As I sat at work today ordering supplies on FEDLOG (those of you in the military know what that is) for our upcoming deployment I had to wonder, how many obsolete items from WWII or Korea (or vietnam) are still recognized in FEDLOG and might even have stock numbers. I know it would be silly to think that there is a warehouse with dust covered Norden bomb sights or something, but I know in the maze of military supply, some things must have been forgotten about and never taken off the books.

 

I did a basic word search for things like "flamethrower" for instance and that came up, but no details on it. No...I'm not going to try and sneak an order for a flamethrower through, but does anyone know of obsolete stuff in the Army inventory?

 

Mike

I know the last time I was bored playing on FEDLOG about a year ago I found that the M151 was still in the system and had a good NSN for it. Also found a NSN for Budweiser beer.

My Infantry Company Arms room still has a 71 dated rocket launcher... No rockets but we're keeping the launcher. Also had a tape reader from the Vietnam era too.

 

Kyle

One of my Mechs pulled out a solder kit to work on the aircraft that had a 68 contract date.

148th- I suppose you mean NSN 2320-00-177-9258 for the 151. I actually was looking online tonight for numbers to look up on the computer tomorrow. I really have to wonder if you could actually get one of those through the system if you would actually get one. I found stocknumbers for M3A1s and am going to look that up for curiosity sake.

 

Hawkdriver- Being the ALSE guy, I have found quite a few of the US pocket knives (the stainless steel ones made by Camillus) with Vietnam era dates. The earliest one I have found yet I actually have here with me since we don't issue them anymore. It is a 1966 but have found them ranging from 68 to 72. I think we can still order the woodsman's pals for the survival kits and have seem most of them with Vietnam eral contract numbers.

 

Mike

As I sat at work today ordering supplies on FEDLOG (those of you in the military know what that is) for our upcoming deployment I had to wonder, how many obsolete items from WWII or Korea (or vietnam) are still recognized in FEDLOG and might even have stock numbers. I know it would be silly to think that there is a warehouse with dust covered Norden bomb sights or something, but I know in the maze of military supply, some things must have been forgotten about and never taken off the books.

 

I did a basic word search for things like "flamethrower" for instance and that came up, but no details on it. No...I'm not going to try and sneak an order for a flamethrower through, but does anyone know of obsolete stuff in the Army inventory?

 

Mike

 

Come on Mike, you know you guys need flamethrowers...I'll give you a nickel if you order one...

 

This is how great Army Stories start...also how Article 32 hearings begin - but that is not important right now. :thumbsup:

I think you will find a lot of tools and sets still out there in use. Assuming they are not lost, broken or taken home upon PCS, there is no reason they should not last for years.

Come on Mike, you know you guys need flamethrowers...I'll give you a nickel if you order one...

 

This is how great Army Stories start...also how Article 32 hearings begin - but that is not important right now. :thumbsup:

 

LMAO :thumbsup:

When I was an SMP cadet in my old Texas ARNG infantry unit, we cleaned out supply before the battalion deployed in 2004. While in there, I pulled out six grease gun mags, a pair of 44 dated wire cutters in the pouch and four sets of 44 or 45 dated M1944 goggles. Considering the armory was built in 1995, those things must have been moved around quite a bit!

 

We've got some PVS-5s in our arms room too. I keep trying to get a pair released to the museum, but no one's biting just yet.

 

 

 

Jon

I was on the nuclear submarine USS Groton from 79-82 and in our can food storage spce we still had emergency rations that had WWII date on the cans. I think they were burgers.

I was on the nuclear submarine USS Groton from 79-82 and in our can food storage spce we still had emergency rations that had WWII date on the cans. I think they were burgers.

 

 

 

mmmmmmm Tasty, I'll fire the grill up and everyone can enjoy their own vintage WWII hamburger, or add it to the collection!

As an Air Force supply type back in the late 60's, we had all kinds of stuff dating from WWII. Some items like insulated flyers trousers were still in original boxes. Ditto web gear, ice cleats and other stuff I've probably forgotten about. We seldom issued any of that old stuff, but we had it in the warehouse. Uncle Sam just didn't want to throw anything away it seemed.

As an Air Force supply type back in the late 60's, we had all kinds of stuff dating from WWII. Some items like insulated flyers trousers were still in original boxes. Ditto web gear, ice cleats and other stuff I've probably forgotten about. We seldom issued any of that old stuff, but we had it in the warehouse. Uncle Sam just didn't want to throw anything away it seemed.

 

Any unissued A-2 Jackets? lol, hey one can wish

The Master Sergeant back in my old ROTC unit used to tell me stories about these types of things. He worked as an armorer in Quantico with the Marine Corps, and he'd have to drive out to requisition things for whatever purposes. He says he toured through warehouses just filled with this stuff, and the guy would explain whatever was in the warehouse they'd be in. He told me they had rows and rows of stored m1's, .45 mags, assorted gear, an entire warehouse for every item. So it doesn't surprise me these things are still out there and floating around in supply, the U.S. Government definitely has them.

