I was a RO in the Corps and having a cheat sheet for programing/reports is a life saver! We all know how shitty those radios can be lmao Semper Fidelis 🤙
Enter the Tactical Fanny pack. Made famous by our lovable Marine Corps Trigger Pullers. It can be used for a survival/E&E kit, a blow out medical kit, or a land nav/GPS/map/admin. It can be worn with the pouch in the front, side, or back and rotated at will by using the waist strap or used as a shoulder bag/purse. It’s compatible with plate carriers/body armor (even with a groin protector) or battle belt being worn. I think mine is made by Eagle Industries but I could be wrong. The USMC issues them now so they have an NSN you could look up… or I’m sure they make rugged cordura or rugged Fanny packs in appropriate colors. Works great because of the versatility and ease of access. Great solution for many problems. If you wanted a symmetrical battle belt (which I always preferred) then you always have two canteens and pouches and a cup, two x3 magazine pouches which can also accommodate x4 M67 frags, and a utility knife and maybe a magazine dump pouch or radio pouch if applicable. This doesn’t change unless you wanted to ad SAW pouches for more magazines or SAW drums you still have two and they attach to the shoulder straps. In back of the belt it can be an IFAK or a butt pack or nothing (my preference for most activities or missions) if you’re sitting in a vehicle or wearing a ruck. So the IFAK goes in the Fanny pack. Anything but having an IFAK on the side. At least the issued IFAK’s were way too bulky.
I also carry the Rite-in-the-Rain notebook. I made a pocket inside the back cover with packing tape. I also laminated the last page with tape, and the next-to last page with luminous tape and clear tape. That way I have a surface I can write temporary information on with a sharpie or dry-erase marker.
I also carried admin stuff (map, protractor, map markers, write in the rain, pens and pencils, equick reference sheets etc) across my body in various pockets instead of in an admin pouch when I was an FO. In my case though it was at least in part due to laziness from not wanting to rearrange my kit, not wanting to buy another pouch, and not wanting to stick another pouch above my mags on my kit. Great video!
Well done !! A leader has to do admin and being properly prepared is the way to go. Make sure that your pockets and cargo pockets are double stitched. Dummy cord your pens and pencils. All green / black or subdued. Small black rubber and subdued colour sharpener attached to pencil dummy cord. Thin cotton line through centre hole of protractor for reading and marking directions. Degree and Mils comparison table. Mils compass and protractor. Multiple blank proforma copies of range cards and sector sketches. On overlay material / waterproof also. For issue to subordinates and new locations. Book number list with blood groups / allergies. Waterproof route / leg data card for nav. Prepared glow note cards for night ops in vehicles or subdued light spaces. Pace count and time card for different loads and environments. I can see you are a professional and that you take your work seriously. Greetings from a former bush war veteran infantry officer from South Africa. 👍👏🇿🇦
A section of very small thread. I use around 18” of dental floss but just plain cotton thread will work but dental floss is more multifunctional. The primary purpose of keeping this string in your admin kit is for making measurements on maps. If you’re measuring a road you can just use your straight edge (ruler) and measure a curved road in segments. Say the road is a perfect circular curve running from 9 o’clock to 3 o’clock on the edge of a clock face. You could just measure straight edge from 9 to 12 ocklock position and then from 12 to 3 but you will get much more accuracy for a pace count if you take the string and place it on the curved road and then measuring the total distance from the map scale using the straightened string. The string also is useful with a protractor to extend the degree measurements on the map to the point that you need to plot a bearing to. Or in combination with a map pen or pencil for drawing circular radius on a map (say if you were concerned of the envelope of fire from a suspected enemy mortar position or you know how far an enemy drone can fly without running out of battery. Measure off that distance with your string using the scale and then use a needle or thumb tack to stick the measured string and pen and trace out the circle on the map or map overlay sheet. There are more uses but those are the big ones. It weighs almost nothing and dental floss can be balled up into the size of a bb. It’s waterproof and reusable and can get popcorn out of your teeth.
