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Issued watches generally...

pdxleaf
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The lady looked at me with a strange look on her face.
Then she said, "Is that a real religion?"

My roommate from Ft. Meade was with me and responded, "Oh yes, ma'm! He's a very devout Rastafarian."

Then in a serious voice she said, "how do you spell that?"

Oh crap. Now I'm in trouble. But I figured she wouldn't know if I got it wrong so I made my best guess, "R-A-S....", going slowly to think how it was spelled.

We used to joke that if I got killed, a guy with dreadlocks would show up at my mom's and offer to light up with her.
 
JwRosenthal
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Mad Dog Mad Dog
That’s interesting and good news [and makes sense] for the younger crowd coming up through the ranks. It must have changed sometime after I left active duty in 1992 [I was IRR and SELRES until 1998].

I specifically remember addressing my OIC on my last deployment about not wanting to return the G-1. He understood and told me that few pilots, if any, actually do the return. He told me to lose the G-1 on deployment and pack it away in my flyers kit bag…and report it as lost. That’s what I did and sure enough NIS [now NCIS] called me about it when I returned from deployment. I said I lost the G-1 on the boat and they said OK. So…now I stole and lied…and I didn’t particularly feel very good about it.

The only excuse that I had [which was a pretty crappy one] was that I knew that the USN issued G-1 was the mark of a Naval Aviator and if I took care of it, it could be utilized and passed down in the family. I wasn’t married at the time, but I did marry and now our grown kids have expressed much interest in the G-1.

LATE ENTRY: I was honorably discharged…Scouts Honor. 👍
It’s situations like this where I don’t understand why there isn’t a standing protocol (not sliding scale) to allow military personnel to purchase their issued personal items (weapons aside) upon discharge.
A friend of mine’s grandfather was a retired Naval commander (retired as Admiral) who served in both WWI and WWII commanding a carrier group. When he retired he kept everything- all uniforms, great coats, holsters, both WWI and WWII issued Colt’s…he just walked with them- never questioned, never inventoried.
If you are going to have rules, they need to be applied equally across the board. Sorry Admiral, I’m gonna need those skivvy’s you’re wearing- here is a plastic shopping bag I got at the Piggly Wiggly.
 
pdxleaf
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
It’s situations like this where I don’t understand why there isn’t a standing protocol (not sliding scale) to allow military personnel to purchase their issued personal items (weapons aside) upon discharge.

I think most people are just happy to walk away buck naked as fast as they can.
 
Dash1
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I don’t get it. In the U.K. nearly all old or unwanted (non lethal) military gear is sold to the public at auction. I assume that’s the case in many countries, so I can’t really see how the government could prove ownership.
Edited:
 
SC1
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Dash1 Dash1
I don’t get it. In the U.K. nearly all old or unwanted (non leathal) military gear is sold to the public at auction. I assume that’s the case in many countries, so I can’t really see how the government could prove ownership.

S/N
 
JwRosenthal
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Dash1 Dash1
I don’t get it. In the U.K. nearly all old or unwanted (non leathal) military gear is sold to the public at auction. I assume that’s the case in many countries, so I can’t really see how the government could prove ownership.
Historically I believe it all went to GSA auction to retrieve some value for the taxpayers rather than just give it away or trash it. This is how many A/N surplus stores got their stuff.
I loved the surplus stores and we were still seeing Vietnam era equipment trickle in
well into the 90’s. But that ended in the 00’s as far as I saw with “surplus” stores selling new cheaply made goods and nothing from the actual military. Not sure where any of it goes now.

I remember being able to buy disarmed ordinance from these stores- I actually bought a hand grenade with a hole in the bottom!
 
SC1
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Historically I believe it all went to GSA auction to retrieve some value for the taxpayers rather than just give it away or trash it. This is how many A/N surplus stores got their stuff.
I loved the surplus stores and we were still seeing Vietnam era equipment trickle in
well into the 90’s. But that ended in the 00’s as far as I saw with “surplus” stores selling new cheaply made goods and nothing from the actual military. Not sure where any of it goes now.

I remember being able to buy disarmed ordinance from these stores- I actually bought a hand grenade with a hole in the bottom!

Great post... explains why I saw an abundance of authentic items in the 80's and then the last time I walked into a surplus store (maybe 5 years ago) it was all bullshit.
 
rcs914
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Historically I believe it all went to GSA auction to retrieve some value for the taxpayers rather than just give it away or trash it. This is how many A/N surplus stores got their stuff.
I loved the surplus stores and we were still seeing Vietnam era equipment trickle in
well into the 90’s. But that ended in the 00’s as far as I saw with “surplus” stores selling new cheaply made goods and nothing from the actual military. Not sure where any of it goes now.

I remember being able to buy disarmed ordinance from these stores- I actually bought a hand grenade with a hole in the bottom!

