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Gunfighter Moment – Larry Vickers

November 2nd, 2013

‘Never underestimate the value of a good zero on your weapon of choice. In many of the classes I teach I see poor shooting for a variety of reasons with one of them being the lack of a proper zero. Dial it in and check it often – you’ll be amazed at the results.’

-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV

Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical in a retired US Army 1st SFOD-Delta combat veteran with years of experience in the firearms industry as a combat marksmanship instructor and industry consultant. In recent years he has hosted tactical firearms related TV shows on the Sportsman Channel with the latest being TacTV of which Bravo Company is a presenting sponsor.Larry Vickers special operations background is one of the most unique in the industry today; he has been directly or indirectly involved in the some of the most significant special operations missions of the last quarter century. During Operation Just Cause he participated in Operation Acid Gambit – the rescue of Kurt Muse from Modelo Prison in Panama City, Panama. As a tactics and marksmanship instructor on active duty he helped train special operations personnel that later captured Saddam Hussein and eliminated his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. In addition he was directly involved in the design and development of the HK416 for Tier One SOF use which was used by Naval Special Warfare personnel to kill Osama Bin Laden. Larry Vickers has developed various small arms accessories with the most notable being his signature sling manufactured by Blue Force Gear and Glock accessories made by Tangodown. In addition he has maintained strong relationships with premium companies within the tactical firearms industry such as BCM, Aimpoint, Black Hills Ammunition, Wilson Combat and Schmidt & Bender.

Larry Vickers travels the country conducting combat marksmanship classes for law abiding civilians, law enforcement and military and has partnered with Alias Training to coordinate classes to best meet the needs of the students attending the class.

www.VickersTactical.com

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.

Tags: Alias Training and Security Services, Larry Vickers, LAV, Vickers Tactical
Posted in Gunfighter Moment | 2 Comments »

Agilite Offering Mitznefet Helmet Shaper in MultiCam

November 2nd, 2013

First off, you need to know what a Mitznefet is. The Mitznefet is a mesh helmet shaper used by Israeli troops to break up the outline of their helmets. See below for a photo.

Agilite just introduced a MultiCam variant of this bit effective bit of Israeli kit. Since it’s made from mesh, Agilite also suggests that it can be worn without a helmet, directly on the head, allowing “for an air flow to the head and for heat to escape keeping you shaded, camouflaged and cool in combat environments.”

www.agilitegear.com/helmet-covers/israeli-helmet-cover-mitznefet

Tags: Agilite Gear, Isreal
Posted in Camo, Helmets | 12 Comments »

The Army Transitions to OCP – A Note from Congress

November 1st, 2013

An SSD reader asked his Congressman about what the Army is up to regarding camouflage. In fact, the Army has been fielding plenty of these Congressional inquiries. For some reason they’re not getting the hint that they need to make a formal announcement. Here’s a screen capture of the answer provided by the good Representative’s office based on their communications with the Army.

Yeah, there’s some historical revisionism afoot here. UCP was never tested in 2002-2004. It was fielded prior to testing. But, who cares right? Does it matter if they end up fielding what everyone wanted in the first place? Yeah, it does. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad they are doing something. What I’m not happy about is that this whole course of action was on the table in the summer of 2010. Think of where we’d be now if they had just pulled the trigger on MultiCam for all back then.

Posted in Camo, Congress | 40 Comments »

Help A Vet – Get An Elder Heart Tomahawk

November 1st, 2013

Be A Good Human
Actions are more important than words.
Take action to help a veteran.

I have mentioned Elder heart and the rehabilitative work they do every day for our Veterans. Recently, I found out that some of the art they create is available for sale. I jumped at the chance to pick up a tomahawk which you can see above. Hand forged with inlays of brass, silver and unique twists and patterns, these tomahawks are unique works of art. This also means that I would hang it on a wall as a work of art and not take it out in the woods.

