Week 4 - Gear Turn In

CIF Is the Enemy

References: TM MOLLE | MOLLEII Overview | MOLLEII Care

Overview

Welcome back!

This week is just gear turn in. It’s important to clean your equipment and dry out your canteens before turn in.

CIF

The CIF (Central Issue Facility) is where you would get all of your issued gear in the army. Any gear recieved is not yours, so take care of it because you will turn it back in. If you were to loose an item or damage it, you would pay for all of that out of your pocket

CIF does not mess around, they can be very finicky with their standards and can turn you around for the simplest deficiencies. Biggest one is canteens, they must be bone dry.

Be sure not to loose anything, A large rucksack can cost you $400+ just to replace. And in the case you do loose or damage something then I suggest resorting to military surplus stores and ebay to get replacements at a fraction of the cost.

The MOLLE System

There is not much to learn this week, So let’s go over the MOLLE system very quickly.

The MOLLE system is an integrated cross compatible series of load bearing equipment. It’s currently on version 2. It aims to be easy to use and customazible to the soldiers specific needs. The predecesor was the ALICE system.

Here is selection of the most common items you will use

Large Rucksack

The rucksack holds almost all of your gear. It’s important to pack in a way where light items are to the bottom and heavy items to the top to make it easier to carry. It’s enhanced by 2 sustainment pouches that can be used for extra storage, I recommend putting your MRE’s there

There is also a larger rucksack: Rucksack 4000 that comes with built in pouches

Medium rucksack

Can be substituted for a large rucksack but of course, it holds less things. Still, some people still prefer the medium rucksack for it’s mobility and built in pouches.

FLC

Fighting Load Carrier

This is a modular vest that can be customized with MOLLE pouches. You can have it set for a grenadier by adding more grenade pouches, Rifleman by adding more magazine pouches, or even a SAW gunner by adding custom pouches to hold large amounts of ammo

One size fits all and can be worn over body armor. Recently the Army has been leaning towards TAP systems instead of FLCs

TAP

Essentially a lighter more cool looking version of the FLC. It has built in magazine pouches but, You can still attach the same MOLLE pouches you’ve been using. It can be worn by itself or directly attached to body armor allowing more freedom of movement

Assault Pack

Intended for short patrols, It compliments the rucksack. Great for carrying ASIP Radios and other necessary equipment when you leave your rucksack behind.

Hydration System

contains a carrier, bladder, and drinking tube. Recommended cleaning out the bladder every 6 months or so because mold can start building up