[izt_is]

Hey guys, was just wondering if all US Troops engaged in active ground combat carry personal radios?

I just assume that special forces would because they are allowed more advanced equipment.

But what about the standard squad from the 101st Airborne or the 10th Mountain, does each soldier have their own headset that they can communicate withing the squad with?

 

[Xlegionnaire]

I honestly can't answer that 100% but my answer would be no. I do know that 2nd force recon had 1 radio per squad during the assault on Baghdad.

 

[Tiger USMC]

When I was over there in the 82nd the squad leader platoon leader, platoon sergeant, RTO and sometimes the team leaders had radios. The rest of the platoon did not

 

[izt_is]

Thanks for the insight guys. Very helpful!!

 

[Warge]

That'd mean that most boxed modern figures that come with radios are over-equipped if given a rank lower than say sergeant?

 

[izt_is]

That'd mean that most boxed modern figures that come with radios are over-equipped if given a rank lower than say sergeant?

Exactly what I was wondering!

 

[goaltendah1]

Yeah, most boxed figures are way over equipped. The majority of combat troops are not going to carry a radio and a sidearm. In the Marine Corps sidearms are reserved for those that operate crew served weapons or that are staff NCOs and higher. But the extra equipment allows you the ability to outfit the figure in the manner that you please.

Jeff

 

[Chelseaboy]

Not knowing that much about modern load outs I normally follow the online promo photos and copy those.....obviously not such a good idea after all....having said that, would that also be the same for Navy Seals/Special forces or would they all have radios ?
Chelseaboy

 

[ZeroDelta]

Well, as far as I know, at least with the partly introduction of the Land Warrior system to some of the combat troops, every squad member has a personal short range radio to communicate with the squad leader. Its all part of how squads should be more efficiently handled in combat. The Squad leader can even see each solider marked on the map that is displayed on his HUD among other things.

As for extra gear: while sidearms are usually given out to anyone who does not carry a rifle or is a CO/NCO in the field things like this are not always followed. Experienced veterans would often carry sidearms or other extra gear, because of experience.

 

[Matthew2388]

No, they do not. Marine Corps Infantry squads have radios for squad leaders and team leaders only and sometimes Corpsman.

 

[Tiger USMC]

SOF guys are almost always going to have a sidearm and a radio.

 

[RayGun]

That'd mean that most boxed modern figures that come with radios are over-equipped ?

Several years back, when Hot Toys Predators were huge, I mean huge on the secondary market and HT couldn't wait to release more Predators, the Lost Predator came up in pre production photos. Lots of people, purists, were upset that he had actually more weapons and gear than what he had shown in the 3 seconds he was in the 2nd Predator film. And no amount of reasoning would sway them that if it wasn't in the movie, it shouldn't be in the box.

My base reasoning has always been the same- As long as the core gear associated with the figure is accurate, who cares what extra stuff they put in, it should all be welcomed as value IMHO and if it's not accurate to the genre/timeline/era/whatever, then leave it in the box, or better yet, trade it or sell it for value to mitigate your costs.

I understand where the purists come from. You don't want a modern Marine wearing a WW2 German helmet. OK, I get that. But if the Marine comes with his modern to life accurate M16A4, and he happens to also get packaged with a Galil and HK23 light machine gun, then why not?

IMHO, as consumers, at some point, past core essentials to the theme, we should all be pushing for value in the box. Let's not give brands, IMHO, any incentive or excuse to start shortchanging gear in the box as a general rule.

When Dragon Models released a 2nd version of ESU Bill Smith NYPD, some people complained he also came with a Uzi. DML called it a "captured weapon" to salve the complaints of the purists. At the time, there were no other high quality Uzis on the market comparable to the DML one. He still came with his stock MP5 in the 2nd release.

There is so much cool stuff I think we will NEVER see because a lot of purists take the purism a little too far IMHO. Guy has his standard M9 sidearm in the box. Then there's brand spanking newly developed high end USP compact in there too. "No no, don't give us new and interesting weapons extra that have little chance to be made otherwise because it generally doesn't fit the military spectrum! No no dammit, put LESS in the box"

I understand where purists are coming from, but at a certain point, I wish they would be more flexible because new items with crossover appeal help to anchor more sales, and more sales means possibly more being made, and more being made means a chance that some of the arcane subjects we want will actually be given a chance because profits are good and the brand feels it can take some risks.

 

[Warge]

Several years back, when Hot Toys Predators were huge, I mean huge on the secondary market and HT couldn't wait to release more Predators, the Lost Predator came up in pre production photos. Lots of people, purists, were upset that he had actually more weapons and gear than what he had shown in the 3 seconds he was in the 2nd Predator film. And no amount of reasoning would sway them that if it wasn't in the movie, it shouldn't be in the box.

My base reasoning has always been the same- As long as the core gear associated with the figure is accurate, who cares what extra stuff they put in, it should all be welcomed as value IMHO and if it's not accurate to the genre/timeline/era/whatever, then leave it in the box, or better yet, trade it or sell it for value to mitigate your costs.

I understand where the purists come from. You don't want a modern Marine wearing a WW2 German helmet. OK, I get that. But if the Marine comes with his modern to life accurate M16A4, and he happens to also get packaged with a Galil and HK23 light machine gun, then why not?

