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Posted: 11/10/2010 6:19:22 AM EDT
[#1]
Dad was 'Old Corps'. Pre Vietnam (1959 enlistment in this case). He always said to him Old Corps were those who were serving pre-WWII. But then when the Corps changed in the mid 60's he became Old Corps.
His DI's were WWII and Korean vets of Iwo, Peleliu, Tarawa, Chosin, etc. and he has lots of FMJ stories of beatings and sadistic type of punishment. Also has a set of herringbone and a pair of boondockers. Heck, he was the AR man with a BAR. Has a photo of him somewhere. Tall lanky 17 year old kid (he enlisted at 16, spent a year in the ANG and then went to the USMC when he was old enough) with a BAR that looks as heavy as himself. |
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Posted: 11/10/2010 6:22:23 AM EDT
[#2]
USMC '84 - '88
Reading this brings back memories. Qualified with M-16A1 Does the Air Wing still have .38 revolvers? |
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Posted: 11/10/2010 6:29:03 AM EDT
[#3]
Quoted: USMC '84 - '88 Reading this brings back memories. Qualified with M-16A1 Does the Air Wing still have .38 revolvers? As the one SNCO who actually volunteered for doing monthly armory inventories ("I've got dibs on any leftovers!") even the reserve airwing units lost their revolvers a long time ago. Nothing but M9s, now.... And as a career jammer up at Whidbey, I was also the (sad) guy who inventoried their last batch of 1911A1s for shipment to Anniston in '95. 
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Posted: 11/10/2010 6:43:44 AM EDT
[#4]
'74 - '82, fatigues, khakis, two piece nomex, S&W model 10 for a sidearm. Finally got one peice flight suits toward the end (hated them).
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Posted: 11/10/2010 7:06:24 AM EDT
[#5]
U.S. Army '76 - '79
Fatigues, khakis, steel pot, M16A1, drove a GOER in an FA battery. Helmet liners were also used as primary headgear. MPs, gate guards and non-drill sergeant training cadre had theirs painted; we wore them unpainted for post guard duty. |
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Posted: 11/10/2010 7:19:35 AM EDT
[#6]
Not that old school, 94-96. Had A2's the whole time, they got M4's after I got out. I went to Dragon school at Benning, but never saw one at Drum, I probably still have ALICE clips somewhere, pc's had cat eyes and so did my ruck, when I went to went to west point they were supposedly trying to phase out green jungle boots, but I still wore mine. We definitely had the M-60 still, and I carried a SAW until I got stuck with the radio which was encrypted. I do remember listening to CBS radio late at night on the -77 in basic though. I don't know what the Charlie's carried, but we used duece and a halfs and Humvees, only blackhawks were used for helicopters. Still had the sh*tty plastic raingear issued, although lots of guys had gortex, at least the tops.
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Posted: 11/10/2010 7:19:36 AM EDT
[#7]
Quoted:
'74 - '82, fatigues, khakis, two piece nomex, S&W model 10 for a sidearm. Finally got one peice flight suits toward the end (hated them). No shit??? I did not know that! |
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Posted: 11/10/2010 8:04:47 AM EDT
[#8]
Old Marines. Steel pots, A1s, and 20-rounders, FTW!
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Posted: 11/10/2010 9:13:45 AM EDT
[#9]
Army 86-92. Back then being "Old Army" was when the DS could put a beating on you in basic training. That was gone by the time I hit basic training in 1986 but the Drills would yak about wishing they could still put a beating on a trainee.
Remember being hated when our unit got the first Goretek jackets and M16A2's back in late 1987. Went to zero the A2's and even the range cadre had not been trained yet. Funny watching them learning on the fly with us at the same time with the FM stuck in their face. |
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Posted: 11/10/2010 9:30:11 AM EDT
[#10]
Quoted:
Quoted:
'74 - '82, fatigues, khakis, two piece nomex, S&W model 10 for a sidearm. Finally got one peice flight suits toward the end (hated them). No shit??? I did not know that! They weren't new either! I'm pretty sure mine was WWII vintage. I'm pretty sure that the 1911 I got later was even older. 
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Posted: 11/10/2010 9:36:31 AM EDT
[#11]
Quoted:
Steel pot, not kevlar .45 1911, not M9 M16A1, not A2, A3, M4 Jeep, not Humvee C-Rats, not MRE I knew Alice but never met Molle Same here! |
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Posted: 11/10/2010 9:39:51 AM EDT
[#12]
We had body armor in the old Army too! Beyond the standard flak jackets and steel pots we had a vest-like plate carrier that had formed 5/8" thick ceramic plates front and back. We called them "chicken plates" and damn they were heavy. They would stop a pretty good size bullet. An AK round for sure and some said a Soviet .51 cal., although I would want to be the one to test it. They caused all sorts of bad injuries due to their weight.
