President Roosevelt called December 7th, 1941, “A date which will live in infamy.”
This is the 74th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. We no longer even hold ceremonies commemorating that day but as our greatest generation passes on, let us honor their sacrifices to keep America free.
I’d also like to take a moment of silence for the 2402 Americans who were lost on that day and the hundreds more who were wounded in service to this great Nation.
GSS Gear will soon be holding their 12 Days ‘Til Christmas sale. From the 10th to the 23rd, take advantage of daily special deals. Additionally, every purchase counts as an entry to win a $100 GSS gift card.
By the way, since someone will ask, that’s a AN/PEQ-14 Integrated Laser White Light Pointer mounted to her pistol.
O P Tactical is running a Pearl Harbor Day Sale: receive 10% off your order using Coupon Code PBDAY15 at checkout. Sale runs from 6 – 9 December. See website for details, some exclusions apply.
PVC patch versions of Bawidamann’s Archangel Michael are in stock, so get ’em while you can.
2 lucky winners will receive a shopping spree with U.S. Elite this Christmas! First prize wins $675 gift card. Second prize wins $275. Sweepstakes ends 12/17. US Only. 18+. Void where prohibited by law.
We told you that there’d be crossing of the streams while the transition to OCP occurred. The vast majority of environmental clothing systems in the field are in the old Universal Camouflage Pattern while Soldiers have flocked to the new hotness, the Operational Camouflage Pattern, authorized for wear just this summer. Unfortunately, the Army has yet to issue any environmental clothing in OCP. However, Many Soldiers have either ECWCS Gen III or FREE in MultiCam, a camouflage pattern purchased from Crye Precision by the military under the name Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern. The Army’s new OCP is quite similar in color and shape to the OEF-CP it began purchasing in 2010.
At any rate, without cold weather clothing in the appropriate pattern, Soldiers will have two choices; freeze or clash. The Army has wisely chosen to allow authorize Soldiers to mix patterns, at least as it pertains to issued TA-50, or Organizational Clothung and Equipment.
Below is an Army News Service article that explains their decision. It also puts to bed a question that keeps coming up; which color flag to wear with the new ACU in OCP. The answer is full-color in Garrison and subdued while deployed, just like with the original ACU in UCP.
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 30, 2015) — As winter weather approaches and temperatures drop, Soldiers turn to their cold-weather gear to keep warm outdoors while conducting training or operations.
Many Soldiers now wear their Army Combat Uniform, or ACU, in the new Operational Camouflage Pattern. But their organizational clothing and individual equipment, or OCIE, such as their wet-weather gear and their Extended Cold Weather Clothing System sport the Universal Camouflage Pattern, or UCP.
Soldiers don’t need to freeze so as to avoid a uniform faux pas, however, the Army wants Soldiers to know that it’s okay to wear the foliage green fleece cold-weather jacket and other UCP cold-weather gear on top of their new Operational Camouflage Pattern uniform.
“Soldiers should continue to use the equipment they have been provided to remain safe and warm in environments that call for it,” said Sgt. Maj. Eva M. Commons, uniform policy sergeant major, Army G-1. “This is why the Army gives you this gear to wear.”
Cold-weather gear is not part of the “clothing bag” issued to Soldiers during basic training. Instead, Soldiers get items like the fleece cold-weather jacket, the wind cold-weather jacket, the soft shell cold-weather jacket and trousers, or the extreme cold/wet-weather jacket and trousers from the clothing issue facility, or CIF, at their installation.
Commons said that no matter what ACU Soldiers are wearing – the one in UCP pattern or the one in Operational Camouflage Pattern – they are allowed to wear the winter-weather gear that is issued by the CIF.
“Any item issued from CIF is permitted for wear,” she said. “There is no restriction based on camo pattern or color.”
The Army also has two different colored T-shirts available for wear under their ACU. There is the “sand-colored” T-shirt and the “Tan 499” T-shirt. Belts are also available in both of those colors. Boots are available in sand or coyote colors, as well.
The rule here, Commons said, is that when a Soldier is wearing the UCP ACU, he or she must wear the undershirt, belt and boots designed for wear with the UCP ACU. However, when Soldiers wear the Operational Camouflage Pattern ACU, they can wear “any combination” of boots, belt and T-shirt, in any of the available colors; the boots, belt, and t-shirt do not have to match each other.
Commons caveated that, however, by saying “both your left and right boot must be the same color.”
The Army, Commons said, has an inventory of items including belts, boots, T-shirts, uniforms, and cold- and wet-weather gear. Each of those items has a certain wear life on them. Items such as cold-weather jackets last a very, very long time, she said. Other items, such as T-shirts, can be worn for less than a year before they ought to be replaced.
The liberal policy for how uniform items can be mixed with the Operational Camouflage Pattern ACU allows the Soldiers more flexibility in the wear of their uniform, and additionally allows more time for the Army to eventually get OCIE in the new Operational Camouflage Pattern.
“With all these different uniforms, we have to give the widest range of allowance to Soldiers to properly wear, and not have that come out of pocket,” she said. “It also allows the Army to make sure they have proper stock in issuing facilities to support demand.”
Commons said that Soldiers can continue to wear the UCP ACU until Sept. 30, 2019. After that, they must show up to work wearing the Operational Camouflage Pattern ACU.
Soldiers who are deploying or have an operational need are provided with OCIE items in the Operational Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern, also known as OEF-CP.
“Deployers will never go without,” Commons said. “The Army will ensure Soldiers get the appropriate equipment for their mission.”
