I Hate Reflective Belts

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

imma LT that has yet to EAD please tell me i dont have to pay for my baller RB out of my own pocket??

sometimes no, oftentimes, yes... TECHNICALLY they're not supposed to mandate something you have to buy out of pocket, but good luck getting 2, 3, 4+ belts issued... at least in JSTARS land

[capt4fans]

sometimes no, oftentimes, yes... TECHNICALLY they're not supposed to mandate something you have to buy out of pocket, but good luck getting 2, 3, 4+ belts issued... at least in JSTARS land

Or you could just continually collect them as I do and never plan on wearing one of them. I think I have enough to wrap a C-130, and yet I went an entire 4 month rotation at the Deid without every having put it on my reflective PT Gear.

[sky_king]

Is anyone working on a morale patch made from the reflective material? I'd wear it. Heck I may just find a belt and bust out the wife's sewing machine tomorrow and try to make one myself.

[FlyingBull]

imma LT that has yet to EAD please tell me i dont have to pay for my baller RB out of my own pocket??

I'm in the same boat, except my Det never asked for the belt back...officially. So I've still got one. Is red ok for everyone or is there some kind of rule about who wears what color? Nah, it can't be that gay.

[Chutdoggin]

I was officially number 10k earlier this evening... happy to keep that one in the baseops fam... Vive La Resistance!

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

I'm in the same boat, except my Det never asked for the belt back...officially. So I've still got one. Is red ok for everyone or is there some kind of rule about who wears what color? Nah, it can't be that gay.

shutuppa your face! this is just the kind of "good" idea you need to give them! Especially with the current issue of saluting in PTs. coming soon: all enlisted will wear yellow belts, CGOs will wear orange, FGOs red, and GOs will wear white or some other silliness.

[capt4fans]

I'm in the same boat, except my Det never asked for the belt back...officially. So I've still got one. Is red ok for everyone or is there some kind of rule about who wears what color? Nah, it can't be that gay.

Yep..Bagram is that gay...from the Facebook page...

" I'm stationed at Bagram A.F. and here on Bagram A.F. the only authorized color reflective belt is yellow/orange. Apparently it's more reflective? I guess I was wrong about the white stripe on mine being the reflective part."

Edited November 7, 2009 by capt4fans

[JarheadBoom]

Is anyone working on a morale patch made from the reflective material? I'd wear it. Heck I may just find a belt and bust out the wife's sewing machine tomorrow and try to make one myself.

Self-adhesive Velcro strips FTW.

Is red ok for everyone or is there some kind of rule about who wears what color? Nah, it can't be that gay.

Yes. It can be that gay.

For our ORE and ORI, AD peeps had one color, us Reserve slime had a different color (way to perpetuate the "us vs. them" mentality...), EETs and inspectors had their own color (which not many of them adhered to), and EVERYONE had to wear it 24/7 for the duration of the war. One crew got dinged by the inspector who flew with them, because one of the crewmembers took his disco belt off after takeoff. I shit you not.

edit for punctuation

Edited November 7, 2009 by JarheadBoom

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

Self-adhesive Velcro strips FTW.

Yes. It can be that gay.

For our ORE and ORI, AD peeps had one color, us Reserve slime had a different color (way to perpetuate the "us vs. them" mentality...), EETs and inspectors had their own color (which not many of them adhered to), and EVERYONE had to wear it 24/7 for the duration of the war. One crew got dinged by the inspector who flew with them, because one of the crewmembers took his disco belt off after takeoff. I shit you not.

edit for punctuation

ygbfsm! when a man used to be serious about fighting someone, he'd roll up his sleeves. when he was REALLY serious, he'd take off his jacket. These days nothing says ass whipping like putting on the reflective belt!

[Guest Alarm Red]

Yep..Bagram is that gay...from the Facebook page...

" I'm stationed at Bagram A.F. and here on Bagram A.F. the only authorized color reflective belt is yellow/orange. Apparently it's more reflective? I guess I was wrong about the white stripe on mine being the reflective part."

Must be a soldier posting that. Last time I was at BAF (recently), reflective belts were only required in uniform, at night. Never required in PT gear.

[Tex]

Two things, BAF, as of 6 to 9 months ago, is actually requiring belts while in PT gear. Now the thinking man would say, "but the PT gear is already reflective." Yeah Thinking men don't run BAF. Second, back in 06' the reflective belt thing was starting to take off. We posted fliers around BAF tying the color of your reflective belt to your rank. LTs of course had to wear pink. We though this was funny, until arguments broke out in the weight room and around Cunningham concerning this new policy. The Chief had to send out an email to refute the fliers. What sort of a world are we living in, when an outlandish prank like that, is actually taken seriously?

[Smokin]

Membership up to 630 this morning from 350 yesterday. I think your goal should be more like 10,000 by the end of the year. This group could become like those email chains, once they hit the critical mass, they are unstoppable!

