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Part II early US Air Force transitional


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Posted
:w00t:

 

Speaking of "transitional" - here is a film from the 1947 USAF (fairly long, but fun) ALL kinds of uniforms, insignia and gear to be seen:

 

 

 

Well worth watching. The first clip not so "serious" as the second part of the film, but both a great glimpse back into the past. Some nice airplane shots too -- especially interesting to see those ones that never made it into long-term service. Did I hear them call helicopters "Flying windmills" ?!

Posted

Moving past the immediate post war era temporarily if I may to discuss the sage transitional phase of the late 50's.....

 

Aside from being exasperated with my continued failure to source any shade 509 stuff large enough to display in, I was wondering how long the ww2 hbt coverall lasted amongst ground crews.. certainly I have seen examples USAF ranked, with the distinctive double width stencilled tape above the pocket which makes me think that these could have seen service alongside the shade 509 two piece set.

Anyone able to confirm my suspicions and better still, evidence components of the two shades being mixed/ matched?

Posted
...I was wondering how long the ww2 hbt coverall lasted amongst ground crews.. certainly I have seen examples USAF ranked, with the distinctive double width stencilled tape above the pocket which makes me think that these could have seen service alongside the shade 509 two piece set. Anyone able to confirm my suspicions...

Forum member evstringer might be able to help you with that. Link here to see pictures of evsinger wearing one-piece HBT in 1956 and two-piece in 1957.

Posted

Excellent thank you... I cant tell whether the later pic is hbt 2 piece or not..

Posted
...I cant tell whether the later pic is hbt 2 piece or not...

Nor can I. However, evstringer is definite about wearing 2-piece fatigues in that 1957 picture. Are the feasible alternatives for 2-piece fatigues in 1957 either HBT or Sage? You might try a PM to evstringer to ask if he remembers more about the fatigues he was wearing in that picture.

  • 1 year later...
reddevil1311
Posted

Resurrecting this thread (as it is possibly one of my favourites on the whole board!).

 

Post transitional, but still early USAF. Nothing special.

 

post-103571-0-49884600-1349805550.jpg

 

post-103571-0-42966500-1349805591.jpg

 

Ashley

Posted

Thanks for bringing this one back. I like the early USAF stuff, especially the guys that saw action in the AAC during the war. I always think these uniforms are under valued, which is perfectly OK with me. :)

  • 6 months later...
Posted

I posted this photo of my grandfather in another thread. A forum member suggested that I post it here as well. This photo is from his machinist school class which would have been around 1950.

 

 

27d408fd-6672-4f74-adcb-e848d8d57907_zps2e0730db.jpg

Posted

Also this photo of my grandfather showing the double collar brass.

 

302bf576-8f17-4db6-910a-24451d66070f_zps27a511f4.jpg

reddevil1311
Posted

I posted this photo of my grandfather in another thread. A forum member suggested that I post it here as well. This photo is from his machinist school class which would have been around 1950.

 

 

27d408fd-6672-4f74-adcb-e848d8d57907_zps2e0730db.jpg

Really interesting mixture of uniforms and insignia! Great photo!

 

looks like they still have their "Army" uniforms with some USAF insignia and some Army insignia. Very unusual to see double collar insignia and what seem to be the short-lived gold and blue PFC stripes in the same line up as USAF stripes.

 

Great, great photo. Thanks for sharing!

 

 

A

Captainofthe7th
Posted

Really interesting photo, thanks for sharing!! Check out how crooked the SSI is on the Corporal on the left. The small Army style private stripe is very interesting, I've never seen that before on a USAF uniform.

 

Rob

Posted

I spoted the Discs straight away, Engineer, they would be Army, they are in all likeliness, to use the British term, seconded to the Air Force for both Training and by virtue of one of them wearing a Air Force shoulder patch, assignment. I,m thinking these GIs are a early component of what would soon be SCARWAF remembering that it was Army Engineers who were assigned to SCARWAF.

Posted

My grandfather is 5th from the left (handsome private with double collar discs). He was a machinist in an Engineering Aviation Maintenance Co. (SCARWAF). He was regular Army throughout his enlistment. His discharge papers list him as RA-SCARWAF.

Salvage Sailor
Posted

Am I also seeing shoulder-arcs above 3 of the SSI's?

 

I borrowed this photo from member Hawk3370 posted on another thread.

air force arcs.jpg

AAF Tabs (2).JPG

Posted

 

 


Am I also seeing shoulder-arcs above 3 of the SSI's?



You are correct. My grandfather had a few AAF patches and SAC rockers. These were the earliest SAC SSI's and the Army SCARWAF units fell under control of SAC.

Here is a photo of some of the items from my grandfather's collection:

DEAD LINK 1/3/17

 

DWIV

Posted

I was asked by a forum member to also post this photo of my grandfather showing him wearing a 15th AF patch along with COE collar brass.


DEAD link

 

1/3/17

 

DWIV

  • 3 years later...

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