Odd Treasure Troves

[Haven]

I've 'read on the internet' (and we know how reliable that is) that these pictures were from Charlton Heston's estate?

[pmulcahy11b]

I once gave my players an intact, perfect-condition pallet of Cottonelle toilet paper. They got a fortune for it in trade goods!

[Mohoender]

Paul, you make me think of "Baa baa black sheep" and "Operation Petty Coats", two great stuff in my opinion. Both are comedies on WW2 but they are almost entirely about that: What you can get in exchange for toilet papers and a box of old true Bourbon.

I find them nice for inspiration. By the way, according to a friend of mine, working in the french army, it is still working that way (If you have something to give you get some supply faster than the next unit). Does this work in the US Army (navy, air force...)?

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Paul, you make me think of "Baa baa black sheep" and "Operation Petty Coats", two great stuff in my opinion. Both are comedies on WW2 but they are almost entirely about that: What you can get in exchange for toilet papers and a box of old true Bourbon.

I find them nice for inspiration. By the way, according to a friend of mine, working in the french army, it is still working that way (If you have something to give you get some supply faster than the next unit). Does this work in the US Army (navy, air force...)?

It's like that everywhere, military or civilian. There's an American saying, "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."

[Mohoender]

Yes but for civilians, your life doesn't depend on it.

[Graebarde]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Yes but for civilians, your life doesn't depend on it.

Not always true my friend. Though it might not be fighting intense, there are civilian situations where, after a hurricane, that getting necessities can be such. Water, gas, food, medicines... You'd be, then maybe you wouldn't, surprised at the gaftyness of the business world.

Grae

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

By the way, according to a friend of mine, working in the french army, it is still working that way (If you have something to give you get some supply faster than the next unit). Does this work in the US Army (navy, air force...)?

As a former supply sergeant in the US Army, I can state that it absolutely, positively does not happen!

We work on a "consideration" basis... you give me what I need now, and three weeks from now you will get a call from me at 7 on a Sunday morning with what I need.

And that seemed to work in some of the multi-national supply transactions in the NATO SFOR peacekeeping force in Bosnia.

[Adm.Lee]

Michael Lee Lanning wrote an interesting book about being a mech. company commander in Germany in the early '70s, when the US Army was at a low point. I found his stories about supplies amusing. The first one being when he asked his supply sergeant how the paperwork was, the sergeant paused before answering, "Well, sir, MY ass is covered."
Lanning showed (I think) his own wisdom by next asking the sergeant what he was hoarding for trading use. The answer was some number of spare barrels for the heavy MGs. Those popped up in the memoir again, of course.

[ChalkLine]

Here's a cache I always wanted to use, it's the equipment on a building site where I worked that I tallied when rained in;

So, this was the items at a largish building site with ongoing phases, we were putting in five story unit blocks, about eight of them.

- Mobile 25t crane, four-wheel drive, as ten-ton truck. This has four wheels and a crane only as structure, and is abysmally slow on the road.
- 3x Hoists, each hoist lifts a steel, 1m high, 'basket' about 3m², the hoist gantry is three sided and runs on an inbuilt generator. Each gantry section was 6m long. There is no 'floor' button on each level; an operator at the foot of the gantry controls it. Total gantry length would be about 60m but it wouldn't be safe up to that height!
- 8x Oxy Acetylene welding kits, usually about 60% full. There was a supply container (20') onsite for welding supplies.
- 18 wheeler and pup trailer, dumper.
- 2x Compressors (trailer size, mondo)
- First Aid demountable shed, well stocked
- 20x temporary power poles, steel, 6m high
- 100m power cable
- 2x mini refrigerators
- 4x civilian sedans
- 3x civilian utilities (pick ups)
- 2x civilian vans
- 1300m² form-boards, 16mm 12ply. We were making the structures out of concrete. This is sufficient to make an eight-story building with three lifts in one shot. Of course, it was spread over eight buildings.
- 3x bobcats and interchangeable tools
- Four wheel drive forklift, about 8t
- 100x pallets of concrete block bricks
- 13x 20' shipping containers
- 4x 40' shipping containers
- 2x backhoes
- 1x excavator
- 1x concrete pumping truck, the arm had a ten-story reach.
- 2x concrete trucks
- 7x demountable sheds, with sinks.
- 2x demountable toilet/shower blocks, filthy.
- 14x power-boards
- 8x garbage skips
- 870x star pickets (star droppers, steel stakes)
- 3000m x 3m (9m sections) Green plastic shade cloth
- 3000m x 3m (9m sections) steel 'cyclone' chain-link mesh
- 3x 25' cabin cruisers (I have no idea either)
- 35' yacht (ditto)
- 60x (2m x 3m) 'cyclone' chain-link mesh frames with 2" steel pipe frame.
- 10x 40m (40mm) Water hose (we were always pumping)
- 5t truck with extendable crane and bore for footings
- 5x 50m coils copper water pipe
- 20' container plumbing supplies
- 20' container paint supplies
- 20' container power tools and expendables
- 20' container electrical supplies
- 20' container safety supplies

