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For The Ladies – The ACU-A Isn’t Just For The Ladies

July 8th, 2013

According to an Army press release, the recently released Army Combat Uniform – Alternate is authorized for both female and male Soldiers as it offers more fit options. The uniform is already being issued to Basic Trainees at Ft Sill and Soldiers can choose to wear either the ACU-As or the ACUs.

The new uniform trousers feature: wider areas at the hips, waist and backside; elastic around the waistband instead of a pull string; adjusted pockets and knee-pad inserts; and a shortened crotch length.

In the jackets, changes include: adjusted rank and nametape positioning; adjusted pockets and elbow-pad inserts; slimmer shoulders; a thinner and more fitted waist; and a longer and wider ACU coat bottom. Also, buttons are replacing the Velcro pockets.

According to the Army, Soldiers can purchase the ACU-A at Military Clothing Sales Stores at Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Lee, Va.; Fort Belvoir, Va.; and Fort Eustis, Va.

Posted in ACU, For the Ladies | 24 Comments »

Blue Force Gear to Exhibit at Warrior Expo East

July 8th, 2013

Blue Force Gear® will be displaying at the ADS Warrior Expo East Show on July 11 – 12 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Blue Force Gear tells us that they will reveal, for the first time, their MOLLEminus™ line in Coyote Brown. SSD will be on hand to share photos of this new color. Military and Law Enforcement end users who would like to increase performance by switching to the lightest tactical nylon equipment, please email sales@blueforcegear.com to make an appointment or come by to meet the Blue Force Gear team and discuss your needs.

Tags: Blue Force Gear, Warrior Expo
Posted in Warrior Expo | Comments Off on Blue Force Gear to Exhibit at Warrior Expo East

Tangram 7-Piece Patch From Maxpedition

July 8th, 2013

Sure, morale patches are intended to entertain, but as art. The Tangram from Maxpedition on the other hand, can entertain because you can reconfigure its 7 Hook-backed geometric pieces into a variety of shapes. I guess you could call it the first modular morale patch.

For example, you could make a cat. But the variations or myriad.

The Tangram puzzle originated in China and is used to stimulate thinking. Here are a few more examples of shapes.

Made from PVC rubber and offered in Arid or SWAT colors.

www.maxpedition.com

Tags: Maxpedition
Posted in Morale | 13 Comments »

Forces Focus – RCAF SAR Tech

July 8th, 2013

Last Friday, 6 new Search and Rescue Technicians graduated from an intensive 11 month program at the Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue, based at 19 Wing Comox in British Columbia. They join the ranks of about 160 SAR Techs who are trained in advanced trauma life-support, land and sea survival, and specialized rescue techniques, including Arctic rescue, parachuting, diving, mountain-climbing and rappelling. Although assigned to the Royal Canadian Air Force they can tryout from any of the country’s service components.

Unlike the US Air Force’s Guardian Angel Weapon System consisting of Pararescuemen (PJ), Combat Rescue Officers (CRO) and SERE Instructors, the SAR Tech’s primary focus is not Combat Search and Rescue. Their SAR area of responsibility includes over 15 million square kilometres of land and sea and encompasses the world’s longest coastline and SAR Techs as well as the skilled aircrews they work with respond to more than 8,000 incidents annually that average over 1,200 lives saved and assistance to over 20,000 persons.

Congratulations to the graduates! According to the DND only about 1 in 3 candidates is accepted into training.

Master Corporal Jérôme Bourget, from Lévis, Quebec.
Master Corporal Anthony Bullen, from Boxey, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Master Corporal Jeff Elliott, from Victoria, British Columbia.
Master Corporal Chris Martin, from Pictou, Nova Scotia.
Master Corporal Brent Nolasco, from Peterborough, Ontario.
Master Corporal Oliver Willich, from Kincardine, Ontario.

All Photos – DND

Tags: Canada
Posted in Air Force, Forces Focus, International, SERE | 5 Comments »

Hazard 4 Skin Diver

July 8th, 2013

The Skin Diver from Hazard 4 joins the Combat Seal and Combat Base rash guards as one of three new shirts meant for use in the water. In all three cases they’ve assembled a garment made from the strategic placement of materials in different areas.

In the case of the Skin Diver they’ve combined 2mm neoprene on the chest with 1.5mm neoprene for the abdomen/back/arms. Additionally, Hazard 4 has incorporated loop material panels on the arms and chest for unit patches, i.d.’s, name-tapes, morale patches, and glint tape.

Sizes small – 2xlarge.

hazard4.com/products/apparel/skindiver

Tags: Hazard 4
Posted in Maritime | 3 Comments »

Why We Don’t Do Videos (And Many Other Sites Shouldn’t Either)

July 7th, 2013

This clip from Portlandia quite handily sums up about everything that can go wrong while shooting a review video.

Posted in WTF? | 6 Comments »

Heroes On The Water

July 7th, 2013

CMSgt Frank Dailey (USAF, Ret) and I have known one another for many years. He is, among other things, both an avid fisherman and an avid humanitarian. I’ll tell you, Frank is one of the best NCOs I ever worked with and has always went out of his way to take care of the troops.

He recently retired and has been doing a lot with the organization Heroes On The Water. It allows him to combine two of his passions in order to help make the lives of our wounded vets a little better. Several times per month, Frank is out on the water in a kayak communing with nature through exercise and introspection. Even better, he does it with other veterans, some of whom are wounded.

…many of the wounds are invisible: 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan Vets show signs of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or depression.

From 2003 to the present time (2010), there have been 5,773 U.S armed forces deaths and 31,902 ‘visible’ wounded from hostile fire, IED amputations, burns and other injuries.* In addition, it is estimated that there are 300,000 suffering with PTSD and 320,000 with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). Reports indicate that the numbers of injured military personnel is increasing by 50 per month since mid-2008.**

Alarmingly, there are 950 suicide attempts each month by veterans who are receiving some type of treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department with an average of 18 veterans committing suicide each day.

Programs like HOW are very important for our Wounded Warriors. Please, take some time to visit their site to learn more. Maybe you are in need of help, or want to spend time with these recovering men and women. Or, you just want to donate. Regardless, this is a fantastic way to help out, especially for those of you interested in fishing.

heroesonthewater.org

Tags: Heroes On The Water
Posted in Charity | Comments Off on Heroes On The Water

Things Are Happening at HTC

July 7th, 2013

We’ve run across a couple of interesting government procurements of High Threat Concealment gear recently. First we find out through a story in Government Security News that “Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is issuing this Notice of Intent to award as a sole source requirement to High Threat Concealment (HTC), 708 Gum Rock Street, Suite E, Newport News, VA 23606 for Low Profile Systems (both Left and Right handed).”

And then a Sole Source announcement is published on FedBizOpps that NSWG2 intends to purchase “66 ea LOW PROFILE CONCEALMENT SYSTEMs. Standard includes 1 ea dual pistol mag holder, 2 ea M4 Mag Holders, 1 blowout kit, 1 gen 3 radio holder and 1 gen 3 pistol holster,” from HTC.

Looks like quite a few agencies are interested in HTC. Check out this video by Progressive Force Concepts covering their gear.