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Ike Jackets in Combat?


MinorInHistory
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MinorInHistory

Hello all,

 

I was wondering if Ike jackets were ever worn by enlisted men in any combat situations. Has anyone seen photos of this from WWII or Korea? 
 

Thanks! 

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5 hours ago, MinorInHistory said:

Hello all,

 

I was wondering if Ike jackets were ever worn by enlisted men in any combat situations. Has anyone seen photos of this from WWII or Korea? 
 

Thanks! 

Great question, I was wondering that myself now and again. This Jacket was adopted to wear in the field, would love to see if some of them wore it as such, if so probably not many, and not for long, with it worn under the M43 Field Jacket Sateen type or under raincoats etc etc.

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huntssurplus

I think patches hit it all for the most part, by the time of the Ike Jacket being issued to US troops, the much superior M43 Field Jacket was the real standard for field/combat use. But, the official designation for the Ike jacket is "jacket, field, wool, OD". I'm not exactly sure how much of an intention the army ever had for its' field use even though the designation stated it as a field jacket. I think similar as WW1, and as many armies still did in WW2, your dress uniform was the same as your field uniform for the most part. The Marine Corps for example still used their Green Wool Alphas as a field uniform in China after the end of WW2. 

 

The M1928/37 Wool Uniform was still the standard field uniform until the adoption of the Parsons Field jacket in 1937. And US Soldiers in the field wore the same wool pants and wool shirts as were worn with the dress uniform. 

So really, to answer your question, yes I would find it entirely possible that the ike jacket was worn in combat at some point by enlisted men. As you probably know, it was worn by generals and other high ranking officers. Now, photographic evidence would be the best way to know for sure, and I feel like I have seen it being worn by a soldier in the field at one point but I can't find that photo. 

Now if you were to put together a field display, I would say that having the soldier wear the Ike Jacket would not be accurate though. 99.999% of soldiers most likely still wore the multiple other field uniform items in use. 


Hunt

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MinorInHistory

Thanks for the info. I think that if I was to put together a display with the Ike, it would probably be an encampment situation where they were pulled back from the front or something. 

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MinorInHistory

Also, I have seen some photos where different classes of uniforms were mixed for field use, including wools/HBT or wools/khakis. Was that something that happened a lot? 

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4 hours ago, MinorInHistory said:

Also, I have seen some photos where different classes of uniforms were mixed for field use, including wools/HBT or wools/khakis. Was that something that happened a lot? 

Not Khaki Items, the others yes.

 

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Originally, these were intended for use in combat but, as mentioned, it just never really took off but, it did happen. Here was the intended look.

 

jacket_field_wool_od_1944.jpg

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huntssurplus
Originally, these were intended for use in combat but, as mentioned, it just never really took off but, it did happen. Here was the intended look.
 
jacket_field_wool_od_1944.jpg.fd38ee55b8753030d2c3a636215deeee.jpg

Do you know of a definitive answer as to why they weren’t used? I always figured it was because they found the M43 uniform to be much superior, but I don’t know if there was any other specific reason.

Also why did they end up being used as the standard dress uniform?

Hunt


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MinorInHistory

I’m not sure if this is right, but I heard that Eisenhower hated the M-43 (particularly the bulging pockets) and that he wanted the Ike to replace it to make the frontline troops look snappy. The M-43 was better for field use so they probably just repurposed the Ike as the dress jacket. 

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huntssurplus

From what I can find, you are partly right as in this link you can find Ike's quote talking about how the current army looked like a "disorderly mob": https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2014/11/11/the-ike-jacket/.

 

I can't find a specific reason though as to why it didn't end up with much field use. What I can find says it was originally adopted not necessarily as the main field uniform, but rather an undergarment for extra warmth along with the M43 jacket AND as a dress/parade uniform, making me think that maybe while Ike wished for it to be the standard field uniform, it ended up just being the dress uniform as soldiers either didn't receive them in time to actually be worn under the M43 uniforms in time (the Ike jacket was officially adopted in November of 1944, meaning that it really wouldn't have had a lot of time to reach actual frontline use where it could have been worn under the M43 as it was warming up and thus not as useful). And I guess there were alternatives such as wearing the Great Coat or Mackinaw Jacket or other cold weather jackets over the M43, along with things such as the variations of wool sweaters and such under the M43 making the actual need for the Ike jacket as an undergarment unnecessary. 

 

I think that due to a main part of the design process being to make sure the jacket looked sharp opposed to the M26 Enlisted Coat which Ike greatly disliked, the coat was never intended to be specifically for just field use. I think it was seen as having a possible use in the field, but that it's use as a dress/parade jacket was always meant to be its main function. 

 

I'm sure Ike would have liked for it to be the standard field jacket, but the M43 had already had so much time spent developing it, and it had already started being manufactured in large quantities by the time of the adoption of the Ike in November of 1944, it wasn't needed for anything else besides extra warmth in the field.


Hunt

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I'm always astonished that the M26 Coat with shirt and neck tie was thee field uniform, I always try to image myself with steel helmet, LBE, Ruck and bloused boots weapon, wearing my Class A Uniform, Tan Shirt and Black neck tie running around, and living in the field at Hood in 80-81, and wearing either the Sage Green Overcoat and or Sage Green Raincoat as necessary in cold or warmer rainy weather 😆. But hey, those soldiers back in the late 20s-30s certainly did it, even earlier right, like in WWI, and our hats of to them.   

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