We also had a HEAVY ballistic flight helmet that noone would wear. The damn thing would be sure to break your neck in in a crash. |
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Posted: 11/10/2010 10:15:45 AM EDT
[#13]
edited to add:
Quoted:
1975. graduation day from Infantry AIT. Ft. Polk. I was 17 years old.http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd44/ncmike57/2Cav75/scan0011.jpg?t=1289356145 Ah - the blue "dickey/scarf." Got to wear it after we turned "blue." Looks like North Fort - I went through Polk, July through September 1974 (A-1-3, Best Damned Company in the IN - FAN - TRY!) Lord, that was too many years ago. |
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Posted: 11/10/2010 11:46:20 AM EDT
[#14]
Guess I'm old...used PRC-25 w/KY-38. M-14 in boot camp, got M-16a1 in Nam. Ours had the chrome job already.
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Posted: 11/10/2010 12:35:35 PM EDT
[#15]
I joined in late 88. We were told that we were the first Basic Training Unit at Ft. McClellan, AL to get the Kevlar Helmets. My picture from BCT was in the Steel Pot though. We were trained on the M16A1, M60, and M72A2 LAW. A lot of Deuce and a Half's were still running around then too. The Jeeps were all gone though. For the most part I saw mainly Blackhawk Helo's but there were a few Huey's around.
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Posted: 11/10/2010 2:47:37 PM EDT
[#16]
Quoted:
Quoted:
No kidding, that's almost brown-boot Army! 
Oh shit! I forgot about that! One day the word came down "Henceforth all boots will be black." They gave us the dye and we went to work. Boy! Did they look shitty! I enlisted in the new 'VOLAR' Army. Old school to me is the Brown shoe Army. There were some WW2 vets around. more Kor vets, and most NCO's had been to VN. BCT at Ord and Inf AIT at Polk. We were issued the new LC1 stuff in '76, before that you put your field gear in a waterproof bag and used a harness to carry it on your 'H' suspenders. |
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Posted: 11/10/2010 7:10:01 PM EDT
[#17]
Wow the military post Vietnam to '90 sounds like a shitshow
thanks to everyone for their service!
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Posted: 11/10/2010 10:22:32 PM EDT
[#18]
BTT for Vet's Day! 
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Posted: 11/11/2010 2:58:08 AM EDT
[#19]
Well I am not Old Army, but I am Generation X's Army. What's funny is reading all these and seeing just how far back in the stone age my Guard Unit was in '95 when I joined. Just clarified I joined an Infantry unit in Wisconsin. I went 11B down to Ft. Benning for Basic & AIT. Sad part is all the equipment the DS told me not to worry about, is everything I had to learn how to work. All the equipment I was trained on I got smoked for, cause I asked about it. Our unit still had Grease Guns, M2's with Wood grips, M60's, M16A1, Browning Trench Shot Guns, PRC-77, Cut-V, Deuce & 1/2 with manufacture dates of 1956, PVS-5's and my favorite the LAW. Gortex was for those who bought it, Camo wet weather gear only if you had a full bird of star on your collar. FUNNY part was the with all the Korean War equipment we had the Beretta's....WTF.
Our unit/ state didn't get A2's till 2000 and all the Gewiz Famdangled stuff really didn't hit till 2002 when our MTOE was changed from Mech INF to Enhanced Brigade. Sad part is we inherited all the "Newer" equipment from a New York Brigade only for them to deploy in 2003 & us in '04. Finally unfortunately it took Sept 11 to happen for the Guard units to finally get brought up to date with equipment. I do miss my M60, a soup can & some pocket change and she would fire about 650 to 700 rounds a minute. 
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Posted: 11/11/2010 3:24:39 AM EDT
[#20]
Old Army, 1961-1964. 66th Armored Bn, 2nd Armored Div, Fort Hood, 61-62, 53rd Signal Bn, 7th Army, Kitzingen, Germany 62-63 and 53rd Signal Bn, 4th Army, Fort Chaffe, Ark 63-64. Steel pots, green fatigues, kahki summers, M1s, then M14s.
