(Can) I have your tactical gear when you're killed?  

I have your tactical gear when you're killed?

Sure, you could. What does a dead man care? You couldn't ship it home with the casualty's personal effects.

Yeah, a hatchet? The VC/NVA would have laughed at stuff like that. We weren't Rambos, we weren't even combat infantry trained. My classmates and I reported to flight school after the then-standard 8 week BCT with an MOS 11B: I threw one grenade, had a one day course and "qualification" with both M14 and a 1911. $20 qualified me as a sharpshooter with the BCT M14 and the flight school range with a 1911.

They did drive us to the range after TAC-X, presented each of us with an M16 to use in qualifying. After the apropriate number of bangs from each pit, you returned it to the range NCO and you were qualified. I didn't even see the holes, if any, in my target.

"Tactical gear" hadn't been invented yet, at least as far as W-1 helicopter pilots were concerned. Helmet, a chest plate, a survival knife and a S&W 38 Special- that's it. One of my more inventive buddies had 38 Special wadcutter balls reversed, making all lead hollow points. Illegal as hell.

About the time that Americans started officially entering Cambodia, some of us were issued what we called "Car 15s", short barrel M16s with 10, 12 inch barrels and an 8 inch flash suppresser. It must have been heinous without that big flash suppresser because shooting it with it there was still a huge fireball.

I didn't see an issue 45 except a revolver one of our air crew probably got informally. It worked really well as club or rather a sap to thwart an attempted hijacking one night in Camau. Applied vigorously up-side the RF/PF airstrip security/highjacker's head by the wing man's AC changed the hijacker's mind quickly. Probably saved his life, the front seater had the Snake's turret and minigun tracking his pilot's intervention.

Your best protection when you went down was your wingman's gunners or the gunships. 2 crews in my company were lifted out on AH-1G ammo bay hatches. That was kinda sporty, the people you were just shooting at knew exactly where you landed and were willing to shoot you some more. Silver Stars for the AC/First pilot of the rescue bird.

Inventive commercial activity with a Special Forces base next door was a source of more effective weaponry: Thompsons (frickin' heavy); an M3 'grease gun'; M2 Carbines and M16s.

The "chicken plates" (chest armor) came in a quilted vest, which was immediately discarded as they were bulky and hot as all get out. The ceramic plates had straps installed. One sacrificed the flotation, impact and purported spall protection and were more likely to egress a crash.

Overall it was good year. When you have nothing, you got nothing to lose. And Ops wouldn't schedule you when you exceeded whatever 30 day flight hour limit was in effect- 110 to 140 hours. A regular line pilot would be 'down' for 3-4 days or a week after a couple weeks of flying assignments.