“Delta Force,” officially known as 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta ( 1st SFOD-D ), is one of the U.S. special missions units primarily focused on the counter-terrorism mission. SFOD-Delta has been through a few name changes over the years, and even though it will likely always be known as SFOD–Delta, it was recently renamed the Combat Applications Group (CAG) and is now officially known as Army Compartmented Elements (ACE). (Military.com)
For probably close to a decade now I’ve wanted to do a proper “Classic OIF” D-Boy. You know, wearing DCUs, a MICH '01, the full Paraclete set and with a Gangsta-gripped 416. I’ve now managed to get my hands on the right parts, and am satisfied with the outcome. I may do other iterations on this theme in the future, but for now this is (to me) the “grail” kitbash I’ve been working on for so long.
Looks nice and clean. Thanks for the ref photos as well, I always thought the vest is too bulky (I have one from Soldier Story) and voila the real thing is actually very bulky.
Yeah, the old Paraclete vest was pretty bulky, which reflects the type of mission CAG (and other SOF guys) were doing in Iraq at the time: SWAT-type “door-kicking” missions in builtup areas where they a) usually had a ride to the X and b) expected heavy resistance once inside. A big beefy armour setup is preferred when you’re going up against barricaded enemies in close quarters. Meanwhile in Afghanistan, lighter setups were favoured. Compare pictures of CAG in Iraq and NSW in Afghanistan from the same period - while CAG often wore heavy setups with groin protection, their NSW counterparts were often using slick armour with chest rigs, or no plates at all (with exceptions of course). Once things wound down in Iraq, there was a corresponding move to make armour lighter and a lot of the platforms with level IIIA soft armour - like the RAV - were dropped in favour of plate carriers like the MBAV, JPC and 6094. Even today, though, you’ll often see CAG wearing beefier JPC/AVS/SPC setups with abdominal and side plates, reflecting their typical mission type.
On a side note, a lot of the older vests by Soldier Story, TCT, HT, TS and the like were far too big. Heavier vests like the RAV/CIRAS/Interceptor should extend down to a point several inches above the belt line (not below it, as with many older 1/6th vests); and plate carriers should stop at or above the belly button. ES is pretty good about sizing their plate carriers small I think, but DAM’s are often far too large.
This is an interesting pic. Seems a bit later than 2006 with the use of Multicam and DCUs, and the H&K 416. And the Gen2 DCU pants. What would those little white tabs be at the knees on the 2 uniforms?
Interesting that they have a bunch of colourful patches too, which isn’t something you normally see from Delta boys. Usually you don’t see more than a flag patch, and a blood type patch.
Thanks! No idea on the clips - initially I thought they were some loose threads or some sort of uniform defect, but I’m beginning to wonder if they’re breaching related (ie junction/some other sort of clips for shock tube, det cord etc). Often when you see tape or other weird accessories mounted on the legs its for breaching.
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Nice one 
That’s a really nice one! And I can understand why this is the “grail” kitbash for you.