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Posted: 11/11/2010 3:51:35 AM EDT
[#21]
My old school Army stuff... a steel pot for the first 18 months, a kevlar fritz for the second 18 months No body armor for the first 18 months, a kevlar "flack vest" for the second 18 months a M16A1 black combat boots (two types, basic boots with chervon sole and jump boots) woodland BDUs I drove a Bradley A0 model I was issued a M17A1 gas mask My MOPP suit was solid OD My cold weather coat and pants were sheep skin lined and solid OD That is all I can remember for now |
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Posted: 11/11/2010 4:11:18 AM EDT
[#22]
My first Sergeant Major in Amberg had a CIB with 2 stars. I just found out from an old buddy that his daughter wasn't really a blond. LOL, Mike
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Posted: 11/11/2010 4:14:56 AM EDT
[#23]
Quoted:
At least compared to these "kids" nowadays.  Let's say 1975 to maybe pre-Panama invasion (late 80's). The late Post-Vietnam era, with equipment and uniforms to match.
(see sigline for dates) 19 of my 20 jumps were in a steel pot, the final in a Kevlar. There were units that had Kevlars earlier, but mainly RDF types (remember that term?). As a grunt I carried an M16A1 my whole 4 years; mine was a Hydromatic. As a mortar maggot we also had 1911A1 .45's for gunners and AG's, no Beretta M9's. Those old .45's would rattle if you shook them! Prior to my 81mm days I was Four-Deuce (4.2" mortars, or 107mm). Our dataplates were dated 1954. M60 was the GPMG; 240's were co-ax guns on tanks only. We had old rattley Ithaca 12 gauges for guard duty. I was stationed for 3 of my 4 years in Panama. We were issued the old OD green slant pocket jungle fatigues and OD jungle boots. You could wear BDU's in garrison but in the field jungles only. Rarely did you wear BDU's in garrison either 'cause they were so damn hot in the tropics. Lightweight BDU's didn't come out until the last few months before I PCS'd at the end of '86. We wore BDU soft caps (when not wearing maroon berets) which looked kinda weird with OD jungle fatigues. Only Rangers wore the OD patrol caps, which actually would have matched better. Hummers hadn't hit the scene yet. It was "quarter tons" (jeeps) and Gamma-Goats, deuce-and-a-halfs and 5-tons. The "Vincent" was some new-fangled commo scrambling thingy we had on our vehicle mounted radios. PRC-77's. 'Nuff said there.... You could actually see a Huey flying every now and then, but Blackhawks were indeed the mainstay. Did fly in a Huey once though. It's a blast sitting looking right out the door! How about you Jarheads (hey, at least I capitalized it!)? Any of you wear the "Jungle Cammies" (ERDL's?). Preceded the BDU's when the Army and USMC adopted them. Only ones in the Army I ever saw wear them were the cadre at the Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC). The only difference between what you posted and the Guard in the late 80s was that we had BDUs and the Kpots. We didn't start getting newer gear til mid 90s. |
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Posted: 11/11/2010 5:30:58 AM EDT
[#24]
Quoted:
USMC, 1982 to 1986. I was issued winter wool Alphas and the summer weight poly wool blend Alphas. The green coated nylon raincoat and the wool "horse blanket" overcoat. I was issued a mixture of Woodland camo utilities (with the big collars) and ERDL camo jungle utilities. Had a steel pot, white T-shirts, and green field jackets. Never even saw an M16A2, or an M9. I wouldn't call myself "Old Corps" since that distinction belongs to the pre WWII Marines, but I'm old enough. Fuckin' A, dude, same here. Steel pot had the mitchell pattern in boot but ERDL (early, smaller pattern woodland like) covers in the fleet. Alice all the way. Jeeps, CH46 and CH53E helicopters, F-4 phantoms and A-4 Skyhawks, and most of the birds were older than than the guys working on them. I got (and still have) a poncho liner from MCP brand new in the bag dated 1968. |
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Posted: 11/11/2010 8:11:19 AM EDT
[#25]
Quoted: I joined in late 88. We were told that we were the first Basic Training Unit at Ft. McClellan, AL to get the Kevlar Helmets. My picture from BCT was in the Steel Pot though. We were trained on the M16A1, M60, and M72A2 LAW. A lot of Deuce and a Half's were still running around then too. The Jeeps were all gone though. For the most part I saw mainly Blackhawk Helo's but there were a few Huey's around. I'm surprised you guys got M16A1's, I did JROTC Summer Camp at McClellan in 1988 and we were unpacking A2's for our range trip, they'd just gotten them in. They must not have gotten enough in to replace all the A1's used by basic training. |
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Posted: 11/11/2010 8:14:57 AM EDT
[#26]
US Army
Went active duty in '87 and into the reserves in '90. 