[Targan]

Excellent Chalkline. I like lists like that. A great example of stuff likely to be found at such a site. In my games I always try to mix up mundane salvage with odd little bits and pieces. Charatects will always find a way to trade or utilise unusual items somewhere along the way.

[sic1701]

Originally Posted by Adm.Lee

Michael Lee Lanning wrote an interesting book about being a mech. company commander in Germany in the early '70s, when the US Army was at a low point. I found his stories about supplies amusing. The first one being when he asked his supply sergeant how the paperwork was, the sergeant paused before answering, "Well, sir, MY ass is covered."
Lanning showed (I think) his own wisdom by next asking the sergeant what he was hoarding for trading use. The answer was some number of spare barrels for the heavy MGs. Those popped up in the memoir again, of course.

I am reminded of a story from Robert Mason's "Chickenhawk", about helicopter pilots in Vietnam.

After a supply Huey crashed enroute, some naive new Supply guy was instructed to go around to the various units and ask the supply sergeants if they had anything that had been coming in on that downed chopper that now had to be replaced. The supply sergeants recognized a unique opportunity to balance their books, so to speak, and said, "Now that you mention it, I had ordered six cases of this, and seven boxes of that..." By the time it was all calculated, the Huey had some eleven tons of materials on it, according to the supply sergeants' tally. "No wonder the goddammed thing went down!", Mason commented.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by sic1701

I am reminded of a story from Robert Mason's "Chickenhawk", about helicopter pilots in Vietnam.

After a supply Huey crashed enroute, some naive new Supply guy was instructed to go around to the various units and ask the supply sergeants if they had anything that had been coming in on that downed chopper that now had to be replaced. The supply sergeants recognized a unique opportunity to balance their books, so to speak, and said, "Now that you mention it, I had ordered six cases of this, and seven boxes of that..." By the time it was all calculated, the Huey had some eleven tons of materials on it, according to the supply sergeants' tally. "No wonder the goddammed thing went down!", Mason commented.

I was a supply sergeant in a battalion once that had a similar event happen... we had a CUCV (GI Chevy Blazer) on a train that was derailed, and some items were missing. By the time the paperwork made it to approval, that CUCV was carrying something like 5 tons of gear. But the commander signed it, and that made it official.

When I got back from one deployment, the National Guard state HQ supply guys were there when I cracked open the container full of equipment we redeployed. By the time they left, they had what my commander (naively) was referring to as "the extra list" - a few things that were not officially accounted for. On that deployment I had 4 or 5 little stash locations that nobody new about... they assumed some other unit owned that space.

As far as trading, good supply people don't operate on a "transactional" basis - "I'll trade you this for that" - but on a "relationship" basis - "I'll hook you up when you need something, and when I'm in a bind I can count on you to help me out if you have what I need". Helps get things done. (With that, I once pulled a deal that involved the Danish and Turkish armies and four different US bases... it was epic!)

[Earthpig]

Originally Posted by Haven

I've 'read on the internet' (and we know how reliable that is) that these pictures were from Charlton Heston's estate?

These popped up at the Game squad forums.....I believe the house was owned by a wealthy lawyer type somewhere in the southeastern part of the US.(ie South/North Carolina's, Virginia, Maryland...or something...not sure).

[Rockwolf66]

Originally Posted by Earthpig

These popped up at the Game squad forums.....I believe the house was owned by a wealthy lawyer type somewhere in the southeastern part of the US.(ie South/North Carolina's, Virginia, Maryland...or something...not sure).

I know that Michael "Mad Mike" Williamson knows the guy who owns that room. According to Mike the Owner recently sold a Livingston rifle for $500,000. And yes it was once owned by that Livingston.