Comments for Landwarrior, Whopper edition.

Landwarrior, Whopper edition.

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:19:32 -0600

From an email today... Someone did the math and the projected weight of the future warrior with kit is 350 lbs (no joke). Hopefully someone will wake up. Attached picture may show soldier that tops even that. ML The "Soldier's Load" is no joke. When you combine it with a creeping PC construct about letting "non-traditional" people serve, with a healthy dollop of the American's With Disabilities Act... you might well find a Future Force Warrior who looks like this. This is still TTS (Tippy-Top-Sekrit) but I feel it's important enough to break OPSEC. You'll have to click the "Read More" to see the pic.

Comment from Justthisguy on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:11:45 -0600

"hell, they'll bury me with it" Yup, me, too. Just cleaned under the nails with it a coupla hours ago. Stewart Brand, he of the Whole Earth Catalog, said it was the noblest invention of the U.S. Army. I've used mine for all _sorts_ of things.

Comment from NevadaDailySteve on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:35:15 -0600

Red, green - I must be colorblind. I knew there was a militaristic hue in there someplace.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:34:51 -0600

It was 1972, and they came out of 60's-dated rations. Fitting, since my rat that morning was green eggs and ham and Ranger pudding.

Comment from BillT on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:15:16 -0600

Steve -- 1943.

The C-rats we got in RVN sometimes had the pre-war red label Luckies in them, and we inspected *those* cans very carefully for swelling.

Comment from BillT on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:10:50 -0600

I had a mini SAK with a 1/2" blade (and screwdriver), which, according to the TSA's own policy (amended 2006), was auuthorized for carry-on. I carried it through Atlanta, Philly, Newark and Chicago with no problems. A dilated-pupils-type TSA at Sea-Tac confiscated it, even after I drew his attention to the poster right next to him that specifically listed it as authorized.

He refused to even read the poster. He must have been afraid I'd bolt if he stopped glaring at me for three seconds.

Comment from NevadaDailySteve on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:01:58 -0600

Green label Lucky Strikes

Would that be pre WWII smokes? You know "The green went to war" kind?

Comment from Ymarsakar on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:23:17 -0600

What are weapons are citizens willing to die and kill to defend their nation, other citizens, and themselves. I didn't see no TSA goon killing terrorists and stopping planes on 9/11.

Yet, they think they know what a weapon is or isn't?

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:04:24 -0600

I don't joke about my P-38 (fierce look). Hell, I almost didn't fly once after 9-11 because the TSA goon said it was a weapon, and I wasn't willing to surrender it.

That thing's gone everywhere I've ever gone - and hell, they'll bury me with it.

Comment from fdcol63 on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:56:56 -0600

I still carry the same P-38 I got during my first FTX, which was REFORGER '82. Used it once to change a carburetor on a jeep at Graf. As John said, it still comes in handy for a wide variety of uses.

(Got a couple of puncture scars on my leg, too, from where the dang then folds out every now and then ... LOL)

Comment from BillT on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:40:01 -0600

John -- That was a Juliet Oscar Kilo Echo.

The new, improved ones came out in 1980 -- they were slightly larger and made of metal so soft you *couldn't* use 'em for a screwdriver unless you were just popping Dzus fasteners.

Comment from Alan Briley, RN on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:31:09 -0600

I still use the P-38 my father gave me in 1976 when I was a boy scout. Used it on C-rations in the Army, too, before MRE's came along.

I also still shoot my Steyr Model 1912 Chilean Mauser, my 1903-A3 Springfield, my Enfield, and my 1911-A1. I still practice with my broadsword, katana, calvary saber, and bokken.

So, what's wrong with old?

(P.S. In the 1980's, the base commander at Loring AFB in Maine told his B-52 crews they had to get rid of their bumper stickers that said, "THE B-52, SOMETHING OVER 30 YOU CAN TRUST!" No since of humor....

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:25:05 -0600

...and IIRC, the label became someones flashlight filter, too.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:22:44 -0600

I think not, Bill. Mine came out of a carton of C-rats with Green label Lucky Strikes in them...

Comment from BillT on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:57:51 -0600

1972, eh? You got one of the new, improved, ergonomic ones, then.

*cough*

Still wear mine on my dogtag chain and I used it three days ago on a stubborn can of cashews...

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:21:57 -0600

David - *this* old soldier still carries the P-38 he got in 1972. It's worn, and been used as a knife and screwdriver more than for opening cans... but it still comes in handy for it's original purpose now and again.

It's with me right now.

Comment from David M on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:39:45 -0600

I guess P-38's are SOOOOOOO yesterday.

Except for us old-timers, are there any soldiers around that still know what a P38 is...or even a B52? If that "trooper" used a P38 at least he'd get some PT in 3 - 4 times a day.

Sadly, I think the AirSoft field is as close as he is ever going to get to being in uniform.

Comment from Ymarsakar on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:50:34 -0600

African mercenary army that is.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:39:36 -0600

That and Little Boys.

Except I think that the UN frowns on that - unless you have an African army.

Comment from Ymarsakar on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:06:33 -0600

Don't Fat Boys carry nukes to targets of our choosing?

Comment from fdcol63 on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:28:32 -0600

I guess when manpower is short, the Army can relax its "Fat Boy" program and put all the calipers in storage. LOL

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:12:55 -0600

And, I admit, there is a *bit* of a slander for the Reserves. I've seen a not insignificant number of largish people wandering about here at Fort Knox, wearing active duty unit patches.

Comment from fdcol63 on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:52:00 -0600

Better get cracking on that exo-skeleton powered armor then.

And that "cloaking" device. LOL I guess P-38's are SOOOOOOO yesterday.

Comment from Ymarsakar on 2008-08-06

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:46:13 -0600

Better get cracking on that exo-skeleton powered armor then.