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  • Irish Kit 1980s?

    Question here,

    Found alot of photos of Irish army on border duty in 85 wearing flak jackets?

    Here are some photos i've found here,




    Anyone know would these of been standard issue to all troops on operation? For border duty i've seen pictures with (above) and without in a later video in 88, also in the case of a war would they have been issued? If so does the flak jacket go over the webbing or the webbing over it?

    Video in question https://youtu.be/muIRUkSum2o?t=264 The last section covers border duty in 88, the lads here only have webbing and no flak jackets.

    Cheers.

  • #2
    They were standard issue at the time and for a long time after also!

    Everybody would have carried them on duty. Whether they were worn would have been decided by the designated threat level at the time.

    Generally worn as seen in photos also. Although the unit shown suffered the vagrancies of a particular sergeant major and his dress orders for a long time
    An army is power. Its entire purpose is to coerce others. This power can not be used carelessly or recklessly. This power can do great harm. We have seen more suffering than any man should ever see, and if there is going to be an end to it, it must be an end that justifies the cost. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

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    • #3
      Originally posted by X-RayOne View Post
      They were standard issue at the time and for a long time after also!

      Everybody would have carried them on duty. Whether they were worn would have been decided by the designated threat level at the time.

      Generally worn as seen in photos also. Although the unit shown suffered the vagrancies of a particular sergeant major and his dress orders for a long time
      Cheers for the reply, so say in the hypothetical event of a full on war or conflict they would of be worn and issued to all units then?

      If it worn over the 58 Pattern webbing was it possible to wear the flak jacket over a fully kitted webbing?

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      • #4
        Reservists wore the combats until 2003/2004 or so I remember vividly one lad turning up to the orienteering comp in Sligo in May 2004 wearing olive greens when everyone else was in DPM
        "Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "

        "No, they're trying to fly the tank"

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        • #5
          Originally posted by TheCount View Post
          Cheers for the reply, so say in the hypothetical event of a full on war or conflict they would of be worn and issued to all units then?

          If it worn over the 58 Pattern webbing was it possible to wear the flak jacket over a fully kitted webbing?
          Flak jackets were not a personal issue in my unit.. you got one from the duty room when you reported for duty. Barrack Guard did not wear them, CIT, Explosive and Prisoner Escorts did. Re the 58 pattern web equipment if you were using it with the backpack it was not possible to wear a flak jacket.

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          • #6
            they were useless, really. Not remotely as efficient as modern body armour. They were really only proof against small splinters or for deadening the blow of a baton or missile, ie, a half brick or a bottle. They were generally in poor order, as it was everybody's job but nobody's job to maintain them. Firing with them on was also difficult as the butt could shift on the shoulder as the weapon fired.

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            • #7
              It's interesting looking at the old Garda uniforms as well!
              'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
              'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
              Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
              He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
              http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

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              • #8
                They were the US, Vietnam Era M69 vest in a locally made liner. They made useful cushions when in the back of a Bedford on the way to the Glen from Cork. Supposedly able to stop low level small arms and grenade fragments, but I never heard anyone tell the story of "How my M69 saved my life" given it was in service for about 40 years.
                For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by B Inman View Post
                  Flak jackets were not a personal issue in my unit.. you got one from the duty room when you reported for duty. Barrack Guard did not wear them, CIT, Explosive and Prisoner Escorts did. Re the 58 pattern web equipment if you were using it with the backpack it was not possible to wear a flak jacket.
                  So would it be unwearable with this kind of webbing say?

                  Click image for larger version

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                  And so its issue was hit and miss to squads basically? But as i say in the hypothetical of a war would it of been issued or whats the story there?

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by TheCount View Post
                    Question here,

                    Found alot of photos of Irish army on border duty in 85 wearing flak jackets?

                    Here are some photos i've found here,




                    Anyone know would these of been standard issue to all troops on operation? For border duty i've seen pictures with (above) and without in a later video in 88, also in the case of a war would they have been issued? If so does the flak jacket go over the webbing or the webbing over it?

                    Video in question https://youtu.be/muIRUkSum2o?t=264 The last section covers border duty in 88, the lads here only have webbing and no flak jackets.

                    Cheers.
                    Border ally

                    I know that's an Arrse term but it seems appropriate....
                    'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Also issued for artillery shoots, after a certain mortar accident. Still shite. Proper flakkers had a patch on the shoulder to stop the rifle slipping but this was beyond rare. The ones in these pics look to to be in great order but most looked like they'd been dropped from a height.

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                      • #12
                        Also, the shiny tape on the helmets stood out a mile, negating the whole point of a camouflage....

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by GoneToTheCanner View Post
                          Also, the shiny tape on the helmets stood out a mile, negating the whole point of a camouflage....
                          Tape? The inner tube from a car tyre worked much better...Amazing it took so long for the DF to introduce proper helmet covers.
                          For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            The flak jacket was only for wearing with CEFO. However, because they only came in one length, it made it impossible to wear the ammo pouches if you were a short arse (like me) as they ended up around your knees. Hence most people just wore belt order with the ammo pouch(es) pushed round to the side or the spare FN mags in a pocket.

                            Needless to say it was impossible to wear it with CEMO. On any of the Brigade exercises I was involved in during the early 80's (Collon, Mellifont, Gormanstown) the order of the day was "No Flak Jackets".

                            Hence to your question - no we wouldn't have been ordered to wear them to war. However, to paraphrase Clausewitz, no uniform standard survives first contact with the enemy.
                            “The nation that will insist on drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards.”
                            ― Thucydides

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                            • #15
                              I saw several variations on helmet tape; electrical tape (glossy), electrical tape (matt) and self-amalgamating tape (hurleys or handlebars), as well as the inner tube variety and industrial rubber bands (packing crate), all of which worked to a greater or lesser degree. What I also encountered was a difficulty in getting good sizes, as the most common size was a Medium, which i could just about wear and a Large was scarce and the Q people couldn't be arsed to get more Large in; despite several attempts (which is why I hate Q people, for many varied reasons);-)

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