gap Posted April 6, 2014 Share #1 Posted April 6, 2014 Picked this up at the local flea market. Measures approx. 2 1/4 by 1 1/4 inches. Clutch back. No hallmarks or other markings. Any insight would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gap Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share #2 Posted April 6, 2014 Reverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted April 6, 2014 Share #3 Posted April 6, 2014 A midish 50s into the 60s item, a type worn on Helmet Liners, Ridgeway Caps and Pile Caps, a varient of this will be in Screwback form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gap Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share #4 Posted April 7, 2014 Anyone have a period photograph of similar chevron in use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted April 7, 2014 Share #5 Posted April 7, 2014 Anyone have a period photograph of similar chevron in use? Their there around the forum in various topics, do a seach using 1950s or 1960s metal rank pins etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardstripe Posted April 7, 2014 Share #6 Posted April 7, 2014 I have a M1951 field Cap with a Specialist 4 similar to your SFC Chevron. I also have a complete set of these helmet liner/cap chevrons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardstripe Posted April 7, 2014 Share #7 Posted April 7, 2014 Here is the set. Screwbacks are older and slightly more desirable. I have these made in Japan, Germany and by US Makers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtA Posted April 7, 2014 Share #8 Posted April 7, 2014 Here is the set. Screwbacks are older and slightly more desirable. I have these made in Japan, Germany and by US Makers. Nice collection. Being that there is a SGM metal chevron, do you think a CSM exists? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gap Posted April 8, 2014 Author Share #9 Posted April 8, 2014 Very cool, thanks for sharing Hardstripe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted April 8, 2014 Share #10 Posted April 8, 2014 Nice collection. Being that there is a SGM metal chevron, do you think a CSM exists? Never say never as the saying goes, but my gut feeling as of now would be, if it was made it really wouldn't be seen being worn, simply because the fashion of wearing these died out by the late 60s early 70s. And as we know, despite Army bulletins, memos, and printed Army/Armed Force Grades and Rank charts/posters of 1965-66 the rank of Command Sergeant Major and it insignia was didn't come out till, what May 1968, though there might of been 65-66 made examples of the CSM insignia, made but never issued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtA Posted April 8, 2014 Share #11 Posted April 8, 2014 Never say never as the saying goes, but my gut feeling as of now would be, if it was made it really wouldn't be seen being worn, simply because the fashion of wearing these died out by the late 60s early 70s. And as we know, despite Army bulletins, memos, and printed Army/Armed Force Grades and Rank charts/posters of 1965-66 the rank of Command Sergeant Major and it insignia was didn't come out till, what May 1968, though there might of been 65-66 made examples of the CSM insignia, made but never issued. For some reason I was thinking both style SGM chevrons were introduced in 1958. But being the CSM (star/wreath) didn't come to be until 1968, I now wouldn't think a CSM in this style would exist. Thanks for setting my brain straight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardstripe Posted April 8, 2014 Share #12 Posted April 8, 2014 I agree with Patches but with a caveat. It seems every time I say that a certain rank does not exist in a given set one shows up. I don't know exactly when this style of metal chevron went away and they were certainly gone when I entered the Army in Mid 1973. Who knows when manufacturers stopped making and stocking these chevrons. But, that is what makes the search so much fun! With that said, I am missing the chevron for a buck sergeant. Anyone have one? I have also never seen Spec 8 & Spec 9. However, I have metal chevrons for these two ranks in a 3/4" set. (see photo) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gap Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share #13 Posted April 13, 2014 UPDATE: Emerson's Encyclopeida of Insignia/Uniforms references enameled metal rank like mine as being commonly worn on utility caps (Ridgeway caps) during Korean War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted April 14, 2014 Share #14 Posted April 14, 2014 UPDATE: Emerson's Encyclopeida of Insignia/Uniforms references enameled metal rank like mine as being commonly worn on utility caps (Ridgeway caps) during Korean War. That would be very late Korean War period and post armistice. There a topic some where, and with farely recent posts that show korean made metal ranks of this type, painted Marine Yellow on Red one's too, circa 1952-54. Anyone remember this topic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted May 11, 2020 Share #15 Posted May 11, 2020 Just found this September 1966 photo where I believe the small enameled ranks are being worn, here on the cap and on the jacket above the NAME Tape of an instructor at the 101st Airborne Division RECONDO School Fort Campbell Kentucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted December 28, 2020 Share #16 Posted December 28, 2020 Here's a Sergent of I believe the Northern Warfare Training Center in Alaska wearing the larger version on his soft cap, lets say in 1965. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDermut99 Posted April 11, 2021 Share #17 Posted April 11, 2021 On 4/7/2014 at 5:10 PM, hardstripe said: I have a M1951 field Cap with a Specialist 4 similar to your SFC Chevron. I also have a complete set of these helmet liner/cap chevrons. I picked up a Specialist 5 yesterday. It's a little corroded but the enamel is in pretty good shape. How much do they sell for typically? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted April 12, 2021 Share #18 Posted April 12, 2021 8 hours ago, McDermut99 said: I picked up a Specialist 5 yesterday. It's a little corroded but the enamel is in pretty good shape. How much do they sell for typically? Don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardstripe Posted April 12, 2021 Share #19 Posted April 12, 2021 Typically these sell for $5.00-$20.00 at militaria shows. I have several extras that I have priced at $10.00 each. I have SP4, SP6, SP7, SSG, SFC, MSG and 1SG. PM me if interested. The metal chevrons on the left three slots are Korean war era, Korean made sandcast. same price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted June 16, 2021 Share #20 Posted June 16, 2021 Two Cooks from the same unit at Fort Polk summer 1968, a Basic Training Unit,. The Metal Enameled Ranks we see. one a Spec 4 and the other a PVT2. the PVT2 of course made when it was the rank insignia for Pfc, new rank titles occurring in the early late spring of 1968, new insignia for Pfc then.that additional thing on the PVT2's Cap is his NAME Tag from his Class As/Khakis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted June 16, 2021 Share #21 Posted June 16, 2021 Got an interesting questions, seeing now that PVT2 Cook in the summer of 1968 with the rank that formally was for Pfc, is, was the new Pfc E-3 ever made in this fashion, metal enameled, ditto Command Sergeants Major. Come to think of it, we haven't seen examples of the Sergeant Major E-9 either yet, I can see no reason these weren't made, seeing that the reinstated Buck Sergeants E-5 type were made in this metal enameled form, this being after 1958, the same year the new super grade of Sergeant Major E-9 came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted September 15, 2021 Share #22 Posted September 15, 2021 An example of the smaller one worn on the liner in the 60s by a cadre instructor or acting first sergeant say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted December 10, 2021 Share #23 Posted December 10, 2021 A 11th Airborne Division liner from the 50, when the division was in West Germany-56-58, with a metal Pfc on it. a large size one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted January 14, 2022 Share #24 Posted January 14, 2022 Future Posthumous Medal of Honor recipient Matthew Leonard wearing the type on his Pile Cap in the early 1960s, in a unit of the 5th Army. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanmc1114 Posted March 11, 2022 Share #25 Posted March 11, 2022 These photos from a 1967 Fort Dix, NJ basic training yearbook show them being worn on helmet liners and pile caps of cadre. As someone pointed out in another topic on this forum, the circular backing worn on the pile cap in the second photo is most likely the lid of a C-ration can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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