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Post-WWII 1950's & 1960's US Air Force uniform photos


Bob Hudson
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Gen. Nathan Twining with the distinctive piping of the Air Force Chief Of Staff on his service cap. Note that he is wearing the ribbon of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

post-1761-0-06906900-1416525905.jpg

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Great information and pictures. I have always been interested in the early transitional period of the Air Force and have many examples of the uniforms worn in the early days. Thanks for sharing. Kurt

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In post #473, the Airman is wearing the DUC on the right like the Army and this was not changed by moving it to the right side till sometime in the early 60's. When it was moved, the ribbon was made smaller as to fit with other ribbons.

The "50 mission crush", look of the service cap was very popular in those days. I still have my old service cap from those days and it's still shaped like that.

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That's the emblem of the Alaskan Command. It used to be that the commander of the Alaskan Air Command (a three-star general) was the supreme commander in the Alaskan Theater because it is also the Alaskan NORAD Region. In my era of the Alaskan Air Command, the Alaskan Command was only activated during those operations/exercise/missions where that general would also be in charge of all military forces in that theater. In the late 70s, early 80s, it was called Joint Task Force Alaska.

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SocietyBrandHatCo

Nothing about this photo or the soldier's profile suggests Air Force service to me, yet this soldier appears to be wearing Air Force enlisted collar discs. He served in Korea with the 3rd Infantry Division from 1952 to 1953 so the picture would be from that time frame. Being a black and white photo, I guess he could be wearing a blue Ike, but if so, would he be wearing the DUIs' and leadership tabs? Any thoughts?

 

http://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=Profile&type=Person&ID=8231

 

Could he have been an airman attached to the 3rd ID as a part of a tactical air control unit? The USAF had these units in Korea, and the airman were attached to US Army infantry units.

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Could he have been an airman attached to the 3rd ID as a part of a tactical air control unit? The USAF had these units in Korea, and the airman were attached to US Army infantry units.

I think that's unlikely SBHco, my feeling seeing the CIB is he's Army, the collar discs are most likey Brass, the 1947 Transitional types, a U.S. that had a matching Wing and Prop disc, here he just wore two U.S. ones. Nothing new under the sun in this reguard, we've all seen all sorts of Insignia anomiles from WWII through the 60s that intially had us scratching or heads, sometimes never being able to say why a item of unusual insignia is being worn.

 

 

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The photo is most likely of either an Infantryman assigned to the new USAF or one that has chosen to transfer to the newly created service. The Transition USAF (Aviation) collar disks (AKA cut outs) reflects that in some manner he is serving in an Air Force capacity. This was common into the 1950s. Johnny Schlund researched and found the documentation that explained how US Army personnel were retained by the USAF "For the needs of the service" although they were still members of the Army and paid by the Army. We would have to follow up with a photo of him a couple of years longer in order to see if he made the switch to the USAF or remained in the Army. The transition collar brass was actually brass colored so this would be on a green Ike. If indeed he made the move to the USAF he might retain the Army chevrons for awhile or change to the new USAF chevrons. As for the leadership tabs I am not certain as to what the regs were although for years after formation of the AF there was much confusion and you see many different configurations of tabs, patches and other combinations until the AF became settled and more uniformity was fostered by the AF Uniform Board and codification of the regulations. The first actual bona fide AF Uniform regulation was Air Force Regulation (AFR) 35-14 Service and Dress Uniforms for Air Force Personnel dated 15 November 1950. Prior to that there were some Air Force Letters (AFL) covering uniform wear but they were basically very short repeats of the Army Air Force (AAF) regs.

 

A note on the "Two shots of a female post WW2 PFC." She is wearing the appropriate uniform for that period, a green Ike although she could just as well have worn, the Woman's Air Force Winter Dress uniform (Shade 84) authorized in 1949. Her head gear would have been the newly designed blue and white WAF Service Dress Hat (AKA the Bucket Hat.) Two things stand out: The double sets of US and Aviation brass indicate this to the 1949 period which also allowed her to wear her 9th AF patch. After 1950 her left shoulder patch of the General Hqtrs AF patch was the only authorized patch, although you still will find photos of airmen wearing other patches.

