Is this an Operation Iraqi Freedom or Desert Storm Uniform Special Forces uniform?

[SouthShore 8754]

I recently picked this special forces uniform up. I normally collect WW2 items and do not have any reference books on the Desert Storm - OIF era, so your opinions and thoughts on the uniform are most welcome!

 

Is this an OIF uniform or a Desert Storm Uniform? Just wanted to confirm. I figured it was Desert Storm because there is no American Flag on the sleeve? 

 

Also, does anyone know what the small patch above the airborne tab is on the front of the uniform? I can't find any examples of the patch online. I posted a photo of it below.Thanks for your help!

 

 

[Allan H.]

Coffee Stain desert camo is post Desert Storm. Could be Somalia or later.

 

Allan

[SouthShore 8754]

Thanks Allan. Here are some other Uniforms that I believed belonged to the same soldier. You can still see the imprint of the name tag and they both match. The one I'm about to post be low has a flag sewn on, that's why I thought they might be  from different time frames. 

[SouthShore 8754]

There were four uniforms in total. All were the same size Medium-Long. I'm not sure if the two uniforms below belong to the same soldier. Any thoughts on this would be welcome.

[SouthShore 8754]

Could this belong to the same guy?

[SouthShore 8754]

 

Better photo of the sleeve. This uniform was also a medium- long, that's why I thought it might have belonged to the same person. The imprint on the fabric from the name tape looks pretty similar also.

[SouthShore 8754]

Here is the final uniform of the group I bought. Also a size medium- long. Possible it also belonged to the same soldier? I'm not too sure because it has a 23rd infantry division patch. 

[SouthShore 8754]

I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts on if these all belonged to the same soldier. They all are size medium long and the three DCU's have an imprint on the fabric from the name tape that looks similar. Not so sure about the bdu though.

[SouthShore 8754]

This was that patch I was asking about in the initial post. Any Idea what it signifies? 

 

[Old Marine]

That is the Field Medic Badge

[hzamar]

The first one is very cool. It looks like every patch is theater made and a small Arabic name tag under where his name tag would have been. That's a neat coat. The others are cool too but that first one is special.

I bet the second one with the SF combat patch is the same soldier but the other 2 are probably from another person or possibly 2 different people.

[Martinjmpr]

Three color "coffee stain" DCU's didn't come into widespread use until after Desert Storm.  The first uniform looks like it has a lot of theater-made insignia and patches on it, which would have been typical for an advisor or someone who did a rotation in Kuwait after Desert Storm and before OIF.  The big "Elvis collar" of the first uniform tells me it's probably an older DCU, the later ones had smaller collars.  

 

After Desert Storm in 1991, the US maintained a presence in Kuwait that continues to this day.  Units rotated in and out of Kuwait for various training and security missions, and of course Special Forces personnel were frequently on those rotations.  Soldiers rotating to Kuwait were typically issued the "coffee stain" DCUs when they rotated in.  Personnel that rotated frequently (like members of the 5th Special Forces group) would maintain a set of DCUs with their issued field gear.  As far as the insignia goes, there was a tailor shop on Camp Doha, right outside Kuwait City, that would make whatever you wanted, including patches, badges, and Arabic name tapes (which were officially unauthorized but people got away with a lot of unauthorized stuff on deployments like that.)  

 

 

[ludwigh1980]

First one is OEF period and the insignia looks like some of the stuff made in afghanistan about this period ( 2003-4 ). Some individuals had their name in farsi under or above thier name tape and on thier hat. I was kind of curious just how accurate the translation was as when I had "Hagi" name tapes made by different shops I got back two different farsi spellings. Very cool dcu. The practice of having in country made unit insignia was pretty rare when I was over there.

[Allan H.]

To be accurate, Farsi is used in Iran, and not Iraq. The Iraqis speak Arabic. The nametag is Arabic. These name tags are usually phonetic, so you will occasionally find some variation in the spelling, but the pronunciations are normally pretty similar. 

 

Allan

[SouthShore 8754]

Thanks everyone for posting and answering the questions I had about the first uniform. I greatly appreciate your comments. 

 

@martinjmpr, Thanks for taking the time to explain and provide some background as to what unit the soldier belonged too, where the soldier had been stationed and where the patches were possibly made. That adds a lot of perspective. 

 

@ oldmarine , Thank you for clarifying that it was a field medic badge.

 

@hzmar,  Thanks for answering my question about whether or not all the uniforms belonged to the same soldier. I agree, the last three uniforms are no where near as interesting as the first one. Just figured I'd post the others to ask and put any doubts to rest. 

