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158th RCT Bushmaster's Patches


rd12
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I have a question. In Aleck's book the 158th RCT patch was not worn as an approved patch as such. He lists the patch as the 258th MP Brigade, which we all know that the later merrowed patch was. This version was worn from 1967-76. The only other designation he shows for the patch is the 258th Infantry Brigade which was worn from 1959-67. Was the patch worn after WWII as the 158th RCT at all??? If so, can I correctly assume that the unit wore the patch unofficially? I was dumbfounded when I found that the 158th RCT was not shown in the RCT section of Aleck's book.

 

-Ski

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The patch has an interesting history. The snake and bolo design was unofficially adopted following Pearl Harbor when the 158th RCT was formed and sent to Panama to defend the Canal and train in Jungle warfare. When the 158th was sent to the Pacific in 1943 it was attached to number of different commands for specific campaigns. The 158th ended up in Japan and was deactivated in Japan in 1946. To my understanding, at this point the SSI was still not officially approved by the Army. The Regiment was reactivated in 1948 in AZ as part of the AZ Army National Guard. I believe the BN HQ was in Phoenix, with the companies spread around the state. The unit was wearing the cut-edge, fully embroidered patch at this time, with the red-tongue. Though I do know that some WWII 158th vets who were from AZ joined the 158th again and wore their theater-made 158th SSIs. In 1963 it was redesignated 258th Infantry Brigade, and the same SSI was worn. In 1967 it was redesignated 258th Military Police BN and the merrowed-edge SSIs without colored tongues were adopted. It was at this time that the 158th IN was disbanded again and the colors cased. 1-158 IN was reactived again in the AZ ARNG in 2005 and now falls under the 29th IBCT. The original 158th Infantry Regiment colors are on display at the Fort Tuthill Military Museum.

 

Information about the 158th patch is hard to come by, especially concerning "authorized wear / design approval" - any additional comments or corrections are welcomed !! At any rate the lack of US Army supplied SSIs during WW2 has lead to an amazing variety of patches to collect.

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The patch has an interesting history. The snake and bolo design was unofficially adopted following Pearl Harbor when the 158th RCT was formed and sent to Panama to defend the Canal and train in Jungle warfare. When the 158th was sent to the Pacific in 1943 it was attached to number of different commands for specific campaigns. The 158th ended up in Japan and was deactivated in Japan in 1946. To my understanding, at this point the SSI was still not officially approved by the Army. The Regiment was reactivated in 1948 in AZ as part of the AZ Army National Guard. I believe the BN HQ was in Phoenix, with the companies spread around the state. The unit was wearing the cut-edge, fully embroidered patch at this time, with the red-tongue. Though I do know that some WWII 158th vets who were from AZ joined the 158th again and wore their theater-made 158th SSIs. In 1963 it was redesignated 258th Infantry Brigade, and the same SSI was worn. In 1967 it was redesignated 258th Military Police BN and the merrowed-edge SSIs without colored tongues were adopted. It was at this time that the 158th IN was disbanded again and the colors cased. 1-158 IN was reactived again in the AZ ARNG in 2005 and now falls under the 29th IBCT. The original 158th Infantry Regiment colors are on display at the Fort Tuthill Military Museum.

 

Information about the 158th patch is hard to come by, especially concerning "authorized wear / design approval" - any additional comments or corrections are welcomed !! At any rate the lack of US Army supplied SSIs during WW2 has lead to an amazing variety of patches to collect.

 

 

Thanks for the info. So the regiment itself wore the patch as a regiment and not as a RCT in the 1950's?

 

-Ski

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The patch has an interesting history. The snake and bolo design was unofficially adopted following Pearl Harbor when the 158th RCT was formed and sent to Panama to defend the Canal and train in Jungle warfare. When the 158th was sent to the Pacific in 1943 it was attached to number of different commands for specific campaigns. The 158th ended up in Japan and was deactivated in Japan in 1946. To my understanding, at this point the SSI was still not officially approved by the Army. The Regiment was reactivated in 1948 in AZ as part of the AZ Army National Guard. I believe the BN HQ was in Phoenix, with the companies spread around the state. The unit was wearing the cut-edge, fully embroidered patch at this time, with the red-tongue. Though I do know that some WWII 158th vets who were from AZ joined the 158th again and wore their theater-made 158th SSIs. In 1963 it was redesignated 258th Infantry Brigade, and the same SSI was worn. In 1967 it was redesignated 258th Military Police BN and the merrowed-edge SSIs without colored tongues were adopted. It was at this time that the 158th IN was disbanded again and the colors cased. 1-158 IN was reactived again in the AZ ARNG in 2005 and now falls under the 29th IBCT. The original 158th Infantry Regiment colors are on display at the Fort Tuthill Military Museum.

