My Magazine Swapping Error

This is kind of off topic, but that's never stopped me before

In Vietnam, helicopter gunners used what we called "chicken plates", first generation body armor that was a single plate that covered from the shoulder blades to the waist...we each used 2 of them, one worn and one to sit on (think about it). One night early in my tenure, I miscounted and didn't get one of our 4...since it was my error, I was the one who only got one. With my 19yr old priorities firmly in place I chose to do without the one I would normally wear and, sure enough, our targets were shooting back...you cannot imagine how small you can get and still fire a machine gun....

 

Chicken plates for Vietnam era Huey gunners covered the front and rear; pilots and ACs covered the front as they sat in an armored seat with side plates.
Aircrew Body Armor 'Chicken Plate' - Vietnam War Body Armor
http://i86.servimg.com/u/f86/10/06/06/36/chicke10.jpg

 

all that is correct as in the tank turret example. while we are talking speed, keep in mind how far 10 yards is! once you can accurately assess a distance of less than 10 yards. remember this; if you are even holding the pistol in a semi normal manner, pointing it at the next threat, and the range is less than 10 yards, forget precision shooting, I want you to hit your target first, and that means now. If the front sight is on your target, screw all else squeeze the trigger. especially if that front sight is actually centered from side to side somewhere on the torso. Man down is almost a 100% guarantee and it should not be you. take cover and all the time you need for proper sight alignment on more distant threats.

 

The phrase is "GET OF THE X"

 

Tell ya what son...you go with your reference material and I will go with my memory...our plates were front only, there was no need for a back. There may have been a back plate available, but I never ran across a unit that used them.

I do love it when people tell me what I wore.

 

"and one to sit on (think about it)."
Was this a reason?
Thanks for your service!

 

Pretty much...

OK, no more hijacking for me...sorry Moto...

 

Not exactly the bookworm type.
Primary MOS 11D, secondary MOS 11B. Bragg for Basic, Knox for AIT, Benning for jump and Bragg.
67-69, 3 tours Vietnam III Corps AO, first as glorified light infantry and a door gunner UH1B and UH1C gunships.
Usually 2 minis, 14 rockets plus door guns. Crewed on the Hog or M5 nose cannon, 48 rockets and door guns. Crewed smoky to extract troops from hot LZs. The smoke was created by a ring spraying oil on the turbine's hot end. As you know that means pure CA time of 2 for 1 for flight hours. DCS was 1.5 to 1.
Used the free M60 and later a mini on the post. With a free M60, it hangs from the ceiling. Often the gunners will put one foot on weapons pod to fire to the front, side or rear; hence the 2 plates.

All I did was post links to what was issued; however, to satisfy your curiosity that was what I did.

 

Gunned (after 4 mos with 2/502 PIR...Primary 11B/Duty 11G shake and bake) with F/1/9 Cav out of Phouc Vinh and Bearcat and Razorbacks (4th plt (detached) 120th AHC out of Tan Son Nhut), both on C models...similar configuration with both...minis, pods and door guns (free-held 60s with butt removed and replace with plates)...spent a lot of time on the skids and braced on pods, still never ran across anyone who used (or even had available) double plates. I will accept that SOME could have used them, but certainly not that it was the norm since I never saw it....and still IMO about as useful as tits on a boar.

A little curious how you managed 3 tours in 67-69...same time I was there and we were limited to 18 months with a tour elsewhere before return...not saying it didn't happen, but just curious how. I tried to extend past the 18 and was denied due to USARV reg. (Turned out to be moot anyway, as I had a little incident at 17 mos 14 days that gave me my extra 6 mos for my early out at Letterman Patient Detachment.)

EDIT: Damn...I forgot Moto...sorry again (mea culpa...mea maxima culpa)

 

rolls eyes... mutters men and their war stories....... probably drinking beer to......

 

Beats the hell out of childbirth or potty training stories.

 

Excellent!

(You're dangerous!)

 

You're correct and it always applied. After the first tour if one extended, they received 30 days leave between tours of 6 months. Actually the correct term would be I served 6 tours; however, that would send the wrong message. Anyone who served in Vietnam would assume I meant 6 years which be totally incorrect. For simplicity's sake, I say 3 tours and to most, that means 3 years.
"But the Army and Marine Corps also had programs where, if you were willing to extend your tour an additional 6 months, they would give you a free leave of 30 days in between the two tours, flying you anywhere you wanted to spend it free of charge. The flight time didn't count towards those thirty days, nor was the leave time credited towards your extra 6 months. The same applied to each successive six-month extension. These extension programs were usually more popular among headquarters administrative personnel or people who spent their entire tours on really huge fortified and very well-defended bases, than they were among infantrymen. Overly frequent rotation of forces is counter-productive and frequent rotation of forces is expensive; the objective was to find some middle ground between the wishes of the men and the requirements of the military mission. (By comparison, World War II soldiers served for the duration of the war, or until becoming casualties precluding a return to duty.)

(Some Army and Navy special operations personnel such as Special Forces and SEALs served six month TDY tours (temporary duty, with different pay schedules) in country in succession. That is, a "green beret" might be on his "sixth straight tour", which meant that he had been in country for three straight years.)"
How long was a typical tour of duty in Vietnam

 

I remember this one time, in band camp....