and the hose has a metal spring clip that you can attach to your vest or something to keep the filter from hanging. If you are going to use the blower motor, you have to have the filter on your left side so that the power cord can be plugged into the aircraft power, which is tied next to your helmet cord on the aircraft. The blower is then installed over the filter and you are then ready.

When you know you are going to be flying with the mask, the HGU-56 has a seperate liner that you install that has a piece of the front of the TPL missing so that the mask and TPL are not overlapping. For a long time, we had people that would wear the mask TPL all the time. The mic boom is unplugged, the helmet is put on and chin strap afixed, and the mask mic plugged in. For those that wear the CEP, there is a special adapter that allows the mask and hood to be worn, and the cable run under the hood and back out to it's connection point. The M45 has smoke lens covers so that you don't need the visor down, but I still pull my visor down because they are not as dark as I like. It won't come completely down, enough to work. I have flown my mask with goggles and it works fine, but the hot spots it creates can be rather annoying.

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You call them Block, the Army calls them Gen. Gen I was the original bright OD solid green. These pouches had nothing sewn to the outside of them and these were used as prototypes and not issued as far as I know. Then Gen II followed, it was immediately made in Woodland pattern. It also had the removeable pockets and on the outside of one pocket was a holster and a HEED bottle holder. The theory was that if the pocket was damaged, another pocket could be put into it's place. When ACU came along, the Gen II was then made in ACU pattern, but the design was the same, so they are both known as Gen II. I was issued Gen III as one of the first units in 2006, when we got to Iraq and replaced the 101, half of them had Gen II and the other half had Gen III. Today, I am again issued a Gen III, but the material has changed. Instead of a cotton feeling Nomex, it now has a waxy appearing rip stop. It looks like someone took a current issue ACU and impregnated it with wax, but it is actually a nylon.

The current protective mask is the M-45

 

I used to always see it called Gen./Generation as well until recently I saw them being listed as Block for whatever reason. Didn't know they changed the material.

 

For the hell of it, I decided to snap a few pics of the small tid bits Ive gathered over the past couple years. Would be interesting to one day have a variation of each of the generations of Air Warrior vests to see what the Army has done in a few years.

lhgenii.jpg

GenII left hand pocket.

fapgenii.jpg

First aid platform still attached with a couple contents left.

genii.jpg

GenII Signal platform, tourniquet pocket and GenII test phase tourniquet pocket.

geniisig.jpg

Sig platform open.

geniitest.jpg

Label of the test marked tourniquet pocket. Note the labeling and lack of NSN etc.

geniilr.jpg

Adapter straps of what I believe to be the forward lower attachment points of the back pack life raft.

genifap.jpg

Label of GenI first aid platform dated March 01.

 

Now for a quick question and a million dollar question:

The Quick:

geniiiaprear.jpg

What is the smaller horizontal strap for on the adapter platforms? I also have a sealed pack of 4 of these similar straps and they are marked as "retention loops" and have an Air Warrior p/n

 

But now for the million dollar question:

geniiieep.jpg

eeplabel.jpg

What on earth is the EE Pouch? Its a bit longer than the standard GenIII radio pocket. I have not found any info or pics of it other than its NSN and name.

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Stumped on both. I don't know what that retention loop is for, never seen it, it wasn't with our vest RFI issue. As for the long pocket, I was thinking SEA Mk II pocket, but then saw the EE on it and I do not know. What that kind of looks like to me would be a Escape Evasion pocket with additional items that can be strapped up the middle of the back maybe? I know when the back pack raft was being issued, there was a place for the HABD at the time, pocket. I do not know, never seen it before.

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Stumped on both. I don't know what that retention loop is for, never seen it, it wasn't with our vest RFI issue. As for the long pocket, I was thinking SEA Mk II pocket, but then saw the EE on it and I do not know. What that kind of looks like to me would be a Escape Evasion pocket with additional items that can be strapped up the middle of the back maybe? I know when the back pack raft was being issued, there was a place for the HABD at the time, pocket. I do not know, never seen it before.

 

 

That EE pouch is like the exact size of that rear panel, so I wonder if you may be on to something about mounting it there. Seeing EE I thought escape and evasion myself. Still asking around to try and find an exact answer, if one even exists. Whats the exact purpose of that short extraction strap that comes with the vest? I know I saw the basic items were the 2 snap links, the short extraction strap and the SRT.

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