I went and googled and came up with this article about it, which was at least an interesting read:

https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/military/rise-fall-army-surplus-store/
 
DoctorEvil
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Mad Dog Mad Dog
That’s interesting and good news [and makes sense] for the younger crowd coming up through the ranks. It must have changed sometime after I left active duty in 1992 [I was IRR and SELRES until 1998].

I specifically remember addressing my OIC on my last deployment about not wanting to return the G-1. He understood and told me that few pilots, if any, actually do the return. He told me to lose the G-1 on deployment and pack it away in my flyers kit bag…and report it as lost. That’s what I did and sure enough NIS [now NCIS] called me about it when I returned from deployment. I said I lost the G-1 on the boat and they said OK. So…now I stole and lied…and I didn’t particularly feel very good about it.

The only excuse that I had [which was a pretty crappy one] was that I knew that the USN issued G-1 was the mark of a Naval Aviator and if I took care of it, it could be utilized and passed down in the family. I wasn’t married at the time, but I did marry and now our grown kids have expressed much interest in the G-1.

LATE ENTRY: I was honorably discharged…Scouts Honor. 👍
I'm fairly certain that there's a document that dates from earlier than that (from the early 1980s when the US Navy started to re-issue the Type G-1 after a 2 year break), which states than you can keep your jacket. I recall seeing it somewhere but I can't find it now. I'll keep searching...
 
JwRosenthal
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DoctorEvil DoctorEvil
I'm fairly certain that there's a document that dates from earlier than that (from the early 1980s when the US Navy started to re-issue the Type G-1 after a 2 year break), which states than you can keep your jacket. I recall seeing it somewhere but I can't find it now. I'll keep searching...
Find it and we can clear Colin’s burdened conscience once and for all!
5CD9554F-64BE-485B-A479-8B44FF47D37E.gif
 
T
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If @Mad Dog only procured the jacket he did something very wrong😀

All my Navy pilot friends have full blown carrier hangar decks in their houses. Anti-skid floors in their man rooms with tie downs. Sitting behind a desk in an F-14 ejection seat on rollers, 2 ready room chairs in front of the desk, 500lb tail hooks in the wall corner, and I swear one even has a piece of the reactor core on his desk.
 
Pastorbottle
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These days many countries won’t sell off surplus uniforms in case they fall into the hands of those who would use them to commit illegal and immoral actions.
 
Mad Dog
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DoctorEvil DoctorEvil
I'm fairly certain that there's a document that dates from earlier than that (from the early 1980s when the US Navy started to re-issue the Type G-1 after a 2 year break), which states than you can keep your jacket. I recall seeing it somewhere but I can't find it now. I'll keep searching...
If this is accurate, I won’t know whether to laugh or cry.

🍿
 
Aroxx
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I think I found @pdxleaf's service rifle. Still missing the BCG he "forgot" was in his pocket. 😉
rastaGun.png
 
JwRosenthal
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Mad Dog Mad Dog
If this is accurate, I won’t know whether to laugh or cry.

🍿
Welcome to my world since I do procurement and property.
 
Dash1
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SC1 SC1
S/N
Not sure how a S/N would prove it hasn’t been sold at auction.
 
Dash1
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Historically I believe it all went to GSA auction to retrieve some value for the taxpayers rather than just give it away or trash it. This is how many A/N surplus stores got their stuff.
I loved the surplus stores and we were still seeing Vietnam era equipment trickle in
well into the 90’s. But that ended in the 00’s as far as I saw with “surplus” stores selling new cheaply made goods and nothing from the actual military. Not sure where any of it goes now.

I remember being able to buy disarmed ordinance from these stores- I actually bought a hand grenade with a hole in the bottom!
That’s interesting. In the U.K. we still have some genuine surplus stores, the one in my local town seems to have military clothing from around the world. I recently bought a gortex coat from the Austrian army for about £50, a similar quality gortex coat from an outdoor shop would be at least four times that price.
You also reminded me of the empty hand grenade I bought as a kid! I’m sure I still have it stored away somewhere.
 
DoctorEvil
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Mad Dog Mad Dog
If this is accurate, I won’t know whether to laugh or cry.

🍿
I'm getting closer...
https://standards.globalspec.com/std/10377341/OPNAV 10126.4E
Screenshot_20230308-213218.png


If you left the Navy after 18th October 1990 and before 11th September 2002, then the applicable document would have been OPNAV 10126.4B (the second iteration). As you can see, the original instruction was indeed issued in 1983.

As I've said earlier, I'm fairly certain there weren't huge changes with each revision of this document. So you can sleep easy knowing that you didn't steal your Type G-1. As long as you filled out the relevant paperwork of course...

Edit: Spelling error corrected.
Edited:
 
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