This is one time I love saying I told you so! (except the "end of year" part was a little off)

[pawnman]

I'm in the same boat, except my Det never asked for the belt back...officially. So I've still got one. Is red ok for everyone or is there some kind of rule about who wears what color? Nah, it can't be that gay.

Yet. I think they save things up so that once we get used to the current gayness level, they can always ratchet up one more notch.

Two things, BAF, as of 6 to 9 months ago, is actually requiring belts while in PT gear. Now the thinking man would say, "but the PT gear is already reflective." Yeah Thinking men don't run BAF. Second, back in 06' the reflective belt thing was starting to take off. We posted fliers around BAF tying the color of your reflective belt to your rank. LTs of course had to wear pink. We though this was funny, until arguments broke out in the weight room and around Cunningham concerning this new policy. The Chief had to send out an email to refute the fliers. What sort of a world are we living in, when an outlandish prank like that, is actually taken seriously?

Might be time to recycle that prank at AUAB. I submit the following:

Junior Enlisted: Silver

NCO: Pink

CGO: Blue

FGO: Red

Flag: Yellow

[TacAirCoug]

I've been at BAF for a month now and I have yet to wear my reflective belt. Neither has anyone else in my squadron for that matter. In fact, I don't even know where mine is right now. Maybe it's the calm before the storm, but it doesn't seem to be an issue here at the moment.

[Guest Bad Intel]

Balad now requires a reflective belt when wearing reflective pt gear... The change happened because there could be a small number of people who do not know which pt gear combo to wear the belt with. At least thats what my NCOIC was told at a leadership meeting last week.

[M2]

Is anyone working on a morale patch made from the reflective material? I'd wear it. Heck I may just find a belt and bust out the wife's sewing machine tomorrow and try to make one myself.

Actually, a buddy of mine who is a patch dealer mentioned making a morale patch to address the reflective belt issue (although I don't think he can make it from the actual belt material); if there is a lot of interest I will get in touch with him to see what he can do...

Here are some from his current line...

Cheers! M2

Edited November 7, 2009 by M2
Clarification

[Dubs]

^Does your buddy have a website?

[sky_king]

UCME? <--- Just peed myself a bit. I love it.

[AmpXLZH]

I am not sure how long you would be able to get away with wearing this literal 'GARB' sure would be funny though.

https://www.belts.breflective.com/retroreflective-belts-rainbow-2in.php

[Napoleon_Tanerite]

there were some tanker dudes cruising around a few days ago with tripple wide belts... they looked like reflective girdles! two thumbs up!

[Scooter14]

I am not sure how long you would be able to get away with wearing this literal 'GARB' sure would be funny though.

https://www.belts.breflective.com/retroreflective-belts-rainbow-2in.php

Holy SHIT! That's FUCKING PERFECT!

We were going to order some pink ones and sneak into the mobag section and replace some reflective belts for our next exercise, but these work too.

I'd wear it just to piss people off. You want me to wear a reflective belt? OK, fuck you, here's my belt. Now, go re-write the reg pencil neck and waste more of your shoe clerk effort standardizing how many colors are allowed.

EDIT: $29/belt is a little steep to outfit half the squadron. I may just have to save up for that special someone.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Scooter14

[Guest Sandlapper]

Reflective chaps, anyone? These would go well with the rainbow belt.

[Guest ReflectivityRules]

-----Original Message-----

From: xxxxxxxxxx Col USAF AFCENT 379 AEW/CV

Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:02 PM

To: 379 AEW Commanders; 379 AEW Group Commanders; 379 AEW Group Deputy Commander; 379 AEW Group Leadership; 379 AEW Squadron Commanders; AUAB Chiefs

Cc: 379 AEW/CCC Command Chief Master Sergeant;

[removed the names of each and every base organization with the letters "/CC" after them]

Subject: Uniform/Safety enforcement

ALCON,

The EFSS has been working diligently to enforce regulatory requirements and standards throughout the base. Although this effort was extremely successful, it is time for the rest of the leadership on this base to take some of the heat. With that, I am ordering the 379 AEW GP/CCs, GP/CDs, SQ/CCs, SQ/DOs and Chiefs to begin a random effort towards enforcement of uniform and safety standards. As this program progresses we will request that all of our base leadership, including tenant organizations help us in this effort.

Since I do not know each of your schedules, I will not micromanage this to a time and day. What I would like (expect) to see is that you work amongst yourselves to start a random effort at each of the DFACs, gyms, the DEL and the BXs (for that matter, any base facility). What this should look like is a Force Protection RAM where on different nights, at different times and at different locations we have leadership in place to enforce safety (reflective belts) and uniform standards. From the entrances of these facilities, as folks come in, simply reinforce the standards by requiring compliance (uniform or safety) before they will be allowed to use that particular base facility (i.e. "go back and get your reflective belt or go back and get into proper uniform"). We will not be denying them anything! We are simply enforcing the rules and regulations of the base before they are allowed to continue use of the facilities (i.e. "they will have full access as long as they comply with the lawful rules of the base"). This is no different than in garrison rules such as "you must be in uniform to use base finance". Compliance with these requirements is a direct order from the Installation Commander, so do not hesitate to remind violators of that if you receive push-back. With that being said, "Be Polite (xxxxxx xxxxxxxx), Be Courteous, and Be Professional, however be unwavering.

