Half of the battle is looking cool. The other half is violence. Sometimes we get the perfect combination, and sometimes that combination gets captured on film. Today, we are going to dissect five iconic photos that are dripping, with, uh, drip. They mix style and the potential for violence with ease. We are going to dive behind the scenes of these iconic photos and tell their tactical tales.
Tactical Drip: Behind the Scenes
Uzis, 870s, and Convertibles
It’s tough to beat the drip of five dudes riding on the side of a convertible with the top down. They’re dressed impressively in blazers and boat shoes, with khakis and collared shirts topping it off. The boys look like they’re ready to indulge in some yacht rock while shooting their mix of Remington 870s and Uzis into garbage.
These men are dressed to kill and well-armed because they are Secret Service agents charged with protecting President Reagan. It’s 1983, and President Reagan is playing a round of golf with Secretary of State George Shultz in Augusta, Georgia. The game was interrupted when a man named Charlie Harris drove his truck through a gate, wielding a .38 Special.
Charlie Harris took hostages in the Pro Shop and demanded to see Reagan. The Secret Service response was immediate, and they stormed the course, securing the President and bringing enough firepower to fight off a squad of communists.
The Uzi had become the Secret Service’s submachine gun of choice and would be famously wielded by a Secret Service agent when John Hinckley Jr. tried to impress Jodie Foster. We can also see the profile of a Remington 870 fit with the law enforcement top-folding stock. The incident was resolved with no one harmed, and Charlie did five years in the can.
President Reagan did attempt to talk to Charlie in one of the first few cell phone calls ever, but the signal was bad, so the Gipper and Charlie never got to converse.
Rick Moranis in Desert Storm
If you look at the modern special operations vet, you see a big beard, tattoos, and testosterone-fueled muscles. Believe it or not, they didn’t always look that way. Sometimes the world’s most elite commandos look like they coach kids’ soccer. If you saw a dude in khakis with a button-down white shirt and big glasses in Desert Storm, he’d stand out; you might take him for an IT nerd. Sometimes the drip can be simple.
That’s not the case here. We have Delta Force alumnus Bill Cronin acting as the personal security detail for General “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf in Desert Storm. Mr. Cronin is often confused with fellow Rick Moranis impersonator and total badass Miles Vinning, but it turns out that looking like a normal dude can be beneficial. No one sees the guy who looks like he drives his kids to school in a minivan as a threat.
As soon as that Colt 723 with the equipped Redi-Mag device comes out, that impression soon changes. Delta Force is America’s premier special mission unit and is home to America’s most elite warriors. Bill Cronin spent a career in the Army and Special Operations, including 15 years with Delta Force. General Schwarzkopf was certainly in good hands with Mr. Cronin.
Obi-Wan Nairobi
I don’t give the Europeans credit for much, but they do get the drip. It’s always European police and military forces that find a way to blend tactical gear with street clothes and make it look so damn cool. That’s the case for our next photo.
In 2019, the tactical community was exposed to the drip of an unknown commando storming a mall in Nairobi, seemingly by himself, to help thwart a terroristic attack. The photo showed a guy wearing a balaclava, tight blue jeans, a multicam plate carrier, and armed with a very modern rifle. The man became known as Obi-Wan Nairobi, and all we knew was that he was in the SAS.
We know now he was working with local security forces and helping eliminate terrorists as well as evacuate civilians. He seemingly came out of nowhere and responded after hearing explosions and gunfire. He wasn’t alone and was paired with Dan J. Prastalo, a Slovenian member of the Diplomatic Protective Services Tactical Response Unit.
Obi-Wan Nairobi killed two terrorists and was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. Years later, the real man came forward as Christian Craighead. He became famous enough that Call of Duty even made an operator named Otter based on Obi-Wan Nairobi.
Even Ladies Have Drip
There is something so cool about fending off the occupiers of your country while wearing a leather jacket and polka-dot skirt. It’s even better when you add an AR-18 and an almost proper use of cover. For a woman who looked like she was going shopping, you can’t beat her stance, her tactics, or her style.
This famed photo shows a woman firing an AR-18 around a corner. She’s an IRA fighter reportedly engaging British forces with an AR-18 assault rifle. The AR-18, referred to as the Armalite by Irish forces, was a popular rifle with the IRA. They were strapped for arms, so anything was better than nothing, but the AR-18 is a solid rifle. However, it looks a little long in that young lady’s arms.
The photographer, Colman Doyle, claimed he took the photo after she had fired the rifle. The same woman, in the same outfit, was photographed in a piece of IRA propaganda. This has led to some suspicion that the photo is staged. Maybe the young lady only had one stylish outfit?
Women were also rare in the IRA. The IRA wasn’t exactly a progressive force willing to accept women in its ranks. Whether the photo is staged or not isn’t clear, but the drip is still there. Sadly, as far as I can tell, the lady has never come forward to claim her fame.
The Men in Blue Jeans
The Europeans might combine tactical doo-dads and civilian clothing more often, but that doesn’t mean America hasn’t done it a time or two. In fact, we did it so well and so hard that our enemies turned it into a nickname. “The Men in Blue Jeans” was a nickname gifted to Navy SEALs in Vietnam for both their combat prowess and their unbeatable American style.
The jeans aren’t the only thing that stands out in this photo of three chads with too much drip. Let’s not forget the always awesome Stoner 63 light machine guns. Oh, and the camouflage is perfectly accentuated by the cross belts of 5.56 ammo. The guy in the middle gets a perfect 10, with his comrades getting a solid 9; they just lack the jeans.
The SEALs weren’t wearing jeans for style, but for function. They chose Levi’s 501s and 505s. Levis were chosen for several different reasons. They were tougher than the issued pants and protected the wearer from leeches and other pests. Jeans dried faster than the issued cammies and were quieter when worn in the jungle.
The Levi’s made it easy to pick out a SEAL, but so did the Rolexes, the long hair, and the Stoner 63. I guess it wasn’t just good jeans.
More Than Drip
Looking cool matters. Right? It has to at least a little bit. That’s why the Winged Hussars looked so cool. Maybe it doesn’t, unless you want to be remembered. If that’s the case, you’ve got to match your drip to your skill level, and you might be the next tactical icon.
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