 

Information about the 158th patch is hard to come by, especially concerning "authorized wear / design approval" - any additional comments or corrections are welcomed !! At any rate the lack of US Army supplied SSIs during WW2 has lead to an amazing variety of patches to collect.

 

ASMIC has published numerous articles on the 158th (cloth and distinctive insignia) including two on cloth (O-D 2003 and A-J 2004). They depict the origins of the patch, as well as several theater made variations. The back issues are available if anyone is interested.......

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  • 2 months later...
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Here's a photo showing the SSI as worn by the AZNG 158th IN, 258th IN BDE. This is the same style that would be worn when the unit was redesignated the 258th MP BDE in the late 1960's. Different sources give different times of this change, but it was sometime between 1967-69. I am not sure yet at which point this style of patch replaced the earlier cut-edge SSI in which the snake has a different shaped head and red tongue.

 

 

post-122639-0-37679100-1494371233_thumb.jpg

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The patch is currently being worn by the 158th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Aleck shows the following as the official dates for its wear:

 

258th Infantry Brigade 1959-1967

258th Military Police Brigade 1967-1974

258th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade 2010-

 

I'm confused that the patch was never officially authorized for the 158th RCT by the department of heraldry, but according to Sawicki, the 158th Infantry was assigned to the 158th RCT from 1946 to 1959. Why wasn't the patch authorized during that period? I do have a nice 1959 version of the patch I need to post tomorrow, complete with the matching twill backing.....

 

-Ski

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The patch is currently being worn by the 158th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Aleck shows the following as the official dates for its wear:

 

258th Infantry Brigade 1959-1967

258th Military Police Brigade 1967-1974

258th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade 2010-

 

I'm confused that the patch was never officially authorized for the 158th RCT by the department of heraldry, but according to Sawicki, the 158th Infantry was assigned to the 158th RCT from 1946 to 1959. Why wasn't the patch authorized during that period? I do have a nice 1959 version of the patch I need to post tomorrow, complete with the matching twill backing.....

 

-Ski

 

 

Here is that 258th patch. I would date it actually from right around 1961-1965 or so with the matching twill backing. You will find this same thing with older infantry brigade patches right before merrowing came in vogue. Just thought I would share it as I don't see them that often.

 

-Ski

post-3043-0-32019800-1494432557.jpg

post-3043-0-72140500-1494432559.jpg

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Ski, you bring up a good question. When the 158th Infantry was reactivated after WW2 as an AZ Army National Guard unit it seems the SSI was never officially approved.

My Dad was in the 158th ( B Co if I recall, out of Coolidge AZ ) in the early 1960's and he wore the exact patch you show above. I still have a few of them.

 

As for the lineage above - I think it is the 158th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. The 1st BN, 158th IN falls under this BDE but is allowed to wear the "Bushmaster" SSI. They couldn't make it any harder for collectors if they tried.

 

https://dema.az.gov/army-national-guard/158th-maneuver-enhancement-brigade

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  • 2 months later...

Fantastic examples of Bushmaster items! Here are the few Bushmaster items that I have. The regimental book of the 158th.

post-4979-0-17123400-1500412095_thumb.jpg

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Bushmaster Australian made Ike jacket to Sgt. Vinson Wells. Here is the patch on the left sleeve.

Nice! Would love to see the whole uniform? Was this a 147th FAB guy?

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Grant,some very nice examples. Especially like the black version,but tab looks like it went with different patch and may be newer period judging by the trim and lettering. The red version does not necessarily mean field artillery it may also denote the black engineer unit believe 1627 if I remember the number. The engineer version with the tab is much harder to find that says Engineer.

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a hand carved out of wood Bushmaster DUI

Very neat, is this by chance carved out of coconut shell? Can you post a pic of the back?

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