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Stargate Combat Bracelet
Within some military units, it is a tradition to make what is known as a "combat bracelet" using paracord from a soldier's trouser ties and a button from their uniform. Each soldier makes one for the next so each one has a bracelet made by someone else. These are then worn on the mission by each soldier and only taken off when the whole unit returns.
In Stargate SG-1 you can see Samantha Carter in Season 6 and 7 wearing a Combat Bracelet.
When Amanda Tapping, who plays U.S. Air Force Major Samantha Carter on MGM's STARGATE SG-1 , departed the show's Vancouver, BC set in mid-December 2001, she had no idea exactly where she would be going or who she would be meeting.
Signed on with other cast members from the hit series to take part in the USO's "Operation Starflight," Tapping only knew that she would be heading towards the Middle East to meet allied troops stationed there in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11.
"Due to security concerns," the actress says, "we really did not know what we would be walking into, although we felt sure that wherever we were headed, we were not going to be put in harm's way." Safely back in Vancouver since Christmas, Tapping reflects on the journey with great pride and tremendous respect for the men and women stationed in the area. She has been asked not to disclose the destinations visited, and readily complies, saying only that the group visited with "brave men and women located close to the action, all of whom provide armed forces support to 'Operation Enduring Freedom.'"
Tapping and her STARGATE SG-1 co-stars were in the region for only a few days, but that didn't stop her from forming fast bonds with those she met along the way.
"One outfit of U.S. soldiers I met presented me with this," she explains, pointing with tremendous pride to a woven fabric bracelet on her right arm, fastened in place by what appears to be a khaki-colored button.
"Every member of this particular outfit wears one of them. They are called 'Combat Bracelets,' and the troops make them from the cords which fasten the bottoms of their pant legs to keep them inside their boots, and then fasten each one with a button at the beginning of every mission. Each member of the outfit provides a button from his/her own uniform for the bracelet of another buddy."
Members of the outfit make the bracelets at the outset of each mission and wear them until the mission has been completed and every member has safely returned.
"It is a very moving tradition," she says, "and I was extremely honored to be included among their ranks."
When SG-1 production brought her back to the set, her first stop was the wardrobe department, where she explained to Costume Designer Christina McQuarrie that "Samantha Carter was going to be accessorizing in the foreseeable future. "Christina was great about it," Tapping recalls. "I explained the circumstances surrounding the real-life tradition and she agreed that wearing the bracelet is exactly the kind of thing that Carter would do.
I've been wearing it - both on camera and off - ever since."
Not that getting any flack from the powers-that-be would have made any difference to Tapping. "If necessary, I would have tucked it up under my sleeve, but there is no way I am taking this off until that mission is completed. These men and women are risking their lives for our freedom and safety. This is the very least I can do."
Source: Interview with Amanda Tapping in 2005 from the Stargate MGM website (Interview is not available anymore)
More interviews/articles were Tapping talks about the Combat Bracelet:
Fan Question from Morjana:
"In December 2001, you participated in the USO tour, "Operation Starflight," where you were gifted with the combat bracelet you wore throughout seasons six and seven. Will you be wearing that bracelet again during season eight? Have you had any communication with the group that gave it to you?"
Amanda Tapping:
"Some. Not that unit in particular, but some of the people over there, definitely, yes. My combat bracelet that I got when I went to the Middle East on the USO tour I wore… I never took it off. So I had it in the shower, and the bath, and they said eventually it would break. And it lasted about two years. It finally just started to shred. But I was very sad. I felt like a part of me had fallen off. It was really weird!"
Source: RDAnderson.com
Fan Question from Lynne:
"Dear Amanda, do you still wear the combat bracelet? If so has it been brought into any of the stories of season 6?"
Amanda Tapping:
"Thank you. I still wear the bracelet. Everyday, everynight. It's so much a part of me now I forget that I'm wearing it. It hasn't been brought into any episodes but it is definitely visible."
Source: Q&A on Amanda Tapping's Official Website
"When someone questioned Amanda about her trip to Afghanistan, and the combat bracelet she wore for ages, she told us about how the bracelet is made up before a mission, of cords and bits and pieces from the teams uniforms and gear, and each team member wears one until the mission is over.
And when she was over there this one combat group asked her to wear one of theirs. Amanda explained how the team made sure she realised it was a combat bracelet, and not jewelry or a friendship bracelet. She talked about this as a very moving experience, and surprising in many ways, and she was very impressed by the people she met over in Afghanistan."
Source: AmandaTapping.free.fr
Do you want to have your own Combat Bracelet? Read more at the Combat Bracelet Tutorial