Navybean Posted December 6, 2015 Share #1 Posted December 6, 2015 Just picked up this well used AAF Korean War retread A-2 flight jacket. Jacket is well used and is mostly original with the exception of the wrist cuffs and the liner has been replaced. Jacket has great 5th AAF Korea shoulder emblem, then on the right shoulder is a nice AAF decal. On the front breast are a couple of what I believe are (I am not a patch expert) Japanese made squadron patches. Jacket also has a C47 plane and 6167th Operation Squadron / base operation painted on the right breast. Back of the jacket is a painted blood chit with English, US, South Korean and UN flags. Jacket looks to have had other squadron patches on the left breast at one time, also jacket had name tags on it at one point appears to have been at least 2 both removed but stich holes remain. I am not sure who the vet was last name could have been Basset? The new jacket liner has a very faint stamp that appears to be a replacement for the original black tag. The 6167th appears to be a special squadron who flew C47, C46 and B26 planes or the purpose of psychological warfare and leaflet dropping. Great jacket and I would love some information on the patches on the front as I have not been able to find them in my limited patch books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navybean Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share #2 Posted December 6, 2015 more pics, let me know if you want more pictures thanks for looking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navybean Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted December 6, 2015 more pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintageproductions Posted December 6, 2015 Share #4 Posted December 6, 2015 That's a great jacket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navybean Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share #5 Posted December 6, 2015 last of the pics, I really like this jacket first Korean War A-2 I have had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navybean Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted December 6, 2015 That's a great jacket thanks, I really like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchcollector Posted December 6, 2015 Share #7 Posted December 6, 2015 Supernice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navybean Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted December 7, 2015 I have been searching the web for the Black Bat (maybe it is not a bat) Squadron patch but I can not find it? I was thinking I had seen it before and that it was for a Night Fighter squadron or a intelligence squadron Any patch collectors has any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDK Posted December 7, 2015 Share #9 Posted December 7, 2015 That's a pretty neat A-2. One of the cooler Korean era patched up ones I've seen. JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stony Posted December 7, 2015 Share #10 Posted December 7, 2015 Very cool. Korean War A-2s don't come around very often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navybean Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share #11 Posted December 7, 2015 Thanks for the complements, it is a nice find. I would have liked to have talked with the vet concerning the jackets history. Reading about the 6167th they seemed to have been involved with some covert missions during the war. Hoping for a few more loose items from the estate but I not likely to happen but we can always hope. Thanks for looking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammo-man Posted December 7, 2015 Share #12 Posted December 7, 2015 Its a nice one for sure. owen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nguoi tien su Posted December 7, 2015 Share #13 Posted December 7, 2015 Great one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted December 7, 2015 Share #14 Posted December 7, 2015 Love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted December 7, 2015 Share #15 Posted December 7, 2015 I have been searching the web for the Black Bat (maybe it is not a bat) Squadron patch but I can not find it? I was thinking I had seen it before and that it was for a Night Fighter squadron or a intelligence squadron Any patch collectors has any ideas? Since this was a 4 digit provisional unit, the patch design is most likely unique to that unit and not used officially anywhere else. Provisional units usually did not have to submit designs for approval as they had no historical ties to the official units and could be disbanded whenever the assigned mission was completed. Some of these went on for years, some much shorter. Both those patches are very hard to find, nice jacket! Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Scott Posted December 7, 2015 Share #16 Posted December 7, 2015 The jacket is fantastic and the 6167th is a very famous Korean War Special Operations Squadron.I think the critter is not a bat on the patch but a bee and the things that look like ears are an Oriental take on antennas.The most famous special ops unit out of the 6167th was B-Flight 6167th.The job of B-Flight was Classified Missions; transporting and resupplying personnel and units operating behind enemy lines;PSY Ops Missions assigned by psychological warfare section 5th Air Force; and fire fly operations flare drops to aid ground units in night combat and bombers in night attacks.I owned a jacket from the 6167th years ago to the Firefly unit. With a different patch on this jacket this was base operations and I bet this may be the B-Flight squadron insignia.A lot of information on the 6167th is in a chapter in a fantastic book written by Col Michael E. Haas USAF Retired called APOLLOS Warriors United States Air Force Special Operations During The Cold War.I bought a copy years ago when I got the other flight jacket; the books out of print but the Colonel did a fantastic job