case in point right on AKO today I have seen COMCAM patches,SECFOR ect....shoot I guess I'll go get me a COMSIG patch and wear it too....how about one that says BOHICA

quote:

Originally posted by Teknowil:
case in point right on AKO today I have seen COMCAM patches,SECFOR ect....shoot I guess I'll go get me a COMSIG patch and wear it too....how about one that says BOHICA

Shall I quote many an officer and NCO?

"A standard not enforced is a new standard set"

As much as we hated to see the "Sergeant Major Patrol", there is a distinct "we're in Iraq, we can wear WTF we want" attitude. Maybe the COS can call some 2-stars, and I'll bet chains of command would get more receptive (sorta like what it took to bring an end to the red 1ID patches). Unfortunately, you do have that situation in theater, and that's probably what it would take to fix it.

I seen a picture of one joe wearing NOPEN. yeah I realize penicillian allergies are a ***** but the type of treatment you would need in a combat situation probably wouldn't involve penicillian

As long as it doesn't effect the mission, who cares?

I know guys who, while deployed in Afghanistan, just wore their t-shirts and body armor while on patol. No ACU top, but they still got the mission done. Weren't shaving either.

I don't see the problem with that picture. Commanders in Iraq routinely develop patches to show some sort of unity with the local forces.

Unauthorized patches are something of a tradition in the U.S. Army. At my old battalion's HQ we had an original green set of fatigues that was worn by someone in the battalion in Vietnam. It had an unauthorized patch sewn on the left breast pocket showing the wearer was in a scout/recon platoon. Thats just the way the Army is. Always will be, especially now that we can simply velcro patches on.

Isn't the ISAF patch authorised? I see a lot of pictures with soldiers in Afghanistan wearing it.

Thats hard to say since the new 670-1 isn't out yet. But practically if the BC says ok then you are good I suppose.

Looks to be spread out accross units deployed there, so it looks like its an official thing.

Must be a NATO thing......

It may not be strictly iaw AR 670-1, but it is directed. The individual in the picture is BG Anderson, the DCG of the 82d ABN DIV and CJTF82. I have seen the CG and the DIV CSM with the same ISAF patch.

I guess its like the UN blue beret, or the funny orange on the MFO in the Sinai wears/wore.

I don't view the ISAF patch as pictured above as a "patch" in the traditional SSI "patch" sense"...its an identifier really......

Much like an MP brassard as that is how they are currently worn...above the current SSI on the left side....

Most, if not all US forces work for NATO in A'stan, not the other way around.....

What gets me is that I have heard that some soldiers won't wear an ISAF patch because it is "un-American" and goes against regs......

Well it might not be in the regs...but I'm sure a memo authorizing it is somewhere.....maybe its unit SOP whatever..

but...when Johnny/Jane comes home, my guess is he/she will wear the NATO medal.....

There is no difference really...a foreign military medal and patch, IF AUTHORIZED are really no different......IMO.

http://forums.militaryspot.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9461073/m/8121099371

in the above link in blue the original poster has a point about the ISAF patch on the uniform on the RIGHT SIDE in place of the SSI-FWTS...maybe thats why we see it now on the left where MP Brassards and CID brassards typically go....

But then again that was when NATO initially took over...I think they got it fixed now with the left side.....and rightfully so.....

We may owe that to the original poster in the thread in blue.

I arrived in Afghanistan in January of 2007. There was a round, khaki colored ISAF patch that was worn in place of the combat patch on the ACU. The 10th Mtn Div was wearing them when we arrived. Shortly after the 82nd took over, the ISAF patch was changed to the rectangular ACU colored patch worn on the left sleeve pocket flap of the ACU.

quote:

Shortly after the 82nd took over, the ISAF patch was changed to the rectangular ACU colored patch worn on the left sleeve pocket flap of the ACU

Better IMO.

That ISAF patch business started when I was there in '06. First, they just had us stencil 'ISAF' on the doors of the vehicles, then came the khaki patch in place of the combat patch, then that went away, and finally we come to the identifier patch on the left side above the unit SSI. In each case, it was directed by the CJTF in charge, to distinguish NATO forces from other ones.

quote:

Originally posted by HwkDriver:
As long as it doesn't effect the mission, who cares?

I know guys who, while deployed in Afghanistan, just wore their t-shirts and body armor while on patol. No ACU top, but they still got the mission done. Weren't shaving either.

I couldn't agree more. Many times back in 2002 we were doing the same thing. Wear whatever is comfortable to get the mission done. I cannot stand uniform sharpshooters in the field let alone a deployment. My favorite were the unit SOP's on exactly where you have to wear every piece of equipment down to the location of you 550 cord tiedowns. Give me a break.

The thing is, these uniform standards are in place for practical reasons sometimes. One of our Strykers caught on fire once and the whole crew got the crap burned out of their arms because they were driving around in t-shirts. They could have saved themselves a lot of pain just by wearing their ACU blouse.

quote:

Originally posted by gijoeyl33:
My favorite were the unit SOP's on exactly where you have to wear every piece of equipment down to the location of you 550 cord tiedowns. Give me a break.

The reason for that is so that if you go down the next guy can find your stuff without having to rummage through your rucksack or pockets or whatever. It may seem stupid but it's there for a reason. and believe it or not, doing that is SQUARED AWAY. If I get shot I want my buddy to know where my first aid kit is. If I am running out of ammo I want to know where he keeps his extra mags, If he goes down I want to know where he keeps his radio. Get it?

quote:

Originally posted by runfuret:

quote:

Originally posted by gijoeyl33:
My favorite were the unit SOP's on exactly where you have to wear every piece of equipment down to the location of you 550 cord tiedowns. Give me a break.

The reason for that is so that if you go down the next guy can find your stuff without having to rummage through your rucksack or pockets or whatever. It may seem stupid but it's there for a reason. and believe it or not, doing that is SQUARED AWAY. If I get shot I want my buddy to know where my first aid kit is. If I am running out of ammo I want to know where he keeps his extra mags, If he goes down I want to know where he keeps his radio. Get it?

I agree to a point. Certain things need to be SOP - like the IFAK. No questions EVERYONE must wear their IFAKs in the same spot. Other critical items - such as mags and radios -should have two or three accepted locations to allow for individual performance levels. Then there are the non-critical items that shouldn't matter.