 

[mvmhm]

In July 1991 I was an Air Force Technical Sergeant attached to the HHC, 72nd Signal Battalion on the Turkish-Iraqi border. We all received two sets of winter weight DCUs, a matching boonie, and one pair of desert boots. At the time we took the green insignia off our BDU's (which we were wearing up until that time) and sewed them by hand on to our new DCUs. Initially it was the wild west uniform wise...you could wear black boots, the new desert ones or green jungle boots with the DCUs, as well as the woodland pattern boonie or patrol cap. Of course that only lasted a few weeks before they outlawed mixing uniforms and headgear...they still allowed us to wear whatever boots we wanted though.

 

Mark sends

[TheCrustyBosun]

The first one definitely looks like OIF theater made stuff. As mentioned before, Camp Doha had a shop where you could get just about anything made. The same was true where I was stationed in Kuwait at Camp Spearhead. We had Arabic embroidery applied to our blouses until the command squashed the practice. We also had unit patches and custom section patches produced in theater. Here’s one of my uniforms as an example. 

[BDU_Burger_Lover]

Not to be redundant, but I concur with what has been said about the uniforms coming from three distinct service members. 

 

The first two uniforms definitely belonged to the same individual and were probably worn while he was serving in some advisory role in the Middle East in the late 1990s or early 2000s. I think I can see some ghosting on their collars where the rank insignia was removed - that might help you establish whether he was an NCO or an officer.

 

The other DCU belonged to an Artillery officer and looks like it was worn at a later time during the GWOT. 

 

The BDU was probably worn in the 1980s and belonged to an Infantry officer - are there any imprints of what the last name might have been, or markings written on the inside?

[easterneagle87]

I agree the first two DCU's are to the same soldier. Nice theater made patches. He was Special Forces qualified or  Q - Course, but his current assignment (at the time of wearing the uniform) was with the Army Material Command and not an SF Group. If so, then the left shoulder patch would've been Special Forces SSI. 

 

As for the woodland BDU, it has to be an 1980's top. What is the DLA-C-100-??-XXXX date number inside the shirt. The last time the 23rd INF DIV was in combat or a hostile theater was in Vietnam. Colin Powell wore the 23rd on his right shoulder. 

 

The medical badge on the DCU is the Expert Medic's Badge or EMB. It is the counter part to the Expert Infantryman's Badge or EIB, or affectionately referred to as Everyone in Battalion/Brigade. 

[SouthShore 8754]

@mvmhm I was wondering why the patches on the second special forces uniform were all green. That could explain why its different than the other one. The date on the DCU looks to be 1990. Definitely matches the dates you posted about mixing and matching uniform items. 

 

@TheCrustyBosun Thanks for sharing the picture of your uniform with the theater insignia. I had no idea that the Arabic writing on uniforms was that widespread. 

 

 

[SouthShore 8754]

@easterneagle87

 

I immediately thought the same thing when I saw the 23rd infantry division patch on the bdu uniform. I just checked it, the DLA number says "82", for 1982.

 

Thanks for pointing out that army material command patch on the first uniform I posted, I was wondering if the special forces tab on top of that was in the right place, wouldn't it normally go over the airborne tab? 

 

I'll post more pictures below.

 

 

[SouthShore 8754]

@BDU_Burger_Lover

Here are some photos of the Special forces uniform with the arabic name tape. Photos show where the pinned on insignia once was. 

 

[SouthShore 8754]

More photos of the second special forces uniform with the green patches. Photos show where the pinned on insignia once was. 

 

[easterneagle87]

31 minutes ago, SouthShore 8754 said:

@easterneagle87

 

I immediately thought the same thing when I saw the 23rd infantry division patch on the bdu uniform. I just checked it, the DLA number says "82", for 1982.

 

Thanks for pointing out that army material command patch on the first uniform I posted, I was wondering if the special forces tab on top of that was in the right place, wouldn't it normally go over the airborne tab? 

 

I'll post more pictures below.

 

 

 

The SF and Airborne tab go together and is the SSI for special forces units. The Army Material command may have an Airborne tab if it is in an airborne capacity. BUT .. you should not see an SF tab on the right shoulder as it is a "skill badge". Just like on the 1st INF "Big Red One" DCU, there is a Ranger tab on the left shoulder and not the right should. It too is a skill award. You may see Ranger "scrolls" on right shoulders as the are SSI's for the Ranger Battalions, but not Ranger tabs. 

[BDU_Burger_Lover]

Looks like he may have been a field grade officer in one of the medical branches - with that in mind and his last name, he shouldn't be too hard to research.

 

About the BDU, are there any imprints or markings that might hold any clues as to the identity of its original owner?