Sanity Check

"TA-50" is fairly universal nomenclature for "list of individual equipment required" in the US Army, right?

Yeah, TA-50 is widely used when referring to "issued gear". If I recall it's actually a document or pub detailing what is required by individual soldiers. The more modern/official term I'm familiar with is "OCIE" or Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment.

That question coupled with the header "Sanity Check" suggests a tale of epic military stupidity spurred The Cuyahoga Kid to post.

Spill, Cuyahoga Kid, spill.

TA-50 - Table of Allowances 50

It's unit issued equipment, like ruck, sleeping bag, harness, etc. I think TA-50 is actually the designation of the form used to record the issue, but it's been a long time.

So now, I'm with AdamG: Spill the story.

Came about when I sent an email to a field grade requesting the TA-50 for an upcoming training opportunity. Apparently it didn't translate at all, six hours later I ended up getting an email from his assistant and sorting it out with her.

Just wanted to check that I was actually using the phrase correctly and it wasn't just something only the ROTC Battalion I'm with uses :wry:

Actually, TA-50 was -- in logistic circles -- also known as Common Table of Allowances. Pub CTA 50-900 deals with clothing and individual equipment.

For any of you interested in a walk down memory lane, here's a great file from the folks at NCO Support dot COM.

Damn. I thought someone used that as the nomenclature for a box of grid squares or a turret rotation counter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FnpaWQJO0