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Posted: 11/11/2010 8:20:15 AM EDT
[#27]
I was on the cusp. I was in the NG and ROTC in the late 80s, and carried M16A1s. Didn't get issued an A2 until I went to IOBC. We still used ALICE packs, LBEs and PRC77s and where I was stationed in Hawaii, we still used Hueys.
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Posted: 11/11/2010 1:35:27 PM EDT
[#28]
Quoted:
Quoted:
I joined in late 88. We were told that we were the first Basic Training Unit at Ft. McClellan, AL to get the Kevlar Helmets. My picture from BCT was in the Steel Pot though. We were trained on the M16A1, M60, and M72A2 LAW. A lot of Deuce and a Half's were still running around then too. The Jeeps were all gone though. For the most part I saw mainly Blackhawk Helo's but there were a few Huey's around. I'm surprised you guys got M16A1's, I did JROTC Summer Camp at McClellan in 1988 and we were unpacking A2's for our range trip, they'd just gotten them in. They must not have gotten enough in to replace all the A1's used by basic training. They were just coming in. Our Cadre qualified on the A2 right before we came in for BCT. I remember one of the Drill Sgt.'s telling us this because they all had to go re-qualify about midway through our cycle as they were given M193 ammo for the A2's when they qualified. They had previously zeroed their weapons with M855 and a couple of the Cadre did not score Expert and were pissed. They complained the ammo was the cause and they gave them a redo with M855 ammo. |
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Posted: 11/11/2010 1:42:00 PM EDT
[#29]
I served in the Navy '79-'99, and I did get many chances to work alongside folks in the MARINES and Army. I miss it, especially flying in CH-46's with an insane bunch of jar-heads in Italy. I'm still working .mil with the Navy.
Fuck cell phones at work and Abu Hussein 0Bama. |
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Posted: 11/11/2010 3:09:57 PM EDT
[#30]
Quoted:
Quoted:
USMC, 1982 to 1986. I was issued winter wool Alphas and the summer weight poly wool blend Alphas. The green coated nylon raincoat and the wool "horse blanket" overcoat. I was issued a mixture of Woodland camo utilities (with the big collars) and ERDL camo jungle utilities. Had a steel pot, white T-shirts, and green field jackets. Never even saw an M16A2, or an M9. I wouldn't call myself "Old Corps" since that distinction belongs to the pre WWII Marines, but I'm old enough. Fuckin' A, dude, same here. Steel pot had the mitchell pattern in boot but ERDL (early, smaller pattern woodland like) covers in the fleet. Alice all the way. Jeeps, CH46 and CH53E helicopters, F-4 phantoms and A-4 Skyhawks, and most of the birds were older than than the guys working on them. I got (and still have) a poncho liner from MCP brand new in the bag dated 1968. A few years back I bought a set of reproduction "Jungle Cammies" (ERDL). They're hanging in our spare closet. Don't know what the hell I thought I was gonna do with them but they looked cool. I thought about having my old Panama patches sewn on but it wouldn't be authentic. I was a grunt and we wore the OD jungle fatigues. The only ones I ever saw wear the "cammie" version of jungle fatigues were the cadre (permanent party guys) assigned to the Jungle Operations Training Center. They did look cool as fuck though! |
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Posted: 11/11/2010 3:16:11 PM EDT
[#31]
USMC 74-95
I wish I had my horse blanket. Best wool winter coat I ever had, before my Filson. |
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Posted: 11/11/2010 3:25:30 PM EDT
[#32]
1974 101st Airborne, till they got a good look at my feet
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Posted: 11/12/2010 11:09:00 AM EDT
[#33]
69-71 For me. Steel pot's, C-rations, and M151A1 jeeps.
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Posted: 11/12/2010 3:05:57 PM EDT
[#34]
I guess I fit somewhere in between. 88-92.
In basic we used M16A1's and steel pots. My first permanent duty station, Ft. Bragg, 18th FA BDE ABN, we had kevlar helmets, M16A1's, M9's and LAW's. There were still several Gama Goats around but only a very few jeeps. Still had the chevy tucks (M1008/9 CUCV?). We could also wear OG 109's (?), the old olive drab jungle uniforms. I never had a set because at the time I wanted to waste my money on beer, not another uniform. Second duty station, 2nd ACR, BIndlach Germany, we had M16A2's, M1911's and there were still actually a few M3 grease guns that were carried in the tank recovery vehicles. No more LAW's but we did have AT-4's. The only CUCV we had was used by the chaplain. |
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