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Viet Nam Era Army Airborne Training School Instructor Helmet


Helmet2id
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I picked this one up many years ago but I do not remember when, where or from whom. This one was worn at the Army Airborne Training School in Fort Benning which, I believe, was run by the First Battalion of the 507th Airborne Infantry Regiment. It is a rear seam shell with a heat stamp that is very hard to make out but looks like I-62?? to me. It came without straps, and the liner that was in the shell when I acquired the piece, a CAPAC dated 1962, does not have the female snaps needed to secure the short straps from the shell. I think the liner, which has a Lieutenant rank decal on the front, is original to the piece none the less since they came together and the wear to both the shell and the liner is consistent. Over the "Follow Me" decals on the liner are the remains of decals the significance of which I do not know and would welcome any information regarding the same. Hope you like it. Jim G.

post-166795-0-39796300-1503149758_thumb.jpg

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Hi Jim,

A little information on your Ft, Benning helmets:

 

Liner first. Your liner is an OCS TAC Officer liner. You will notice that it is not an airborne liner so it would not be matched to an airborne pot. The OCS candidates wore liners similiar but with an OCS decal in the front and no blue band. The remnants of the decals above the "Follow Me" are not familiar to me so I can't comment about them.

 

Steel pot. This helmet is very similar to the helmets issued to the instructors of the Airborne School except our helmets had our rank and names in white across the back of the helmet. The "5" is unknown to me. We had to turn in our issued M1C when we were assigned to a committee (Ground or Tower) and were issued these black helmets. While your helmet shows wear and tear they were a high gloss black and very distinctive. When we left the Airborne assignment we were required to turn in our black helmets and received our issue helmets in return.

 

I have a good friend that still has his helmet. He had been transferred over to the Pathfinder Committee and he had not turned in his black helmet because he was still assigned to the Airborne Department. So he left Ft. Benning with the helmet. But it was lost for 35 years. He thought the packers had stolen it from his household goods. A few years ago his son was looking for his camo net to make a ghillie suit and when he dumped out the duffle bag there was a "clunk" on the concrete floor and there was his black helmet all wrapped up in his net.

Lost for 35 years and still there all the time.

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Thanks for the information Rolf. So the liner, which I knew was not an airborne helmet due to the absence of the snaps, was married to the shell after its service life, but both the shell and the liner were at the Training School right? I am a bit stumped by the fact that the shell is dark green, not black (the liner is black). Any thoughts on that? Anyway, thanks again for the information, thank you for your service, and by the way, I love your avatar - second to none. (My Uncle was in the 23rd IR during WWII, actually was one of the few from the 2nd ID that landed on D-Day, and fought throughout the Normandy and Brittany campaigns before his third wound sent him home.) Cheers, Jim G.

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"Dark green!!!!" It looks black in your pictures. Soooo, possibly it is a airborne company cadre helmet.

 

Let me break down the Infantry School a little bit so you understand how the Airborne school was organized back before the 507th was activated 1984.

 

The School Brigade (TSB) was the headquarters for many infantry based schools including OCS, Ranger School, Infantry Officers Basic Course, Advanced Non Commissioned Officers Course, The Basic Airborne Course, etc, etc, etc

.

The Basic Airborne Course consisted of two elements: The 4th Student Battalion which consisted of airborne training companies. They were numbered 40 thru 49, although when I was an instructor they only had 42nd thru 45th Co (however years earlier I was in 47th Co when I went through the course). The company cadre were not part of the Airborne Department and did not wear the gloss black helmets although many did decorate their helmets with the "Follow Me and Airborne tab" decals.

 

The second element was the Airborne Department which was responsible for all instructors and training committees. While we were assigned to HHC, 4th Student Bn. for accountability, we were attached to the Airborne Department for operational control and further attached to the training committees.

 

The training committees consisted of Ground Training Branch (1st week), Tower Training Branch (2nd week), Jump Training Branch(3rd week), Jumpmaster Training Branch (2 week course) and Pathfinder Training Branch (3 week course). Only the Ground and Tower committees used the gloss black helmets mentioned above. Jump and Jumpmaster committees used white Bell motorcycle helmets and Pathfinders had standard M1Cs with camouflaged covers.

 

However, when the 507th was activated all the above changed. The instructors were assigned to the individual training companies and each company ran the three week training facilities. The only committees with full time instructors were the Jumpmaster committee and Pathfinder committee. This all happened a year after my reassignment so I didn't experience the change over.

 

I hope this make the things clear as mud.

 

Maybe I can get some pictures of my friends Instructor helmet and post them here.

 

Rolf

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FYI: Pictures of Ft. Benning helmets and liners

OCS TAC Officer

post-900-0-33844900-1503186558.jpg

 

OCS Candidate

post-900-0-24219500-1503186613.jpg

 

Possible 4th Student Bn. Cadre helmet

post-900-0-91346400-1503186710_thumb.jpg

post-900-0-54508500-1503186747_thumb.jpg

 

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Last picture.

Although you can't see the name or side decals you can see the gloss black helmet on this female Airborne Instructor.

post-900-0-64078900-1503187230.jpg

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Thanks for adding these pictures Rolf. Any idea of the year that the last picture was taken? Jim G.

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That is a picture of SGT Reita Lewis and she was attached to Ground Training Branch. The picture was taken 1976-1977. She married one of my best friends SSG Jim Los who was attached to Tower Training Branch with me. Just a side note: Reita was the first women to attend and graduate from the Pathfinder Course in 1978.

 

Here is another picture from the same time period. Kind of small and no view of the decals but you can see the gloss black helmet (yes, I know it's a black and white photo and all helmets appear black).

post-900-0-72356700-1503241592_thumb.jpg

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I to think one one of those "nice" looking guys could have been screaming at me when I went thru jump school in the summer of 78. Nice thread

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I have a friend who has his helmet just like the one picture in post #20. However he was a Major so the Insignia was a bit different. I have tried in vain to buy it from him. Maybe one day.

Ronnie

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