All proceeds go to helping raise awareness for the 22 Veteran suicides every day. If getting a great piece of art wasn’t enough, your donation includes a shirt of your choosing.

elder-heart.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/elder-heart-tomahawk

Tags: Elder Heart
Posted in Fundraising | Comments Off on Help A Vet – Get An Elder Heart Tomahawk

“America’s First Frogman,” John Spence, Dead at 95

November 1st, 2013

Everyday America loses more and more of its greatest generation. These are the men and women I grew up listening to and learning from. My grandparents and their friends and relatives endured the the Great Depression and served our nation in World War II and Korea before passing the torch to my parents’ generation. Yesterday, I found out that another man I had never heard of had passed away. While I can’t begin to memorialize each and every one of them, I’d like to tell you a little about John Spence, because he had profound influence on our Nation’s earliest amphibious commando capabilities.

Born in 1918, Spence enlisted in the US Navy in 1936 as a Gunner and Diver. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he was recruited into the Office of Strategic Services where he helped developed an amphibious raid capability. While training near Quantico, VA he worked with a new green rubber suit. According to an obituary in Spence’s local paper, the Bend Bulletin, he told biographers, “Someone saw me surfacing one day and yelled out, ‘Hey, Frogman!’ The name stuck for all of us … but once again, I was the first.” Apparently, that’s where the term “Frogman” originated. Later in the war, Spence went on to return to the Fleet and retired in 1961. The man lived a full life, and served his country during some its most dire moments. He will be missed.

Be sure to read the entire story here.

Posted in History | 3 Comments »

US Army Seeks Flame Resistant and Non-Melting, Next-to-Skin Fabrics

November 1st, 2013

Yesterday, the Army Contracting Command issued a Request for Information (RFI) / Market Survey on behalf of Product Manager Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment (PM-SCIE) and the US Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Command, (NSRDEC) in Natick, MA for Flame Resistant and Non-Melting, Next-to-Skin Fabrics.

In particular, the wish “to identify domestic products, suppliers and manufacturers as potential sources of knitted fabrics suitable for use in three next-to-skin garment types. These garment categories include:
A. Base layer underwear
B. Base layer underwear capable of maintaining a snug fit when soft ballistic protection is added.
C. Flame resistant shirts capable of maintaining fit and positioning of integrated ballistic protection.
1. Sleeve and side panel fabric (must have capability to be printed in IR compliant camouflage patterns)
2. Torso fabric”

In addition to basic information on any company that submits, the Government also needs:
-A fact sheet or white paper, detailing properties of the submitted fabrics, technical parameters, manufacturing location, relevant company background/experience and documented test/analysis information that would indicate performance properties against the required physical properties listed above.
-Five yards of each submitted fabric.
-Pricing for each submitted fabric in dollars per linear yard.

The RFI goes on to state that, “the Government may purchase up to 100 yards from one or more respondents for prototype development. ”

Most important, companies must review this document for salient performance characteristics.

Perspective companies have until November 29th, 2013 to respond. Full details are at the FBO posting.

As always, I will remind SSD readers that this is NOT a solicitation but rather a means to gather information from industry on the current state of the art. I encourage participation as these exercises influence future requirements.

Tags: Natick
Posted in Contracts, FR, Materials, PEO-Soldier | 11 Comments »

OCP Is Dead; Long Live OCP

November 1st, 2013

(US Army National Guard photo by SGT Eddie Siguenza)

According to information received by SSD, the US Army is changing the military nomenclature for Crye Precision’s MultiCam from “Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern” to a more simple, and broad “Operational Camouflage Pattern”. This means they won’t have to change much documentation describing the pattern and the new moniker will more aptly describe the pattern’s role as the Army’s principle camouflage.

Posted in Camo, Multicam | 45 Comments »

Screw Iron Man – TALOS Needs To Look Here

November 1st, 2013

If USSOCOM is looking for inspiration for its Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS), it needs to stop talking Iron Man and start looking at this guy’s work.

Artist Alex Jessup has come up with some pretty interesting concepts.

Take a look at more of his work here.

Tags: Alex Jessup, TALOS
Posted in Design | 42 Comments »