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DBDU/DCU badging question


FtrPlt
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May have been OEF uniforms.

 

There was no desire or intent to be distinguished from others.

 

I was in the Rakkasans for both deployments and have a strong memory of being directed to put on desert badges after OEF, so that we would look like the rest of the Division.

 

 

Scott

 

 

Thanks Scott and Turko for your inputs. It is great to hear testimony from veterans who were in Rakkasans around this time period.

 

Brent, I remember that DCU you talked about.

 

 

Just want to hop in and correct myself. I confused units here from the 101st and 3rd ID. I thought it was 101st that had them so late so I apologize for the confucsion :unsure:

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  • 2 years later...
I reclassed into Psyop (37F) in early 1994, and being assigned to the strategic desert company (A Co., 8th PSYOP Bn., in the US Army BTW), was were issued the "chocolate chip" uniforms (four or five sets plus helmet and flak vest covers, two boonie caps, a night camo parka and liner, and two pairs of first model boots) by our battalion supply at Ft. Bragg. I got issued three sets of the tri-color DBDU sets when I went to Saudi Arabia in late 1994 (considered "war issue" so we got to keep them), via the US Air Force (they always got the best stuff!); I also got a tri-color boonie cap, patrol cap, and two pairs of second model (the ones with the padded collars) boots. We still wore our chocolate chips whenever we wanted, but of course could not mix the trousers and coats between the two desert patterns (the only exception was the PASGT helmet cover, which was chocolate chip either way). I did "obtain" (ahem) a rip-stop tri-color helmet cover from our battalion supply room when I got back, but I was the only one that had one as supply was for some reason hoarding them and only issuing the chocolate chip covers. I always thought it odd that it was rip-stop...


Regarding insignia, most people just had the regular woodland BDU style insignia sewn on (i.e. black on olive drab). Some of us, myself included, also had some desert name and US Army tapes made off-base, but they were kind of crazy looking IMHO, as the backing was almost pink, but faded to a very light tan. The lettering on those was either black or dark brown, depending on who made them I guess. I also had a few sets of insignia made (and sewn onto) my uniforms while I was in Saudi Arabia, including Arabic name tapes; they were made on Eskan Village in Riyadh, and were brown on tan. I also had some insignia direct-embroidered onto some boonie hats there. Others also had insignia made, and my favorite was one of our officers had some SF tabs made for his uniforms, and they merely said "SPECIAL FORCE" instead of "SPECIAL FORCES" which of course we all gave him grief about (but he wore them for years!); I meant to ask him for one of them but never did. It was really a free-for-all regarding insignia on desert uniforms in my unit, but there may not have been any standard in AR 670-1 regarding the wear or maybe just nobody really worried about it. My battalion commander (a SF and Ranger LTC) did tell me that if I got scolded by anyone for wearing my Arabic name tapes, that I was to tell the scolder to go talk to him about it :)


We also were in on the last hurrah in Somalia, for Operation United Shield in early 1995. Our two teams plus some C Co., 9th PSYOP Bn. teams wore both chocolate chip and tri-color desert uniforms. If you saw a guy on the TV via CNN in Mogadishu with a tri-color helmet cover on then, that was me!
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