The Army has been issuing the pattern to those deploying for some years and will continue to do so until the transition to Operational Camouflage Pattern.
It will be some years before UCP OCIE is exhausted and is replaced with Operational Camouflage Pattern OCIE because the items are “quite durable,” Commons said.
Commons also said some Soldiers had expressed confusion about what camouflage pattern the name and service tapes should be in on their UCP-colored fleece jacket. She said the name and service tape pattern should match the color of the fleece jacket, not the pattern of the ACU the Soldier is wearing underneath.
BLUE, WHITE AND READ THE REGULATIONS
Commons said that for some time, the OEF-CP was worn only in Afghanistan. And while deployed to Afghanistan, the rule was to wear the tactical subdued American flag patch on the right sleeve.
“Soldiers had only seen the subdued patch on that uniform, so they assumed that is the only patch allowed with that uniform,” Commons said.
But that is not the case.
According to AR 670-1, paragraph 21-18, “All Soldiers will wear the full-color U.S. flag embroidered insignia on utility and organizational uniforms, unless deployed or in a field environment.”
Commons said that the OEF-CP ACU, and the Operational Camouflage Pattern ACU can, and should be, worn with the full-color American flag while in garrison. Soldiers should wear the subdued flag patch on those uniforms while deployed, or in a field environment.
First sergeants, she said, will let Soldiers know when they are going to be in a field environment, and what the uniform requirements will be.
I think it’s safe to say the majority of the American citizenry does not expect violence. This mentality has lead to a weakening of not just our societal norms, but our national security.
Why bother
I can sit here and pontificate on how screwed up our government is, how one sided our media is and how “sheepish” the masses are, but it really isn’t going to fix the problem we face. Sure, there have been a few converts who have moved away from the dark side, but the efforts are largely wasted. If you finally realize you need to take your personal safety more serious forgive me if I don’t jump for joy. I don’t want to be all doom & gloom here, I would rather be matter of fact. What would the majority of those who already know we are at war gain value from, what really matters to their survival?
Hierarchy of needs
I’m a big believer in biology. In my opinion it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why, it is the survival of our species. Why are men attracted to certain women and women attracted to certain men? Eliminate the touche-feelie crap and it boils down to procreation, the continuation of our species. Breaking it down even further, survival has a lot to do with mindset. In this day an age, the majority of grass eaters have forgotten or have no idea the importance of survival and how to ensure their own, much less their family’s. It is really quite sad, but in the end your survival depends on your mindset, skill set and the tools at your disposal.
Be prepared
Mentally preparing for unplanned violence requires only it’s acknowledgment to get the proverbial ball rolling. If at a fundamental level you can acknowledge there is the possibility of unplanned violence it makes a huge difference mentally. Once you can look the animal in the eye, it frees you up to prepare. Preparation is key. A good friend of mine was on vacation over Thanksgiving holiday literally a few blocks from the Colorado shooting. In a brief discussion he commented how important preparation was and as the old Boy Scott motto goes, “be prepared” really epitomizes the situation. What have you done to prepare for that or other similar situations. Mental preparation motivates you to then physical prepare in the form of training.
How sharp is your blade
This is where the rubber really meets the road. All your mental preparation will be for not, if you don’t have the physical training to back it up. Unless your control of the Force is Jedi level you will have to fend like the rest of us. In this day an age with the escalation of terrorist threats the two most important training blocks you can obtain are combat marksmanship and concealed carry. Your skill with a firearm must be at the highest level you can obtain, then one more above that. You will never rise to the occasion you will default to your level of training. One of the reasons our standards are so tough is because nothing I do can honestly mimic the stress of real combat. If you have crappy technique based off a crappy program with crappy standards don’t be surprised by your crappy performance. Once your marksmanship skills are honed to a razor’s edge next comes having a firearm on you as often as possible; daily concealed carry. The art of concealing has evolved from the photographers vest of lure so get with the program and spend time perfecting your concealment game. When violence knocks on your door, will you answer with good intentions or hot lead. Once you get this part of the game down it will motivate you to then selecting your gear.
Water, water everywhere
Selecting your gear will be much easier once you have defined your mission. Until then, you are easily swayed by marketing and propaganda rather than truly fulfilling your needs. You also have probably asked yourself if you are fully prepared, could you use this or that or whatever new shiny object is that hits the market. At some point you have to recognize it is a come as you are war. Whatever you brought is all you got so choose wisely. It will either end the fight, allow you to strong point or allow you to move to a safe area or exit. The situation will always dictate. In other words, do you have enough ammunition to put the threat down fast. If not, will you have enough ammunition to keep them at bay while you strong point. If not, will you have enough ammunition to effectively maneuver to cover or an exit. All of the above it is implied your combat marksmanship skills are legit. So, yes, it is a good idea to create your jump bag, go bag or E&E bag whatever you want to call it, but realize you will probably not have it when it counts. You will have to win the fight, to survive, with your daily load out.
In the end, the world is not complicated. It is filled with evil, evil that must be confronted by righteous strength and courage. In the end, some people just need to be killed.
– Jeff Gonzales
Trident Concepts, LLC
Jeff Gonzales of Trident Concepts, LLC is a decorated and respected U.S. Navy SEAL who has worked in a variety of environments and capacities throughout the globe. He specializes in personal protection tactics and training for armed and unarmed conflicts. His motto is “Concepts that meet reality”. Jeff’s goal is not simply to train you, but to better prepare you for the worst-case scenario.
Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn, they offer some words of wisdom.