According to FEDLOG, the M151 jeep costs a little over $16K. I know it wouldn't happen, but if there was some way to actually get that approved and sent, what would the person receive? Are all the infamous "jeeps in a crate" in an Army warehouse?

 

Mike

When I was an SMP cadet in my old Texas ARNG infantry unit, we cleaned out supply before the battalion deployed in 2004. While in there, I pulled out six grease gun mags, a pair of 44 dated wire cutters in the pouch and four sets of 44 or 45 dated M1944 goggles. Considering the armory was built in 1995, those things must have been moved around quite a bit!

 

We've got some PVS-5s in our arms room too. I keep trying to get a pair released to the museum, but no one's biting just yet.

Jon

 

 

Until early 2006 we still had M3 Grease Guns in our recovery section and had to qualify on them every year.

According to FEDLOG, the M151 jeep costs a little over $16K. I know it wouldn't happen, but if there was some way to actually get that approved and sent, what would the person receive? Are all the infamous "jeeps in a crate" in an Army warehouse?

 

Mike

 

I don't know about a jeep in crate, but I know the Hawaii Army National Guard had an engine for an M-4 Sherman in a crate in storage at what had been the Waikiki Armed Forces Recreation Center for years, along with a 1950's era jeep. This was back in the late 1980's.

I may be wrong, but tank crews were issued M3 grease guns during DS.

As a ROTC cadet from 1996 to 1998, we used Vietnam-era M-16s (I recall one even had the early three-prong flash hider).

As late as 2001, I know the DOL guys who’d come over to my motor pool at Ft Lewis were driving a M-151 with a hard top. I was told by several of my mechanics that once they parked it right next to my 1944 Willys MB but I missed it. I wish I’d gotten a photo of that.

We had two “Ma Duce” tripods in my arms room that were WW2 dated. The Brigade PsyOps NCO was also into WW2 stuff and he said he also saw WW2-dated .50 cal tripods in our Brigade HHC’s arms room.

We have a pair of light sets that have a TM date of June 1953

When I went through basic training for the Navy down in Orlando, Florida in 1985 our barracks had racks of 03 Springfield rifles that we drilled with. They also had a barrel of 45 Auto pistols from WWII to use for pistol qualification. When I was in the reserves in 1993 my job was to clean out the file cabinets just before my unit was disbanded. I found a mixture of WWII era Navy training aids, manuals and WWII dated navigation equipment, all of which came home with me instead of going into the trash.

 

Robert

According to FEDLOG, the M151 jeep costs a little over $16K. I know it wouldn't happen, but if there was some way to actually get that approved and sent, what would the person receive? Are all the infamous "jeeps in a crate" in an Army warehouse?

 

Mike

 

Even if there were jeeps in a crate somewhere, it would be nearly impossible to even order it. If your MTOE doesn't authorize it, you will not get it. I believe that the 151 is not an authorized substitute for a HMMWV.

not obsolete, but during my first tour, the Ma Deauce I was behind was dated 1943, rebuilt 1969

I was issued 1944 dated shelter half poles in basic training in 1973. One of them snapped like a twig when I tried to set up for bivouac. It was thouroughly dry rotted and weighed half of the others.

 

I ran a .50 caliber machine gun range at Ft Lewis in 1979 and the ammo was marked FOR TRAINING ONLY. It was WWII dated and we had to open the cans with a metal key like the old sardine cans. Several bullets fell out of the casings. I still have one of the bullets. (Don't tell!!)

 

My Army Reserve unit in the mid-11980s had a World War ONE mess kit in inventory.

 

The best (worst?) story is from an acquiantance of mine who had been active duty navy, then joine the navy reserve. He had some sort of supply MOS that the local naval reserve unit didn't need. Anyway, one year for his annual training, he and several others were sent to McChord AFB near Tacoma, Washington and were put to work sorting out old field gear that the air force had in a warehouse in case of war/deployment.

 

To make a long story short, he found a number of WWII airborne helmet liners among piles of liners of every vintage. He went to the local surplus store (anyone else remember The Duffle Bag?), bought modern, serviceable liners, and traded them for the WWII airborne liners. This was in the early 1990s, and no, he never did give me one, or even sell me one! :crying:

several crates of WWII-Vietnam era field gear were unearthed in old warehouses that were cleared out to be used by newly activated units...namely the 9th Marines...and wound up at Saigon Sam's. This was maybe 2 years ago.

 

I've heard of people receiving slot-broached WWII era Purple Hearts for wounds sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan. Doubtlessly surplus from the stock that was struck in anticipation of a mainland Japan invasion that never happened