USAF Shoulder Holster Specification for Pilots

[RustyShackelford]

Pilot holsters; Galco.....

Galco, www.USgalco.com has a special program to donate or provide shoulder holsters to deployed US military service members. Id suggest contacting them.
Bianchi-intl, www.bianchi-intl.com markets & sells the US armed forces holster(s), the M12. They've had the design since the mid 1980s. These holsters can fit the M9 Beretta & the M11 SIG Sauer 9mmNATO. Bianchi has add-ons/gear to use the M12s/compact holster with shoulder rigs, chest-tanker, SAS or "drop leg", belt, cross-draw, and with MOLLE attachments.
I used a OD M12 holster when I was in the US Army.
Many service members & PMCs now use Safariland, SERPA, Bianchi, and Galco holsters.
If the USAF pilot will be in the desert or SW Asia, Id suggest the tan or brown leather. Black dye can bleed or absorb heat.
Lawman Leathergoods makes the treated black leather STU holster but it has a lot of bright nickel/brass studs.
I'm not sure what the USAF uniform regulations are. In the US Army, it is AR670.1.
I remember when I was on active duty during the Desert Shield/Desert Storm era I saw a Stars & Stripes news photo of a US Navy pilot on the deck of a aircraft carrier wearing a SERE vest & carrying a big Colt Python 6" barrel .357magnum on his right hip.

 

[herkyguy]

C-130 driver here.....

Deployed plenty of times to hot places. Watches and/or knives are a safe bet, but I never take a flashy watch with me on the road. The holsters are a gamble as mentioned above.

If there's one practical thing I would advise as a gift, it's under armor anti-microbial wicking boxers and Dr. Scholl's foot powder.... The one with menthol in it.

Trust me. Those two things combined make a hot cockpit just a tad bit more bearable.

Maybe a good nylon bag as well, small enough to tuck in the calf pocket of a flight suit. I carry one with me when out of the country full of my SHTF stuff. Water purification tablets, an extra signal mirror, sunblock, bug mask, waterproof matches, etc.

Just in case I lose the vest.

 

[Willie Sutton]

"I remember when I was on active duty during the Desert Shield/Desert Storm era I saw a Stars & Stripes news photo of a US Navy pilot on the deck of a aircraft carrier wearing a SERE vest & carrying a big Colt Python 6" barrel .357magnum on his right hip."


Had to be a helo guy. Nobody sittting on a bang-seat could carry anything exposed like that, speaking as a pilot who sits on a bang-seat several hundred hours a year and who works with both the USN and USAF. Classy choice though. Have a buddy who flew F-105's on Route Pack 6 back in the day. He carried 5 handguns over NVN, including a artillery Luger with a snail drum that he had packed into his seat pan survival kit. I always thought *that* was a class act too. He wasn't big on being captured and went out armed to the teeth.


Willie

.

 

[X-Rap]

I ordered 4 of the Miami Classics from Galco, ElPaso couldn't deliver by Christmas. Threw one in for myself. As a sad side note we lost a good man over Jordan last week, he was from New Castle CO. just up the road from us, "Nickle in the grass " Captain Dubois. RIP

 

[Tinker]

This may be antique advice, but my FIL was a flight engineer on C-141's for years and the cockpit crews were issued a sort of elastic belly band holsters. My understanding was that when they got ready to take off an order was opened to reveal which member would get the .38 for the flight. Kind of a lottery thing, so nobody (crew or potential hi-jacker) would know ahead of time who would be packing.

He showed me his old holster and I asked if it was comfortable. He said it was not that bad. Didn't look comfortable, but apparently it worked.

 

[Mainsail]

My understanding was that when they got ready to take off an order was opened to reveal which member would get the .38 for the flight. Kind of a lottery thing, so nobody (crew or potential hi-jacker) would know ahead of time who would be packing

I flew them for 17 of my 20 and never heard anything like that. The arming was governed by several regulations, and they governed everything except (oddly enough) the holster. I carried the .38 in an ankle holster on my right leg, with the gun in front directly over my foot. I’d tried carrying on the inside and the outside, but inside made me bang my ankles together and outside made me walk funny. In front was perfect and I could almost forget it was there.

As an aside, I had a security troop criticize that method of carry. He said, “That would suck if the gun went off!” I reminded him that cartridges do not spontaneously combust, and even if they did it was only a one-in-six chance it would be the one lined up with the barrel.

Anyway, the arming was decided by rank- the lowest ranking FE and LM would report to the armory to arm up, and in flight the FE or LM that was primary (IOW, awake) would be armed. Nothing so dramatic as random lottery. Pilots were never armed unless the entire crew was armed for combat conditions.

I once went to the FE scheduler and asked him who was the lowest ranking FE in the squadron, because it seemed like I was always the one who had to go check-out the gun. The scheduler resorted a list or two and sure enough, it was me, and would be me for a loooooong time. I still look for a .38 S&W snubbie just for the nostalgia but they seem like they’re priced like they’re made of gold.

During the gulf war the AF dragged out some 4” model 15s that had been sitting in cosmoline since they left the S&W factory. When they retired the Smiths for the M9s, I hoped we would be able to purchase those old 15s and even started asking around to find out if there was some procedure we could get started. Nope; they crushed them all, including the 4” ones that had never even been fired.

...the cockpit crews were issued a sort of elastic belly band holsters.

Well, anything is possible, but such a holster would be hard to wear under a nomex flight suit, as they were somewhat form-fitting.