I carried my fire support team battle board with me and that had all my admin sheets on it. I had no problem slipping it into my assault pack or even the kangaroo pouch. It was a nice to have and I could write out a quick METTTC on or a time line SEAD fire mission.
I would suggest using a waterproof map case for carrying the map. I’m usually lead Nav in the field so having quick access to the map is necessary. I have it hung around my neck using the lanyard and I just tuck it behind my chest rig. Even if I drop the map it’s still on me and the waterproofing protects the map. Since it’s just tucked in an open pouch or behind my rig I don’t have to fiddle fuck with pockets or buttons when on the move. I can pull my map out and take a look and tuck it back or even drop it if something happens. During an exercise we took contact while I was checking my map and I just let go and it was still there after we broke contact.
Been binge-watching your videos. Solid stuff to say the least. I'm USAR right now till I graduate college with my commission. Your videos have been amazing, and this one takes the crown for me.
In addition to the standard 9 line form somewhere in your admin kit… that 9 line should be laminated (recruit tape works but real lamination is preferred) and placed on a standardized location in every man in the unit. In my unit this was attached to the inside top of the IFAK with a safety pin (which is also a handy first aid item for removing sprinters or gear repair and can be found in a standard cravat also scrounged from the Corpsman). But it might be in a breast pocket or behind the front sapi plate. If printed with small font the cards can be tiny but having that information quickly to hand is important. As you said… when someone has just been shot in the chest… trying to remember all 9 lines… it’s an impossible task. It’s better if you just are able to look at it or better yet write the information on it with a sharpie or map pen and then transmit to higher. My unit also had everyone put a folded up cravat in their left sleeve pocket. In addition to just being a jizz rag/sweat rag/hot things grabber/camouflage/water filter/char cloth material/arm splint or bandage… back in the day before fancy CAT TQ’s became a thing. The cravat was king. All you need is a stick or material to form a windlass. Take the cravat and twirl it in the air while holding the corners until you get a cloth tube or web and high and tight the leg or arm… then tie a single overhand knot then place the stick… then tie an additional two overhand knots then twist the stick and secure with another cravat or other means once circulation to the extremity has stopped. This skill should be practiced and understood. It can be accomplished with even just the shirt off your back. If I’m hiking or hunting as a civilian in the woods. I’m not going to necessarily be carrying a CAT but I will have a “do everything” multifunctional cravat.
Excellent. Ever considered a clip on button compass for the sector sketch sheet? Quickly know which way you are looking, and xfer to the sheet. Line up the compass with the drawn direction to reference
They aren’t as precise, but the Corpsman or Doc will almost always have those alcohol wet wipes… they make great improvised “map correction pens” or in kits where you don’t have weight or space for the real correction pens or it runs out or isn’t in supply system. Q tips from your weapons maintenance kit and liquid isopropyl alcohol will essentially function in the same manner but more precisely (kinda). I keep a small bottle of rubbing alcohol with cotton balls in my terrain modeling kit to erase unit symbol marks and identifiers like rally points or objectives on laminated note cards. Which is another topic for a video if you have never made one. Small unit leaders terrain modeling kit. The butter bars (officers) know more about terrain models but you’ll need the skills to construct them even as just a fire team leader/NCO. My platoon commander pawned the construction off on me most of the time and I carried the terrain model kit in a 50 cal ammo can.
I hate every time the squad leaders are told to not worry about the fight…. I am like you will still need to shoot in a fire fight… little do they know…. Lol 😢
I think dudes just get mixed up and don't understand that "your best tools are your team leaders and your radio to help you win that fight", I've heard and seen it too - "if you're shooting your rifle as an infantry leader, you're wrong" really shouldn't be how it's thought of
My thought on that has always been yes, there will be a time that squad leaders/PC/PS will need to engage with their rifle. The problem is when those individuals get so sucked in to their rifle that they lose the ability to assess conditions and effects, conduct fire assignment and control, or control their subordinate unit leaders. Protect yourself, protect your Marines, but also understand that your responsibility goes beyond just employing your rifle.
