Show Your BDUs

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

I'll post a few of mine, starting with a recent acquisition. 

 

1981 contract from Tennessee Apparel, left shoulder Army Material Command, right shoulder Military Assistance Command, Vietnam.  Signal Corps Lieutenant Colonel.  German jump wings over the name tape.

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

Picked up with the previous one, an 80th Division (Training) drill instructor model, well used with totally washed out tags.  It had pin-on collar insignia.

 

A Seabee find, next to last of this group, UNICOR Seattle with an SPO date.

 

And the very last from that batch, a Specialist with current assignment to the US Army Engineer Center and a combat patch for the 1st Armored Division.  1992 date, but tags heavily washed.

 

From further back in my collection, Specialist from the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, FP Industries with a 1996 or 1998 date.

 

This one's been in my hands more than a decade as well.  Lieutenant Colonel with Inspector General branch insignia, Expert Infantryman Badge, Basic Parachutist, Air Assault, and Pathfinder.  An interesting career.  I believe it belonged to Dan Bloodworth, who was a Major when with the 10th Mountain Division in Somalia, head of the Inspection Branch, mainly because Lt. Col. Koch, the division IG, seems to have been an artilleryman earlier in his career.  Missing current assignment patch looks 82nd Airborne Division shaped.  It's a 1996 contract from Terry Manufacturing.

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

One I've been looking for.  81st Infantry Brigade, happens to be a 1981 production from the Selma Apparel Corporation.  Marks on the collar where there were rank pins.

 

[MPage]

Maybe I'll have some luck in this thread...This is an aircrew BDU as you can see, with aircrew wings, and it has the 2nd ACR patch surmounted by an airborne tab.  I'm guessing this is their Regimental Aviation Squadron, but why the airborne tab?  LRSD? 

 

Thoughts?

 

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

Interesting piece!

One of the longest held items in my collection of BDUs!  1981 Selma Apparel. The first I found at Valley Surplus in Harrisonburg, VA with all its patches.  97th Army Reserve Command, Basic Parachutist Badge and nametape that seem to have come off an OG-107.  Had collar rank pins but taken off before I got it.

 

[MPage]

 

This is a piece which is very interesting in that it has the 45th Infantry Division as a "combat patch" - that means either WWII or Korea.  In this veteran's case, he actually had been with the army in the Pacific but was pulled out of the line (as was policy) when his two brothers were lost, one killed on Iwo Jima, the other missing at sea.  But the 45th ID is for Korea, where he earned his CIB with the 2d Battalion, 279th Infantry.  The coat is dated 82; he retired around 84 as SFC in the Reserve.

 

 

 

 

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

Recent acquisition.  Virginia Defense Force, circa the late 2000s-mid 2010s.  Highland Brigade over the nametape (or where it would be).  Uniform itself is a 1999 production.

 

[MPage]

The seldom-seen President's Hundred marksmanship tab.  I didn't think I'd find another one, but...here it is.

 

Coat is dated '95.

 

 

[MPage]

This is Michigan's answer to the President's Hundred tab, albeit with different criteria.  The "Twenty" refers to the top 20 percent of those MI NG soldiers who competed in a three-day event, not the top 20 scorers.  Some other States' have a similar award, with varying criteria.

 

[MPage]

It's great to have some provenance for a uniform, and it's also nice to connect a book on military history with something tangible.  The BDU I have, below, was worn by a veteran of Lam Son 719, the invasion of Laos (of ARVN forces backed by US air power), and in recent years was moved to write a book about it.  At the time of that operation he was in the 101st Aviation Group.  

 

For the love of god I cannot get these two photos side by side!!

 

 

        

 

                                                                  

                                           

[Unicorn]

On 6/19/2023 at 1:36 PM, MPage said:

It's great to have some provenance for a uniform, and it's also nice to connect a book on military history with something tangible.  The BDU I have, below, was worn by a veteran of Lam Son 719, the invasion of Laos (of ARVN forces backed by US air power), and in recent years was moved to write a book about it.  At the time of that operation he was in the 101st Aviation Group.  

 

For the love of god I cannot get these two photos side by side!!

 

 

        

 

                                                                  

                                           

That's just too funny. Colonel (yes a LTC, but we still call them colonel) Sander, wearing the choking chicken (one of the somewhat derogatory nicknames for the 101st SSI, a buddy from the 82nd used to give me crap when I was in the 101st) combat patch.

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

25th Infantry Division, Field Artillery 1st Lieutenant, both name tapes.  1993 American Apparel production.  A Goodwill find a few years ago.

 

Specialist rank patches, Air Assault Badge, 25th Infantry Division shoulder patch.  1989 date but manufacturer illegible.

 

18th Aviation Brigade, with Aircraft Crewman Badge, Air Assault Badge, both nametapes.  Tags are too washed out to be legible.

 

1st Support Command, very heavily worn.

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

1999 contract date, pretty much new condition.  US Army tape and 34th Infantry Division SSI, but no sign of a name tape ever being sewn on.

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

Very worn Air Defense Artillery School BDU, tags are nearly unreadable.  Small Long size.

[MPage]

I was told by a fellow collector that this coat has a couple of anomalies in this pattern (circled), and that this is some sort of rare, early Woodland pattern.  I don't know how true that is, but the coat does have a 1980 contract date (which doesn't necessarily mean it was made in 1980).  It is an early coat however (white label, wide collar, etc.).

 

Opinions?

 

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

Steps, Inc 1999 contract date, 177th Military Police Brigade current assignment, 82nd Airborne Division right shoulder.  Combat Medical Badge and Senior Parachutist Badge.

 

Selma Apparel 1981 dated contract with a USMC pocket stamp.

[Silvio]

2 combat medics.

 

101st and 82nd airborne.

[mysteriousoozlefinch]

USAF Lieutenant Colonel with Master Air Traffic Control, Command and Control group badges, and Commander's Insignia in the former commander position below the nametag.  All the pockets have had the buttons removed and have been sewn flat.

 

[easterneagle87]

A little personal touch. Cleaning out the garage, consolidating boxes and came across this. Last time I had this on was 1993. Still starched and sleeves rolled.