WW2 US Army Uniform, sort of, and other thoughts

[Sistema1927]

I was watching coverage of Sec of State Pompeo's attendance at a ceremony honoring the US liberation of Czechoslovakia today, and caught a glimpse of the right sleeve of what I thought was a WW2 Ike jacket wearing a 101st AB patch. I thought "that's nice, they have a re-enactor there."

However, a few moments later I realized that I was seeing an active duty Lt. General, wearing the new uniform. Man, that looks sharp, including the hat with the crush in it. I sure wish that we had something like that when I was in the Army, the Class A greens were terrible, and the abolition of Khakis was a sad day. I would have worn that new uniform more than the BDU's that I wore day in, day out, even while in garrison,

Not a great picture, but here he is on the left:

Thinking more about this, I realized that when I was in, there were three places that you looked for rank, depending upon uniform worn: collar, epaulets, or sleeve. Today, I can see that the use of rank in the center of the chest could get some troopers in trouble:

"Soldier, my eyes are up here!"

"Yes, ma'am, I was just looking to see whether I should salute you or try to ask you out on a date."

 

[Old_Cop]

You should have been there the day that I called a captain sir, she didn't like it.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

The US Army has always changed its uniforms every 10 years or so, it seems that every conflict has to have its own "look". Compare the sky blue waist length jacket and wheel cap of the Mexican War with the dark blue sack or frock coat and forage cap of the Civil War. The Spanish War kept the Civil War color scheme but in a different arrangement. In the 1920s the Army adopted an officer's uniform directly inspired by the British, the Navy adopted the 3 button jacket popularized by David Beatty. Black footwear worn with the blue uniforms, when they switched to brown it was brown footwear. The Ike jacket came from the British battle dress and was adopted because it used less material. The Sam Browne belt was dropped in 1942 as an economy measure. Fatigues were developed because they found that trying to have an all purpose uniform for off post, garrison and field was impractical.
One thing they did right, when the various women's services were established the had the Fifth Avenue fashion houses design the women's uniforms so they looked sharp and fitted properly.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

One thing they did right, when the various women's services were established the had the Fifth Avenue fashion houses design the women's uniforms so they looked sharp and fitted properly.

I can just see the kind of uniform women would have been wearing if a guy straight from 2 years of combat designed it. (Such illustrations are forbidden on this family friendly forum!)

Ivan

 

[hittman77]

Think I see 5 "hash marks" ( or whatever they're called ) on that sleeve too .... each of them represent 5 years service? Three?

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Think I see 5 "hash marks" ( or whatever they're called ) on that sleeve too .... each of them represent 5 years service? Three?

The "hash marks" you see are combat service stripes, one for every 6 months deployed in an active combat zone.

Service stripes are generally worn only by enlisted soldiers and are displayed on the left sleeve, one diagonal slash for each 3 years of active duty.

 

[handejector]

.......and the 101st patch on the right shoulder is the last unit he served a combat tour with. The patch of the current unit is worn on the left shoulder.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

That LTG has the "50 mission" crush in his service cap, that always looked chic and macho though we plain old soldiers were told to keep the stiffeners in our saucer caps. I would like them to go back to the garrison cap with glider patch for airborne troops, that is a genuine US tradition.

 

[Sistema1927]

It looks like the crush comes standard with that hat. Reading some of the sites it looks like all incoming soldiers will be issued it by the end of this year, and it will be mandatory by 2028. There is also an optional leather bomber jacket that can be purchased by the soldier.

And, they are wearing this uniform with brown oxford low quarters. Guessing that Airborne qualified troops can wear with brown jump boots.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Typically military, trying to deal with serious morale problems through trivia and eyewash. Back in 2001 the then Chief of Staff of the Army Eric Shinseki became alarmed when the retention rate for junior officers nosedived, well below the replacement rate. Those who answered his surveys cited bullying and back stabbing and harassment by superiors, the favoritism shown to women. His answer-berets for everybody.

 

[Kinman]

Didn't they used to refer to the WWII uniform as "Pinks"? Due to the dye fading on the dress shirt, the Khaki would turn a very slight pink, which looked great on the green blouse and trousers. That uniform with a Sam Browne belt made sense to me as far as function went. I think the new uniform looks good.

 

[vonn]

One thing that I am proud of is that I served with a unit that had pride in the uniform we wore and we did everything we could to live up to the history of the 101st. The uniform made us better.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

"Pinks and greens" was the term, I think it referred to a uniform worn by USAAF officers, the "khaki" wool pants often had a pinkish look to them, I have seen officers "blouses"-many were custom made back the-with a very dark green tint to them. Because of the vast numbers of uniforms required manufacturers were allowed some leeway in dye colors. Back then officers and men's service uniforms were usually quite different, the Army Green uniform introduced in 1958 reduced those differences to the minimum.

 

[Sistema1927]

Looks like all ranks are getting "pinks and greens" this go round, and not just officers:

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Too much of a peaked cap, too European for my taste. And that "maternity uniform-give me a break !

 

[hittman77]

Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing.

For those of us who never had the pleasure of serving, tell me please .....

Woman on the left .... what do the white "cords" on the right side of her uniform represent?

Man 2nd from left, that's a good pic showing the different "hash marks" on each sleeve.

What is the rank of the man in the middle? Assuming they are all Army, is the difference in the uniforms just due to transition to new styles?

Yeah, the maternity uniform ..... oh boy, well, I don't know what to say. LOL

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

The E-7 second from left, the horizontal stripes each represent 6 months service in a combat zone, the diagonal "hash marks" each represent 3 years of service. The man in the middle looks like the Sergeant Major of the Army in Dress Blues which I presume will go back to being a "dress " uniform. The new uniform is a copy of the WWII officer's uniform. I note that the service cap the officers are back to the leather chin strap of WWII, in my day with the Army Green uniform the chin strap,was black for leather for EM, gold cord for officers and WOs.

 

[Sistema1927]

The "man in the middle" is the Sergeant Major of the US Army, the highest ranking enlisted man in the service.

Blue cords, for Infantry, are the only authorized cord that i am aware of. That white cord with device might be a German marksmanship award, which I think is authorized: German Armed Forces Badge of Marksmanship - Wikipedia

 

[zonker5]

The crush hat came from the AAC flyers who mashed them to get their headphones over it. Ground pounders wearing them are little boys playing dress up.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Always been partial to the WWI uniforms myself, both Army and Navy. The tie looks too "civilian" too me.
And I hope they'll go back to requiring the Class A or summer uniform to worn while traveling.