Any USAF Veterans from the 1980s Here?

[RobS61]

Is there anyone here who went through USAF basic training at Lackland AFB in the early to mid-1980s?

[Hellen_slith]

Close, but no cigar.

US Army Regular, Fort Jackson, 1983.

[HighwayStar]

Was in the USAF from 1978 to 1987. Didn't attend basic at Lackland, but was close. Medina Annex at OTS.

[RobS61]

Was in the USAF from 1978 to 1987. Didn't attend basic at Lackland, but was close. Medina Annex at OTS.

I went through basic there in early 1983 and I'm merely wondering whether anyone still has any of the "kit" they issued to basic trainees.
I stayed in for seven years.

I still have the ink marking kit with which we marked some of our items, like the duffel bag, although two days ago I finally threw away the two little plastic ink bottles. The white one was all dried up, but the black one still had liquid ink - after 40 years. I kept the stamp thing with the first letter of my last name and last four of my Social Security number.
I also still have the black nylon pouch they issued, so we could carry around our paperwork and whatnot.
I also still have my duffel bag, although that should be less of a surprise, because those things are practically indestructible.
I had my "Lackland Laser" flashlight for over 20 years, until sometime in the 2000s. I think I eventually sold it at a yard sale.
I also still have some of my original paperwork, such as my rifle range score sheet.

[HighwayStar]

Yeah, I still have my Lackland Laser, it's somewhere in the basement. Still has the masking tape with the last four of my SSN on it. All the other stuff we were issued is gone, but it has been forty-four years since I left Medina Annex.

[RobS61]

Still has the masking tape with the last four of my SSN on it.

Hmm, I don't remember having to do that.

Just to make this thread at least somewhat interesting for lurkers, here's the stuff I'm talking about:

This shows the black zippered pouch we were all issued, so we could carry our paperwork around. Mine has seen quite a number of uses the last 40 years. Nowadays I keep old tax returns in it. The back of the little paper insert still has the first initial of my last name and my last four ss numbers on it, which was one of the things we had to mark using the marking kit.
The ink marking kit is to the left, minus the two little plastic bottles I threw away the other day.
The two pouches above are not from basic, although we did get an identical one issued, as I remember, to use as a toiletry pouch. My original one got nasty after a while, so I bought these two sometime later and used them for other things. Nowadays I keep little knick-knacks that ordinarily would end up in the back of drawers with most people.

I'm not taking a picture of my duffel bag because it's all stashed away and hard to get to. Everyone knows what a duffel bag looks like anyway. Mine never saw much use after leaving basic training.

And in case anyone wonders what a "Lackland Laser" looks like, I found this pic on the 'net:

It's just a very cheap plastic flashlight that takes two D-cells, fitted with a plastic attachment at the front that makes it look like a wand. The purpose of these is to make a Flight of airmen visible to motorists while the flight is crossing a road in the dark. A motorist would see a bunch of these wands swinging back and forth, thus alerting them to the people marching.