The Military Thread

Some of the strangest tanks created or designed. This is pretty interesting. I can appreciate the innovation.

And in other interesting news 20 military tactics that you wouldn't expect to work and did.

Some of these aren't too flashy if you're into military history, but the actual stories are interesting and give me some more things to research.

Damn you Gab, I was saving the Tortuga armored car for next time the thread played "name the AFV". Nice to see the Boirault device getting a look in.

I sorry!

You can do military uniforms and parade uniforms and have them guess the country if not the actual unit.

Sounds like fun - you start! That was a really great link, by the way. Should have put a smiley in the previous post

Identify this uniform!

I'll do my best to include pictures that should really help you out so you shouldn't have to resort to google. You guys are smart enough!

That is from the Wagah Attari Border Ceremony. The man on the left is from the Pakistan Rangers and the guy on the right is from the Indian Border Security Force.

Ministry of Silly Walks Indian Border Guards?

Cheers! Your turn gentlemen!

Your starter for ten.

And another one, from a little further afield.

Uh...something with Italian.

edited 19th Sep '14 2:33:54 PM by dRoy

Greek dress people who stand outside the tomb of their unknown soldier. Those shoes give it away.

No clue on the second.

Yup, the Evzones.

For the second one: the cap-badge is key. Iconic in some quarters. Euo or Greenie might get it if they pop their heads in this thread. Now defunct, the standard of this unit is now in the SAS's officer's mess, apparently.

edited 19th Sep '14 2:40:56 PM by Achaemenid

Rhodesia.

Damn it, Greeks!

Yes, but can you tell which unit?

Bam.

Spot on - the Selous Scouts, who were doing the whole bearded special operator thing before it was cool. Shame about all the extrajudicial killings and white supremacism though.

edited 19th Sep '14 2:50:08 PM by Achaemenid

OK, so now I need to find something obscure to follow that.

How about this uniform?◊

edited 19th Sep '14 11:00:54 PM by AFP

I spy cowboy boots. They must be American.

Getting warmer.

Those aren't cowboy boots those are Cavalry boots.

A&M Corps of Cadets maybe? They are US Army Cadets the round flash on their right lapel is a dead give away.

Hah I see the patches further back. Better picture of the patch here

Kinda cheating considering I have seen them dressed like that in person. :P

edited 19th Sep '14 11:31:06 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Yep, I'll give you that one. Specifically, those are their Midnight Dress uniforms (dark green tops and grey-ish trousers); the Cadets normally wear lighter-colored trousers that the tag indicates is "pink" even though it looks more like khaki or tan).

Some fun trivia regarding rank differentiation: The Seniors (AKA "Zips") wear white belts and the cavalry boots, and their pants have some kind of white leggings in them. Female seniors will sometimes wear full-length skirts with the boots, compared to the shorter past-the-knee length skirts worn by the other female cadets. All of the cadet officers (moons and diamond insignias) are seniors. Their caps have gold trim.

The Juniors ("Butts") wear white belts and low-quarters, and typically make up the cadet NCO ranks. Their caps have white trim.

The Sophomores ("Pissheads") wear black belts and black trim on their caps. They are usually Cadet Corporals, unless they are initially entering the Corps of Cadets as sophomores (those guys are called "Frogs", rather than "Pissheads")

The Freshmen ("fish", note lowercase spelling) wear dark blue belts and have no trim on their hats. In lieu of rank insignia, they will usually wear matched "AMU" insignia for a time, before being allowed to replace one of them with either their Corps of Cadets insignia, or a Corps of Cadets Band insignia.

EDIT: Also, you can't really tell from the lapel insignia if they are Army or not. All of the cadets in the A&M Corps of Cadets use Army ROTC ranks, regardless of which branch's ROTC program they are in. It gets more weird in that your rank in the Corps of Cadets does not necessarily reflect your rank or position in the ROTC (then again, rank among cadets is like virginity among prostitutes...) The easiest way to figure out which branch they are (or if they are in any branch's ROTC program, as it becomes optional after they become Juniors) is to look at the patch on their left shoulder (which, conveniently, you can't see in that photo anyways). You could make a solid guess by looking at their epaulets, but it's entirely allowed for an Air Force Cadet to be in a Navy company in the Corps, or vice versa. And of course, anyone in the Band will be organized as Batteries (as in artillery batteries) regardless of which branch of the military they are training for. The Aggie Corps of Cadets is weird, yo.

edited 19th Sep '14 11:52:42 PM by AFP

Here's a giveaway for guess the uniform◊.

That goes back to WWII era Class A's, if not earlier.