What is the significance of a reflective PT Belt? Is it a sign of risk aversion? Who really wore these in a combat zone?

Our BG in charge of our unit and camp found them to be stupid and ordered us not to wear them while in a combat zone. The exception was if we had to go to BAF. He got outranked there.

We were forced to wear it in IRAQ when in PTs or at Night if we were on the FOB. Missions and outside the wire absolutely not.

The unit and location I am currently in does not require a PT belt. The CDR says that if the PT instructor gives a proper safety brief then that should be covered.

When I was stationed in Afghanistan, we never wore it out on missions but whenever I was in Bagram, you had to wear it after 1700 hrs. It was pretty admin there and many civilian and military personnel would run up and down the hard ball. I could see the need for it because Bagram was a huge base but it felt silly knowing we were in a combat zone as if getting hit by a moving vehicle was the least of your worries.......ijs

I wore them in both Iraq AND Afghanistan. Of course, only while on the FOB/Base....but still... I wore it in shame at home station also.... SURELY, I can make my own safety decisions and cross the road without being hit by a car..... My wife almost took out a 4 star general with her car....he came out of nowhere and ran directly into traffic....and HE looked surprised that a car may actually hit him....disco belt and all....(of course, this same idiot also ran on the active runways and actually delayed flights because of it.)

There were places you wouldn't be granted entry without them. Moving around to the different FOB's, LSA's, Camp's and basically any place inside the wire you had to have them to gain entry to the PX, gym, entertainment center, movies, I think you get the point. They were not worn outside the wire by any of our TF, but I did hear of some units that required them any where after dark.

Kind of defeats the purpose of being tactical.

My first thought was: "Somebody needed an Army Achievement Medal." My second thought: "Maybe somebody didn't have the good sense to move to right when a car was coming." (I held off answering as long as I could.)

It was almost as stupid as running APFT in a combat zone.

We had to wear these at COB Speicher in Iraq. However, 3-10 GSAB had the reflective belt down to an art form. Ours were color-coded by rank so no Officers would miss a salute after dark. Junior Enlisted wore yellow, NCOs wore green, and Officers wore blue. Our Warrant Officer pilots initially refused to abide by this until the Company Commander issued a direct order for them to comply. We joked that the bad guys would know who to shoot first...

There was not an option for: I wore it in a combat zone, not during actual combat and I thought it was dumb while wearing it. Had there been this option, that's the one I would have chosen.