Longinius 1 Posted September 5, 2004 Ok, I am trying to figure out a specific piece of kit. I am fairly sure its used for only exercise and / or training. I have only seen it once, in a movie about the French Foreign Legion. Its a piece of cloth used as group/team/unit identification and its worn on the upper arm and attached to the strap on top of the shoulder usually used for rank insignias etc. When I saw it on the movie, it was plain red for one team and yellow for the other, no emblems or insignias. If anyone knows what such an armband is called, its common use and maybe has pictures, I'd be very happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ran 0 Posted September 5, 2004 like this ? it's just an armband As far as I can remember, we never had to wear armbands of anykind while in training. Or it may be called a brassard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longinius 1 Posted September 5, 2004 That could be it, yeah. Just searching for "armband" on google would have been the death of me though The documentary I saw it used in was one of those "elite forces of the world" productions usually shown on Discovery. I think it was used, at that time, for some kind of life fire exercise. Anyway, thanks Ran! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ran 0 Posted September 5, 2004 possible The only sleeve brassard i've ever seen was a pen carrying one (with the exception of the UN and MP ones naturally). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cpt. FrostBite 0 Posted September 5, 2004 Kind of strange to use it in an exercise. Makes you very visible. I've never seen it either. In training the OPFOR jsut uses different camouflage and than you can see it's the enemy. Much more realistic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tankieboy 0 Posted September 5, 2004 Brassard, aye. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shalashaska 0 Posted September 6, 2004 Kind of strange to use it in an exercise. Makes you very visible. I've never seen it either. In training the OPFOR jsut uses different camouflage and than you can see it's the enemy. Much more realistic. The Un also uses blue helmets. If you checked, not many battlefields are blue, nor is the opposing force made up of Blue man group and Smurfs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Madus_Maximus 0 Posted September 6, 2004 The UN helmet is blue to show your neutrality. They're not actually supposed to do sweet FA in terms of intervention and even have very strict guidelines on returning fire when shot at. So being a UN "peacekeeper" is just like being a spectator really with no power to do anything of credibility. That's why most countries perfer to send their own controled peacekeepers into places these days and just get the UN to give them to go ahead rather than control them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Balschoiw 0 Posted September 6, 2004 Quote[/b] ]The Un also uses blue helmets. And is smart enough to have textile blue on helmets that can be removed... Quote[/b] ]So being a UN "peacekeeper" is just like being a spectator really with no power to do anything of credibility. Aha. Nice to know that you know more about my job than I do Haha that gets really funny. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longinius 1 Posted September 6, 2004 Quote[/b] ]Kind of strange to use it in an exercise. Makes you very visible. Would depend on the exercise I guess. If it was an exercise about fire and movement, with two squads interacting, I can see the point. In the case of the documentary, I dont know why they did it exactly, it was never explained. But it was clear that the different colors signified two different squads or teams and the two groups moved in a coordinated fashion. They appeared to be extracting towards a couple of small boats on the shoreline while laying down fire across a beach area. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cpt. FrostBite 0 Posted September 6, 2004 ah, that makes more sence. I thought they were fighter eachother. If they are working toghether to practice movement with two squads than it can be quite usefull. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ran 0 Posted September 6, 2004 Just thought about it, you said you saw some kind of arm band, are you sure it wasn't a piece of colored cloth tied around the shoulder ?. If yes, then, these colored pieces of cloth represent the various compagnies of a regiment. For the 2nd REP for exemple it goes like that : CCS (Compagnie de Commandement et de Services-Command and Services compagny) - yellow CEA (Compagnie d'Eclairage et d'Appui-Support and Scout compagny) - blue 1st Compagny (Urban warfare, night ops and AT) - green 2nd Compagny (Mountain and Winter warfare) - red 3rd Compagny (amphibious operations) - black 4th Compagny (sniping and demolitions) - white 5th Compagny (repairs and equipment) - blue by the way ; the french infantry unit in importance order : binoms/trinoms << groups << sections << compagnies << regiments Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longinius 1 Posted September 6, 2004 It was a long time ago, I remember it as covering most of the upper arm though, and being attached to the shoulder flap somehow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
