Why I'm in a bad mood so often ;)

[Phoenixent]

Originally Posted by SPEMack618

Yeah, except Super 8 had the Air Force guys wearing horrendous blue berets, shoddy insignia placement on the officer insignia,heck back then, if I recall correctly they were still SPs and didn't wear the blue beret yet.

I believe we had this discussion on IMFDB about the blue berets on the Star Trek page. SAC security had funky looking blue berets in the 60's and each base had their own way of wearing them. There was a website about SAC security that had a lot of photos of them with their berets.

[SPEMack618]

Good point on the SAC Security guys. Heck, they were the fellas LeMay wanted the original AR-15 for. I do believe that is the heraldic basis of the current SF blue beret worn by USAF Sky Cops.

That being said, surely the USAF truck drivers in that operation weren't SAC cops, now were they?

[Phoenixent]

Originally Posted by SPEMack618

Good point on the SAC Security guys. Heck, they were the fellas LeMay wanted the original AR-15 for. I do believe that is the heraldic basis of the current SF blue beret worn by USAF Sky Cops.

That being said, surely the USAF truck drivers in that operation weren't SAC cops, now were they?

Have not seen the film as I have been slammed with film work myself. But you can stretch the truth on this and say due to the highly classified operation that SAC cops were used as drivers..

A piece of historical fact on LeMay's AR-15 order for SAC cops. The first batches of AR's had Air Force Insignia Blue furniture on them. It's hard to spot in photos but I had some in my hands to look at and they are blue paint over brown fiberglass.

[AdAstra2009]

Originally Posted by SPEMack618

That being said, surely the USAF truck drivers in that operation weren't SAC cops, now were they?

Who says they wouldn't just grab a SAC E-nothing and task him with driver duty.

[SPEMack618]

Yeah, but a SAC E-nothing would be wearing a fatigue cap, an OD ball cap, a squadron ball cap, or one of those horrendous colored flight line ball caps.

[AdAstra2009]

Originally Posted by SPEMack618

Yeah, but a SAC E-nothing would be wearing a fatigue cap, an OD ball cap, a squadron ball cap, or one of those horrendous colored flight line ball caps.

I haven't read anything that says that the SAC beret was a rank related item.

[SPEMack618]

Yeah, but it was SAC Security exclusive.

Generally, Sky Cops don't drive trucks in the Air Force. Truck drivers do that.

[AdAstra2009]

Originally Posted by SPEMack618

Yeah, but it was SAC Security exclusive.

Generally, Sky Cops don't drive trucks in the Air Force. Truck drivers do that.

Is there even a truck driver mos in the Air Force.

[Jcordell]

Well better late than never. My father was a SAC sky cop back in the mid sixties (63-66). He wore a blue beret here in the states. He was issued a Smith & Wesson Model 15 4" and at first carried an M2 carbine. They were the first branch to get AR-15 rifles. He does not recall blue paint on the furniture.

When he was stationed at Bien Hoa Air Force Base (South Vietnam) in 65 he carried a Winchester 1897 "Trench Gun", a Smith & Wesson Model 15 snubbie in a shoulder holster (yes he was issued a snub-nosed revolver in a combat zone gents) and a 1911A1 on his belt. His last couple of months in Vietnam the Air Force took away the shotgun and issued him an M16. He continued to carry the Model 15 and the 1911A1. In Vietnam he either wore a steel pot or a style of fatigue cap known as a Ridgeway.

The lieutenant in charge of his ......... well I was Army so I don't know what his immediate unit would have been. I would call it a platoon.....carried an M2 carbine and a 4" S&W Model 15 when he was in Vietnam. My father said that things were a little looser in the early days, but by the time he rotated back to the states early in 66 they were tightening up and (at least for the Air Force sky cops) the M16 rifle was becoming commonplace and the hodgepodge of firearms was being reduced.

[SPEMack618]

Checkman, I think it would be called a Flight.

That's cool. When my Dad in SEA, from '73-75, he carried a hodgepodge as well.

A Model 15, an M-1911A1, an Ithaca 37, and an XM-117.