hit up every gun show I could find. Went to one in Waco yesterday, and people were selling IBA pieces that still had people’s name tapes and rank sewn on. Some still had armor in them.
Other stuff like used optics (ACOG’s)…I know they are available to civi’s but just the condition and painting on some of them strike me as coming out of a mil arms room.
Saw one box of SAPI plates. Again you can get them on the civi side but looks suspicious when next to a pile of IBA carriers with names and rank on them.
Also the fact Waco is about 30 minutes from a very large Army base. I can put 2 and 2 together pretty quickly…haha…
Boots, old uniforms, mag pouches…I could care less about that stuff. But when you are talking about armor peices and optics it pisses me off. On my 1st deployment we had to pool our plates together because we didn’t have enough for each person to have a front and back plate. Some arms room might be missing a pretty spendy optic and now they might have a person going without.
Oh yeah Colt 6920 was $1250 which is a lot better than the 2k they were 8 months ago. Benneli M1014 was 2200. Drooled over that for a long time but can’t do over 2k for a shotgun. Saw a FN SCAR in person for the 1st time. Had to laugh at the moonboot they call a stock. 3200 if a remember right for that. DDM4’s for 1200.
I really liked the Colt railed 1911 but didn’t find one in anything but a silver satin. Looking to see if they make a blued/black finish one.
Anyways I think I am going to send an email to the CID office at Ft. Hood and explain to them the next time a gunshow is in town they might want to take a gander over there. Id normally be a MYOB type of gun but I draw the line when its STOLEN property they are selling, and especially armor pieces that were bought to save our troops lives overseas not sold in a gun show in TX.
I don’t know of anyone without armor in Iraq at this point. Same for Afghanistan. If the plates were SAPI and not the ESAPI versions then they could have been acquired legally. I don’t know how the DRMO process is dealing with the SAPI plates that are being sent back. As far as I know, as of right now, none of us who were issued SAPI still have them unless they didn’t follow the FRAGO.
On the contractor side, if you need something better you’ve bought that something at this point.
I’ve lost track of the number of Marine body armor upgrades, but I don’t think there is an EGA toting member deployed with crap or lacking armor these days.
The Air Force and the Navy are getting whatever the Army gives them in CRC (aside from spec people who have their own little world).
$2200 for an actual 1014 and not a converted 11707 is a great deal! Did you grab that guys card??? Lol, I’d give him a call.
I am also aware of the DRMO program. However things like body armor would go to LE agencies. Im not aware of plates and soft armor being sold to civilians.
Also doesn’t matter if it was marked field loss, or the soldier paid for it. Its still gov property. If you lose something and pay for it then later find the item its not ‘yours’. Its still the governments. The only thing you are paying the gov for is they can replace that item not so you can keep it for your own personal use or sell it.
Plates and soft armor are commercially available to civilians. Whether the process of used military gear ends up the market is a different story. I honestly would not want a used set of OTV or IOTV. The way that stuff gets treated here is pretty bad. Dropping armor seriously degrades its effectivness. Letting it bake on the hood of a HMMWV while your in the PX also seriously degrades the armor. There were numerous FRAGOs on what not do with this stuff that I saw and continue to see ignored on a daily basis.
I know people get pissed about having to wear it, get pissed about being in Iraq, get pissed about life in general–but destroying something that can save your life because the “fuggits” set in is a bad deal.
I upgraded to a Paraclete RAV-07 a couple of years ago and I treat that armor like fine china. My issue OTV at the foot of my bed has never been dropped or cooked either.
Seriously though, if you have the number or any info on that 1014 PM me, I would call him tomorrow. Its been on my buy list for a year and they are incredibly hard to find.
Pawn shops, gun shows, and flea markets outside of military installations are full of stolen government property. NIS, OSI, CID, et al know all about it. The individual guys doing onsie-twosie sales garner little interest. Show up with several of something significant, and you’ll get someone’s attention.
Most of that is available OTS, many servicemen also buy their own stuff through outside channels or pay for them instead of turning them in
I sent boxes of stuff to my BIL and his platoon when they were in Iraq, that either the USMC didnt have enough of or wouldnt let them have, even things like IR tags etc
