We bring 2018 to a close with an image taken earlier this month of members of 1st Bn, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), training in their wartime tasks.
Closing Out 2018
December 31st, 2018Extreme Outfitters’ Indoor Archery Range Opens January 2nd
December 31st, 2018
Jacksonville, North Carolina’s only indoor archery range will be opening January 2nd, featuring eight lanes up to 30 yards at Extreme Outfitters. Camp Lejeune folks let us know how it is.
US Air Force Updates Insignia Guidance for OCP Uniforms
December 31st, 2018WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. (AFNS) — Airmen wearing OCP uniforms are authorized to add their former Airmen Battle Uniform subdued patches until the mandatory brown subdued ones go into effect.
Also, according to Air Force Instruction 36-2903, the U.S. flag patch is mandatory and will be subdued using the spice brown color criteria, centered at the top of velcro and worn while in–garrison and deployed.
Current subdued black and green U.S. flags may be worn until June 1, 2020, then spice brown will be the only accepted version. Infra-red U.S. flags are not authorized.
The higher headquarters patch is mandatory and will be subdued using the spice brown color criteria and centered under the U.S. flag patch. The current subdued version of the higher headquarters patch may be worn until the patch color conversion has been completed or until April 1, 2021, whichever is sooner.
A maximum of two patches may be worn.
SMSgt Andrew Biscoe, Air Force News Service
And now, for the rest of the story
December 31st, 2018Last week, the main stream media lost its collective mind (yet again) when they created a narrative that Erik Prince was bringing Blackwater (the PMC) back because President Trump announced a withdrawl of US military forces from Syria and signalled a desire to pull out of Afghanistan combined with a teaser full-page ad in the latest issue of Recoil magazine. They were just sure that US troops would be replaced with mercenaries in the employ of former Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder, Erik Prince. “We Are Coming” was the proof they offered the public.
But as more ads begin to appear in firearms magazines, it’s quite apparent that the speculation is what refer to in the business as “fake news.”
What the press doesn’t know is that Erik Prince may have sold Blackwater years ago, but he retained ownership of the name and associated trademarks. We first encountered Blackwater Ammunition during IWA, back in March. Maybe it’s availability in the US is something new, but the brand’s existence isn’t exactly news.
I often ponder. If the MSM gets so much wrong that I know about, what are they misleading me on in subject areas where I have no visibility?
SOC-F Weymouth Woods 100K Trail Run
December 31st, 2018
A team of special operations Soldiers are making this trail run on 19 January, 2019 to raise money for the nonprofit Special Operations Care – Fund. Please consider donating at www.soc-f.org/donate.
US & Polish Combat Controllers Conduct Combined Training
December 30th, 2018
Combat Controllers from the U.S. and Polish forces conduct a military free fall during a culmination exercise near Krakow on Dec. 5, 2018. The exercise follows a two-month training in which the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command’s 321st Special Tactics Squadron assigned to the 352nd Special Operations Wing in England, and the Polish Special Operations Combat Control Team, share their best practices in order to build upon the Polish Special Operations Command’s ability to conduct special operations air land integration.
(Photo by Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Pena, USASOC PAO)
SCUBAPRO Sunday Air Consumption
December 30th, 2018It’s not uncommon for two divers to use different amounts of air, even if they are diving the same dive profile. Different factors will affect how much air you will consume until you learn good diving practices and buoyancy control. If you have been diving for a long time and you still go thru your air faster then the people around you, there are some things you can do to help improve your air consumption. Trying to conserve energy, controlling your breathing, and reducing your drag while diving. Planning your dive is the first step. Plan your dive to be underwater for the shortest amount of time as possible and not coming up and going off and then back on bag. If you are going to cover a lot of distance, turtleback for as long as possible to save as much air as you can.