on it. Thank You Col Haas.Even if my theory is wrong you have one of the greatest Korean War flight jacket on Star Ship Earth.Scotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navybean Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share #17 Posted December 7, 2015 The jacket is fantastic and the 6167th is a very famous Korean War Special Operations Squadron.I think the critter is not a bat on the patch but a bee and the things that look like ears are an Oriental take on antennas.The most famous special ops unit out of the 6167th was B-Flight 6167th.The job of B-Flight was Classified Missions; transporting and resupplying personnel and units operating behind enemy lines;PSY Ops Missions assigned by psychological warfare section 5th Air Force; and fire fly operations flare drops to aid ground units in night combat and bombers in night attacks.I owned a jacket from the 6167th years ago to the Firefly unit. With a different patch on this jacket this was base operations and I bet this may be the B-Flight squadron insignia.A lot of information on the 6167th is in a chapter in a fantastic book written by Col Michael E. Haas USAF Retired called APOLLOS Warriors United States Air Force Special Operations During The Cold War.I bought a copy years ago when I got the other flight jacket; the books out of print but the Colonel did a fantastic job on it. Thank You Col Haas.Even if my theory is wrong you have one of the greatest Korean War flight jacket on Star Ship Earth.Scotty Great information I appreciate the input, I have found some info on the Net concerning this group but very little. Never though the creature could be a bee, I is defiantly possible and would make sense if this is B section. Looks like a plane behind the bee? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted December 7, 2015 Share #18 Posted December 7, 2015 For some reason I have this yellow patch as a detachment of the 21 Troop Carrier Sq,known as Unit 4/Special Air Missions. The source is the same book (Apollo's Warriors) Scotty stated above. I got that info from someone that had the book as I don't. Was this a redesignation at some point? Does anyone have a copy to clear up the ID? Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Scott Posted December 7, 2015 Share #19 Posted December 7, 2015 Randy you nailed the squadron I do not know how I missed it in the book.Mystery solved so much for my fertile pea sized brain.Scotty PS its listed in the US Patch web site as the 21st.Great job Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Scott Posted December 7, 2015 Share #20 Posted December 7, 2015 I just googled the 21st troop carrier squadron unit four.If you look at the heading called images of 21st troop carrier squadron unit 4 several of their insignias are called 21st Troop carrier BEE Liner so that ugly little critter is a bee.That why you got love this WEBSITE.Scotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navybean Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share #21 Posted December 8, 2015 Great info, it does appear to be 21st troop carrier special squadron unit 4 as you stated that conducted behind the enemy lines missions. This jacket has some great history to it seems it made a lot of covert air drops for the United Nations. I apreciate the efforts on the patch ID Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pluto Posted December 11, 2015 Share #22 Posted December 11, 2015 That is a really nice A2, and to a fascinating unit. I am very interested in KW flight gear, and have collected the full range of nylon gear. I thought I would share this 6167th B Flight L2A I have, one of my favourite jackets, and I was very lucky to find it. The jacket it totally minty, just dusty, a few moth nips to the knits and I have not touched it, feels like it has just hung in a closet for decades. Clearly the aviator removed the spec tag so he could 'take the jacket home', the paper size 40 tag is still in the pocket. A few interesting details to note - the yellow 'come home' ribbon to the zip, and the grenade ring - I think the grenade ring might be a reference to a specific incident - in the Apollo Warrior book there is mention of an incident (a caption below an image, I have the book somewhere..) where a B-flight plane was dropping a Korean agent over into enemy lines, however the Korean was a double-agent and as he parachuted out he lobbed a grenade back into the plane, bringing it down. So perhaps the yellow ribbon and grenade ring together are lucky charms. Also note that the artist who painted the Firefly insignia was illiterate - ie, 'operton', not 'operation'. The jacket is named to R.W. 'Tiger' Heim, AF 16412043. I would like to be able to find out more info on him. Hope you enjoy this jacket, decorated KW jackets have always seemed to me to be an under-explored area, when compared to WW2 flight jackets. Cheers P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pluto Posted December 11, 2015 Share #23 Posted December 11, 2015 more images Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pluto Posted December 11, 2015 Share #24 Posted December 11, 2015 another detail I like about this jacket is the variety to the skill of the artists involved - the languages to the back are really clear, sharp and fluent, obviously done by someone whose mother tongue it was, and yet the detail of the flags is fairly amateurish, especially the British flag, whereas the UN flag is pretty sharp. So I would suspect that for this and possibly the other A2 also, several artists / writers would have been involved in decorating the jacket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Scott Posted December 11, 2015 Share #25 Posted December 11, 2015 Pluto as with the A-2 a stunning bit of Korean War Aviation history.Thank you for taking the time to show it.Scotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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