IMHO, as consumers, at some point, past core essentials to the theme, we should all be pushing for value in the box. Let's not give brands, IMHO, any incentive or excuse to start shortchanging gear in the box as a general rule.

When Dragon Models released a 2nd version of ESU Bill Smith NYPD, some people complained he also came with a Uzi. DML called it a "captured weapon" to salve the complaints of the purists. At the time, there were no other high quality Uzis on the market comparable to the DML one. He still came with his stock MP5 in the 2nd release.

There is so much cool stuff I think we will NEVER see because a lot of purists take the purism a little too far IMHO. Guy has his standard M9 sidearm in the box. Then there's brand spanking newly developed high end USP compact in there too. "No no, don't give us new and interesting weapons extra that have little chance to be made otherwise because it generally doesn't fit the military spectrum! No no dammit, put LESS in the box"

I understand where purists are coming from, but at a certain point, I wish they would be more flexible because new items with crossover appeal help to anchor more sales, and more sales means possibly more being made, and more being made means a chance that some of the arcane subjects we want will actually be given a chance because profits are good and the brand feels it can take some risks.

I don't see this a a purist issue, and I kind of suspected that all figures are over-loaded with gear, partly because it would make it easier for the collector to kit the figure out how he likes, but also because it doesn't make sense loading up with this and that and the kitchen sink. Compare

.

From a noobie collector standpoint, that dude is unrealistic - he has no flares or sidearm or any of the other million thingies we tend to load our figures with. However, he makes sense: stuff tends to weigh a lot, and just carrying what's needed is just what people do. Because stuff is heavy. And we don't like carrying stuff. That is heavy. That we have to carry.

But as a collector, I'm quite grateful the figures do come with all the extras, even if it means I pay more. I like having the opportunity to make whatever I want.

 

[ZeroDelta]

Inst the load-out of a soldier not up to SOP anyway?

 

[The Great Shaggy]

Inst the load-out of a soldier not up to SOP anyway?

Depends on the unit.

Back in 2003, when 4th Infantry Division was deploying, we got a print out of how we were suppose to wear our gear and in which position to contain uniformity amongst 4ID Soldiers. Well it looked good on paper and in the rear, but once we got out there...well, it only took a few weeks for everyone to do whatever they pleased and wore their gear however they liked. Although the 720th MP Bn was kept to a strict uniformity standards up in Tikrit - they weren't allowed to attached any ALICE pouches to their IBAs and had to wear either a LCE or LBV over the IBA at all times.

Also load-outs depend on the type of mission and unit SOP as well or it also came down to personal choices. One thing was norm although - you always carried a basic load for your assigned weapon, a water container of some sorts, and your IFAK. Everything else depended on the mission at hand.

As for radios. Even with the introduction of the PRC-148 and 152s at company level by the end of 2005, the lowest echelon I saw carrying a radio in the command structure (outside the RTO) was a Team Leader (CPL - SGT). Early in the war, squads utilized privately purchased radios like Motorola Talk-a-bouts to use for squad communications, but with the onset of IEDs and the introduction of DUKE radio transmission jammers they became pretty much worseless by the end of 2006.

By the end of my last deployment in early 2009, the only handheld radios being utilized were ICOMs and 148/152s. MANAPACKS were ASIPS or SINGARS or even a Harris. This was at Army level, can't speak for the Marines.

 

[major.rod]

By the book, an infantry platoon will have two PRC-148 or 153 radios. Units try to scrounge up more radios but finding compatible secure radios is no easy task (they are about $8k ea.). Bottom line is you won't typically see a radio below squad level (a squad is a nine man unit (http://gruntsandco.com/grunts/organization-types-sqd-bde/). This goes for the overwhelming majority of conventional units. Not saying Shaggy is wrong. He's a great source it's just not very common for every team leader to have a 148/152. You'd need 12 radios per platoon to start issuing at that level (PL, PSG, 4x Squad Leaders, 6x Team Leaders).

Like Shaggy said, individuals did plus up their commo capabilities with motorolas early in the decade but they weren't secure nor could they talk with the leaders in a platoon equipped with EMBTRs. There was an initiative in the late 90's for squad radios called ICOMs. Some of the same problems as the motorolas, maybe a little tougher but they used unique batteries which is a downside in austere environments where unique batteries and charging stations don't grow on palm trees.

Land Warrior program died but a follow on program called NETT Warrior envisions issuing each soldier a radio the PRC 154 http://www.gdc4s.com/Documents/Products/Radios/Networking-Radios/GD-Nett-Warrior-Radio.pdf. It also is a GPS receiver and feeds the soldiers position into the situational awareness software so leadership knows the location of each soldier. At least squad leaders and maybe team leaders will be issued a special smartphone so they can receive orders, graphics, maps and images. The PRC-154 will also has a network creating capability. If A can't talk to C because of terrain/ranger but B can speak to both the radio will automatically send a message through B to C. The system is in testing and fielded to a MAX of one BDE, maybe two then tweaked and issued to a different brigade for further testing until the system is deemed mature. (the Army is going to 33 BDE's so one or two isn't a lot).

Special Ops units like Delta, SF, SEALs, Rangers, MARSOC, CTTs, PJs, have 148/152s all the way down to the individual level.

Hope that helps.