Monday, March 5, 2012

Praxis: What is TA-50 & 782 gear?

Folks who haven't been in the service are unfamiliar with the terms TA-50 and 782 gear. TA-50 is an Army shorthand term "Table of Allowances 50," & is Army-issued individual equipment. This acronym is used for classification purposes. TA-50 items have to be turned in to the Central Issue Facility when you PCS (Permanent Change of Station) to your next assignment, where you will be issued new TA-50 there. Here is an illustrated list of Army TA-50 items. You are responsible for these items and will be docked if you lose them. The surplus stores off-post do a land office business in TA-50 gear when soldiers PCS and come up short, because their used prices are often much less than the Army's official prices.
782 Gear is the Marine Corps term for the same thing: Originally individual equipment owned by a unit and issued to a Marine while assigned to that unit. In boot camp that included a bucket, cleaning equipment, a poncho and a shelter half. The name is derived from the number of the form on which it was originally issued. Present use refers to the Load Bearing Vest, cartridge belt and the equipment attached to the belt as well as other field equipment.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Off topic but I can't pass up posting this:
http://gizmodo.com/5890507/police-drone-crashes-into-police

$300,000 police drone crashes into SWAT vehicle during first flight, a photo op demonstration flight.

Pericles said...

Slightly more detail of the items in the photo to be had here:

http://www.dallascitytroop.org/qmequipment.html

Thanks for the publicity.

Semper Fi, 0321 said...

Never heard of 781 gear.
Lotta years in the Corps and not once was that term ever used. Every Marine knows what 782 gear is, but 781, doesn't exist! Somebody just made that one up.

Dutchman6 said...

"Somebody just made that one up."

You're right. Fixed.

Anonymous said...

782 gear is called that because all related gear has "782" in the NSN.

Semper Fi, 0321 said...

Anon@4:29,
Stop making up stories. What are you, another internet sea lawyer?
782 gear covered everything from blankets to bunks, flak jackets to field jackets, tent pegs to bayonets, e-tools to mess gear. And they all had 782 in the stock number?
FSN and NSN did not exist when the Form 782 was used. Probably dates from WW1, in common usage during WW2. During Vietnam it was already a new number (4430).