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M-65 Field Jacket OD Green Last Year of Production


mrrm
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Does anyone know the last year that the M-65 Field Jacket was manufactured in OD green?  And did any of these OD green field jackets have the green label sewn inside or were they discontinued before the green tags came into use?  

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1986 would be very late but it's worth pointing out that the Air Force and (I think) the Navy continued to wear OD green even after the Army and Marines went to the BDU around 1981 - 82. 

 

I don't think I've ever seen an OD green M65 with a nylon zipper.  My OD green M65, issued to me when I went to basic training in 1980 had a brass zipper as did my first BDU field jackets issued to me in 1986 when I came back onto active duty.  I don't think I ever saw a nylon zipper field jacket until the late 80's or early 90's. 

 

My recollection is that the BDU field jacket lagged behind the BDU by at least 3 years.  For a while it was very common to see soldiers in my NG unit wearing OD green field jackets over their BDUs.  They always had to take them off for formations, no matter how cold it was.  

 

I went back on active duty in late 1986 and by then there were enough BDU field jackets in inventory that the green was no longer authorized.  I'm pretty sure I never saw a green field jacket being worn by a soldier after early 87.  

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  • 1 year later...

My brother has his USAF-issue OG-107 M-65, dated 1985. Brass zipper and green label. Golden Mfg Co.

Pretty sure the USAF wear-out date for the OG-107 uniform was just after Desert Storm/1991, so about 5 years after BDUs came into use. 

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On 1/8/2021 at 5:49 PM, mrrm said:

To date, this is the latest-production OG M-65 that I've found. 1987 contract. Green label and nylon zip

 

87 OG107 M65 1987.jpg

87 OG107 M65 1987a.jpg

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On 1/11/2021 at 10:42 PM, Martinjmpr said:

1986 would be very late but it's worth pointing out that the Air Force and (I think) the Navy continued to wear OD green even after the Army and Marines went to the BDU around 1981 - 82. 

 

I don't think I've ever seen an OD green M65 with a nylon zipper.  My OD green M65, issued to me when I went to basic training in 1980 had a brass zipper as did my first BDU field jackets issued to me in 1986 when I came back onto active duty.  I don't think I ever saw a nylon zipper field jacket until the late 80's or early 90's. 

 

My recollection is that the BDU field jacket lagged behind the BDU by at least 3 years.  For a while it was very common to see soldiers in my NG unit wearing OD green field jackets over their BDUs.  They always had to take them off for formations, no matter how cold it was.  

 

I went back on active duty in late 1986 and by then there were enough BDU field jackets in inventory that the green was no longer authorized.  I'm pretty sure I never saw a green field jacket being worn by a soldier after early 87.  

Old thread, I know...

 

...I was in Germany in the early 80's. If I recall correctly, we rec'd the BDU field jackets in the fall of 1983. We were told they were only to be worn with the BDU. I personally reprimanded one of the tankers in my platoon for wearing the BDU coat with a pickle suit. Soldiers being soldiers in a time of transition, it was nigh on impossible to police. Both uniforms were authorized for wear so you saw a lot of mix and match.

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  • 2 years later...
Man With No Name

Last year I have bought M65 in mint condition, made by Golden. It was from quite reliable source and advertised online as a contract.

Unfortunately, green label raised question. Contract on the label is for M65 but in Woodland.

 

My jacket got typical Golden, nylon zip in hood but with brass main zip. Maybe some contractors were making jackets for civilian sale composed of what they could found on shelfs? 

 

 

 

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