We have a "new rotation" on base that may not be fully aware of our rules and with this effort we should be able to gently educate them. Thank you in advance for all your help on this and please contact me if you run into any issues.

V/R

xxxxxxxxxxxx, Col USAF

Vice Commander, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing

If this doesn't reach the inbox of the 379 AEW/CV, then it is a failure. Baseops.neters, make it so! Any Iowa grads should be flat out embarrassed that the above email was written by one of your own.

On that note, I give you Real Men of Genius!

Today baseops.net presents Real Men of Genius.

Today we salute you, Mr. Colonel Overzealous Reflective Belt Enforcer.

Last night, you stopped two airmen from using the toilet because they weren’t wearing reflective belts. This morning, you had a VTC with a general at the Pentagon discussing how sharply reflective belt usage has risen since you were assigned to the base. Later today, you will email every Chief and commander on the base to tell them how important to the welfare of our airmen it is for 100% of them to wear reflective belts 100% of the time. Yes, you covered your ass, and because of you, the United States is that much closer to winning the Global War on Terror. All in a day’s work!

No matter how many of your Air Force subordinates and Marine Corps colonels and flag officers tell you how asinine reflective belts are, you just keep on ordering that they be worn. You are steadfast in your ways, laser-focused on your goals, and will not waver over what some inferiors think!

Your toolbox in enforcing reflective belt usage is full: writing an official memorandum for record, publishing a supplement to the AFI, or simply emailing a hundred subordinates. These are the leadership tools you learned in ROTC, honed over your 20+ years of service to country, and perfected in your year at Air War College, where you graduated with distinction.

No one will stand in your way of ensuring each and every person on your base wears a reflective belt, because by golly, your base will be the safest base in the Air Force! You know that others are either with you on the reflective belt issue or they are with the enemy, and will be treated as such! “Yeah baby, who’s your daddy!!” you think to yourself when you race your car across the ramp to tell a copilot to put on his belt. Write it up as another save on your trusty Blackberry.

Remains of fallen soldiers are being flown out of your base, aircrew are killing Al Queda daily, maintainers are working their asses off to keep jets ready, but NO, that mission nonsense won’t stand in the way of reflective belts. Because if we can’t force Airmen to wear reflective belts in the daytime and inside or near the perimeter of forward deployed locations, then dammit, how will we ever get them to die for their country! If we let a non-wearer off the hook at night, what’s next? Untucked PT shirts, failure to stop for 3 full seconds at stop signs? It’s a slippery slope that only those at the pinnacle of their military careers understand, and you know your promotion relies on making sure your subordinates understand, too!

Facebook groups hating on reflective belts? Hundreds of baseops.net pilots disgusted with you? Humiliation from your Marine Corps peers who actually know what it’s like to be on an op and kill an enemy? “That’s all you got?” you scream in your best Air Force warrior voice, as you hit the send button on another email ordering subordinate commanders to do random reflective belt RAMs right up the asses of those doing the work for which you’ll later receive a bronze star and PRF bullets. Oh, the rewards of high command! And you know you deserve every last accolade.

Crack open an ice cold bottle of Air Force Kool-Aid Mr. Colonel Overzealous Reflective Belt Enforcer. Because you really MISS the spot in MISSION.

Edited November 8, 2009 by ReflectivityRules

[Guest C17Wes]

Actually, a buddy of mine who is a patch dealer mentioned making a morale patch to address the reflective belt issue (although I don't think he can make it from the actual belt material); if there is a lot of interest I will get in touch with him to see what he can do...

Here are some from his current line...

Cheers! M2

Thanks M2

I did order the tabs last week. They will be just like the full color and desert tan PJ ones from the picture. But they will say " I H R B " And they will have reflective material on the lettering.

I can sell them. But I always prefer to trade patches for my collection. If you would like a set of the tabs. Just mail me a couple of patches. And I will put the tabs in the mail when they come in around the 1st of December.

My web page has my mailing address.

www.aircommando.com

[BQZip01]

Anyone have any other ideas? My wife has an embroidery machine and I am SO going to make a few of these.

Right now I have "UCME" and "IHRB" to be sewn onto old reflective belts. I'll let y'all know how they turn out.

You should wear your reflective belt when you report in for your appointment with the WG/CC. At least you'll know if he has a sense of humor.

I wore mine for a roof stomp on Friday. The outgoing Minot Wing/CC thought it was hilarious.