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Archive for January, 2012

NRA American Warrior #6

Monday, January 30th, 2012

NRA’s American Warrior is an online multimedia magazine that is part of the Life of Duty program. They’ve just released issue #6 and it features an article entitled, “Candystore” which details their favorite gear from SHOT Show 2012. You read that right, “2012”. That’s one advantage to an online publication.

Check out issue number 6 online.

SSD highly encourages readers in uniform to join the Life of Duty program. It’s free to you. Your membership will be paid for by any one of thousands of patriotic benefactors who support our citizens in uniform.

New Body Armor for Philippines Army

Monday, January 30th, 2012

MKU PVT Ltd. of India; Concentric Industries Inc. of Korea, UM Merkata DOO of Serbia, Tactics SOG Industries of the US, Protective Products of the US, SIA of Israel, Goldbell Philippines and JEJE Enterprises have all “bought” bid documents to provide 3,480 sets of body armor for the Philippine Army worth about P174 million.

The eight firms have until February 21 to complete their bids and all bidders must have successfully fulfilled an armor contract within the last five years.

Perfume on a Pig?

Monday, January 30th, 2012

The Australian Army continues to monkey with the F88 “Austeyr” despite their Special Operations components abandoning the weapon in the late 90s in favor of the M4. This briefing, presented at last year’s NDIA Small Arms Symposium outlines the incremental improvements made to the weapon. “Improving In-Service Small Arms Systems; An Australian Experience” was presented by Mr. Graham Evenden of Thales Australia. They have worked very closely with the Australian Army to enhance the F88. But, to what end?

Improving in-Service Small Arms Systems – An Australian Experience

Coming Soon – SOFREP.COM

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Brandon Webb recently told me about his vision of a one-stop website for all things SOF. Something like this has been tried in the past but never been as comprehensive as what he described. Part wiki, part news service, part recruiting resource, SOFREP sounds to be pretty interesting.

Military.com contributing Editor (host of Kit Up) and former US Navy SEAL Brandon Webb has launched the most legitimate and comprehensive Special Operations media site on the Internet. The site is SOFREP.COM, Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP).

“I saw a gap in online media, specifically, a Special Operations site that serves as an information portal to the public and industry. SOFREP provides timely and accurate information about current and past events involving the Special Operations Forces (SOF) community.
Information about the SOF community is often misunderstood and fragmented on the web. I was also shocked to see that the few sites that do exist are not even run by experienced SOF Operators. Even worse, their site managers are misleading people to believe they have a SOF background when they do not.
I recognized this and proceeded to build an authentic SOF editorial team comprised of former Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps personnel. Then I turned the guys loose and challenged them with building something truly unique that would reflect positively on the entire SOF community.
We were very conscious of Operational Security (OPSEC) and only put information up that can be found on existing official recruiting sites. The difference is that the information is better organized on SOFREP.com, unbiased and that you can now access it all in one place.
The team did a great job, and together we’ve built something really special with SOFREP. In the end, we are all cut from the same SOF cloth and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished. One team, one fight.“

 
 
-Brandon Webb

Changes Announced at PEO Soldier

Monday, January 30th, 2012

It was just last March that we announced BG(P) Camille M. Nichols, would be assuming the mantel of PEO Soldier and already she has been selected for her next assignment as Commanding General, Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

On deck is COL (P) Paul Ostrowski, currently serving as Assistant Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology), Washington, DC who will assume duties as the new PEO in May of this year.

COL Ostrowski previously served as PEO-SP at USSOCOM which is responsible for specialized operator equipment so he has some interesting experience in the Soldier Systems realm. We are looking forward to seeing how this experience will be applied to Big Army programs.

SSD extends our warmest congratulations to both BG Nichols and COL Ostrowski.

Recon Kit Bag

Monday, January 30th, 2012

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Modularity comes to Hill People Gear in the form of the new Recon Kit Bag. Hill People Gear has never been about tactical. Instead, they make kit for back country living. But, after numerous requests from those in the SAR community for some modularity, they relented and decided to add some PALS to their popular Runners Kit Bag chest mounted pouch. If you like the convenience of the Kit Bag, think of all of the options available with the addition of PALS.

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They’re not available yet, but the first run will include FoliageRanger Green and MultiCam.

www.hillpeoplegear.com

Maxpedition Luggage Lock

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Sometimes the simplest things catch our eye and the Tactical Luggage Lock from Maxpedition we spied at this year’s SHOT Show is no exception.

Available in Black, Khaki and Foliage Green, it is a 3-Dial combination TSA lock. This means it is good to go for air travel in the US and UK.

www.maxpedition.com

Knight’s Civilian Catalog 2012

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

KAC Civilian Catalog 2012

www.knightarmco.com