Thoughts on ARVN Ranger Helmet

[m1a2u2]

Let me know what people think. I know these are always a crap shoot, but I'm curious is anyone has seen this style of panther. 

 

 

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

The group tab painted on the side is not something I have seen in wartime photos, and it's something that came into use around the time painting panthers on helmets was falling out of style. To me it seems unlikely, although not entirely impossible.

[m1a2u2]

27 minutes ago, Cap Camouflage Pattern I said:

The group tab painted on the side is not something I have seen in wartime photos, and it's something that came into use around the time painting panthers on helmets was falling out of style. To me it seems unlikely, although not entirely impossible.

 

Thanks. Presumably, the 4 would represent the 4th Group?

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

2 hours ago, m1a2u2 said:

 

Thanks. Presumably, the 4 would represent the 4th Group?

Yes, like that with red letters in a white square it is 4th group, 

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

Usually you see a tab with group on the left in red numbers on a white square, battalion on the right in white numbers on the background. I am unsure if a tab with just a group would only be worn by group level staff, or if it was a catch-all that could be worn by subordinate units. There is also in theory a large number of group level specialist units that would have an letter acronym in place of the battalion number. However I suspect many of these existed only on paper and probably were not made into physical patches for every unit for every group.

 

The background color indicates the Military Region / Corps the unit operated in. I Corps was green, II Corps was red, III Corps was maroon, IV Corps was yellow. Blue I believe was a form of quick reaction force held in reserve that could be deployed across the country where needed. This force seems to have largely consisted of IV corps units as the area was pretty pacified and stable, and most of the fighting in the 1970s was the I-III Corps. I think 4th Group was part of this group at one point so they would have a blue background, although since they were originally an IV corps unit there probably was a window after the tab system was introduced but before they became part of the reserve force where they would have had a yellow background. 

 

Here is a ranger of the 83rd Ranger Battalion, 33rd Ranger Group. This photo was taken in 1975 by French photojournalist Michel Laurent shortly before he was killed on April 28th, only 2 days before the end of the war.