For Geronimo TBT (to be early is to be on time). Meet Alice. You may recognize her. We first met in May of 1990 and went out a few times but really didnt get to know each other well until a few months later in November of that same year. For our first serious outing Alice and I took a little trip to the snow in a UH-1H. I was a brand new AG at the time and admit that when I laid eyes upon the barrel bag, AN/PVS4, tripod, T&E, binos and boxes of ammo thought they were all part of the hazing ritual. Alice must of weighed in around 90lbs but she took it in stride and before long we were loaded up and our way. When we arrived at the LZ I went out first to set up a perimeter as was the custom. After the bird lifted off I looked back and there was Alice half buried in 2 snow. I must have fiddled around through two additional lifts trying to get my snowshoes on and Alice up out of the snow before we were squared away enough to get off the LZ and into the wood line (Cherry!). We were pretty much going steady after that trip. Whether it was 110F or -50F we went nearly everywhere together including lots of shooting, skiing, hiking, snowshoeing and the like. Alice turned out to be a bit of an adrenaline junky too and before long we were jumping out of airplanes together. I landed on her and broke a frame on one jump and rode her all the way into the DZ hanging upside down in my risers on another but she never seemed the worse for wear. We ended up carrying the AG gear together for about eight months until I became gunner and we really had it made for another year or so until I volunteered to to take the company RTO slot. Back on went the weight but that old AN/PRC-77 and KY-57 never slowed her down a bit. Eventually Alice and I went our separate ways and I moved on to Mountainsmith, Lowe and finally Camelbak and Arcteryx. The new stuff is great but Ill always have a soft spot for Alice and the time that we spent together in the Infantry. (The more observant practitioners of tactical fieldcraft will note that the rucksack in the picture is an ALICE PACK MEDIUM rigged in an assault pack configuration (frameless) and is not the ALICE PACK LARGE that we carried in Alaska. Youll recall that medium was simply too small (~1000 cu. inches smaller) to carry all the gear needed to operate in that environment. I use this one in my truck as a sort of get home bag to stow various emergency snivel gear items during the winter months and it is still an all around excellent pack for general use.)
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 07:20:48 +0000
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