Reducing Drag
Water provides enough resistance on your body, and it doesn’t help when you have on a bulky BC, that is sticking out like a parachute. Try and tuck away anything that hangs and floats behind you. You want your resting position in the water to be as close to horizontal as possible. This more streamlined profile results in less exertion during the dive Try and use retractors and quick magnetic clips on all gauges and hoses. They allow you to look at your gauges and when you let them go, they go right back into place. Lastly, try and keep a good body position keep your hands in front of or as close to your body as possible, and wear a BCD that fits appropriately. Some BCD has a bungee on them to keep them tighter and then when they need to be inflated; the bungee allows for that. This will significantly reduce your drag in the water and help you improve your air consumption.
Slow Down
This is why you have been taught to swim at a certain pace. Normally for combat swimmers 3 min/ 100yards. If you stay with your pace, this will help maintain your breathing rate. Your movement in the water should be minimal, try not to flail around with your arms or kick furiously. Keep each fin stroke as short as possible, as a broad stroke expends a lot more energy. Your legs use the most O2. The right pair of fins will help with this. The reason they make so many different types of fins is that everyone’s kick is different. Just because they are right for your swim buddy doesn’t mean they will be right for you.
Relax
Be conscious of your breathing underwater. Try not to hold your breath or skip breaths. Sometimes when working and doing different things underwater, it will interrupt your normal rhythm and change your breathing without you noticing. Take slow and complete breaths, exhaling completely before inhaling. Stay warm. Know the water conditions you are going into and choose the right wetsuit thickness. Being cold drains more energy from your body that means you’ll use more air. Lastly, a quality regulator can also help make breathing more comfortable and easy to control. An old trick is to put your tongue on the roof of your mouth. This will help slow you down and lets less air in (that is the theory). If diving closed circuit make sure your mouthpiece fits property if you are moving it around a lot or if it feels like it is being pulled out or fighting to keep it in it will affect your breathing.
Lastly, try and dive more. As the military gets back into the water, and there are more opportunities to get into the water you will get better at it. Don’t wait until you are diving as part of your work up, try and get into the water as much as you can. Then when you are in the water try and do as much as you can to wear everything you usually would, so you can get used to it and set all your gear up correctly.
Blast From The Past: BDS – The Grey Uniform That Almost Was
December 30th, 2018Long before Wolf Grey there was something else. In the early 1990s Army Special Operations Command experimented with a layered clothing system called Battle Dress System. Leveraging lessons learned from the original Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS), it featured a Capilene Next to Skin layer, Fleece mid-layers including a bib and jacket, a Gore-Tex undergarment and an outer layer called the SOF BDU. The underlayers were all Black and eventually became the Lightweight Environmental Protection (LEP) component of SPEAR.
It was quite popular with those that used it, offering material and design improvements over ECWCS which was just beginning to see widespread fielding.
The SOF BDU was a solid grey combat jacket and trouser. These were essentially over garments that were intended to be worn as an outerlayer, over any combination of the other components depending on the weather. The material was new and consisted on Nylon, Cotton and Kevlar for increased abrasion resistance. The design of the jacket was unlike anything else in the inventory with large Napoleon pockets on the chest and a hood that could be stored in the collar. It also boasted pit zips for ventilation, a rank tab on the chest and pockets mounted on the sleeves. The pants were quite similar to the M1950 field trouser and incorporated thigh tapes designed to help stabilize the load in the cargo pockets. They also added a zippered lower leg opening in order facilitate donning and doffing.
Today, when readers learn about BDS and the Charcoal colored Gore-Tex undergarment they are surprised that it wasn’t the outer most layer but beginning in the mid-80s there were lightweight 3-layer undergarments available commercially. This was before ECWCS or other camouflage shells were commonly available. The Gore undergarments were used by a variety of troops and worn under their BDUs in order to maintain camouflage. It also gave them a lightweight waterproof breathable layer.
With its solid grey color the item was rejected, primarily due to institutional prejudice. When LEP was adopted finally adopted later in the decade, it was without the SOF BDU.