 

As to the question of Captain Rosemary Luciano's uniform she is wearing an Army second pattern Army Nurse's Corps summer beige uniform with maroon piping and maroon tie. There is a slight chance that she wore this in the transition period until she could be provided with the proper WAF officer's Service Dress, but it is doubtful. This photograph would therefore, most likely date from 1945 until 1949 when she became a member of the USAF. The Army Nurse's Corpse insignia would not have been worn if she was a member of the USAF. In 1970 the AF Nurses silver shield with lamp and Medusa was authorized, much too late for her to wear. As this photo was most likely pre-USAF the AF General Hqtrs patch would indicate she was assigned to (then a branch of the Army) an Army Air Force assignment.

 

Hope that helps. Lance, IntotheBlue

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Well the two on the left will be AF Blue, with silver collar discs. The one on the right since he's wearing solid domed collar discs,which would be Brass, would be a Army soldier, a Pvt? Note he also has Khaki socks, AF wore Black, so his uniform would be OD. You got the date right, as the GI has his Brass only on the collars and not on both the upper collar and lower lapel, this went out of wear in the Army in late 1951, so the 53-55 dates would be correct.

 

Sorry for your recent loss, as a thought, since your late Father in Law was in the 1950s USAF, you might enjoy this book on AF uniforms, a book highly praised and owned by many members interested in uniforms, to include myself, this will also, apart from being a excellent book, give you concrete full color views of these type of uniforms, the AF service coat as seen being worn on the guy on the far left, and the AF IKE as seen on your Father in Law.

 

attachicon.gif51dTxpsGVkL.jpg

 

http://www.amazon.com/Into-Blue-Uniforms-United-Present/dp/076433512X

 

The book title Into the Blue gives me away as that's my chosen screen name. I appreciate the comments that have been made and I want you all to know that we have worked hard to please you, the historians, collectors and family interested parties. There is now a second volume out and a third will be out if I get a KITA (kick in the well enthusiasm) to finish it. The title of volume three will be From Fatigues to the ABU. I hope it will meet with your approval and expectations. To all veterans thank you for your service.

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Was going to write you. Love both books and thank you for your work. Wore the dust jacket off the first book because I keep pouring over it.

 

In your second book, you noted that AF Security Forces may not have been the first to wear berets in the Air Force. Please note that the blue beret was formally adopted Air Force wide in 1975 at the request of a Maj. Gen. Sadler. The use of the beret, however, started much earlier with Gen. LeMay back in the early 1960s when he approved the uniform for the SP Elite Guard at SAC Headquarters. I noted that you couldn't find the information at the SF Museum at Lackland AFB. Yet the Elite Guard Veterans Association used to post the approving documentation on their website. I thought it ironic when you pay tribute to General LeMay. Approval of the beret included what was then called the Security Police Qualification Badge -- which a lot of SPs reluctantly took off (because of what it represented) when the Air Force shifted to occupational badges.

 

This is important because of the rivalry between Combat Controllers and Security Forces (Police), Combat Controllers used to accuse the SPs of stealing their berets. I know this because I used to be a SP and had to work with a former Combat Controller, and that individual could make my life interesting when this subject arose.

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Was going to write you. Love both books and thank you for your work. Wore the dust jacket off the first book because I keep pouring over it.

 

In your second book, you noted that AF Security Forces may not have been the first to wear berets in the Air Force. Please note that the blue beret was formally adopted Air Force wide in 1975 at the request of a Maj. Gen. Sadler. The use of the beret, however, started much earlier with Gen. LeMay back in the early 1960s when he approved the uniform for the SP Elite Guard at SAC Headquarters. I noted that you couldn't find the information at the SF Museum at Lackland AFB. Yet the Elite Guard Veterans Association used to post the approving documentation on their website. I thought it ironic when you pay tribute to General LeMay. Approval of the beret included what was then called the Security Police Qualification Badge -- which a lot of SPs reluctantly took off (because of what it represented) when the Air Force shifted to occupational badges.

 

This is important because of the rivalry between Combat Controllers and Security Forces (Police), Combat Controllers used to accuse the SPs of stealing their berets. I know this because I used to be a SP and had to work with a former Combat Controller, and that individual could make my life interesting when this subject arose.

The Beret seems to have been worn much earlier then the early 60s . See posts #292 and #293.

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/5846-post-wwii-50s-60s-us-air-force-uniform-photos/page-12

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I remember reading the C.B. Colby books as a kid and saw those photos -- loved the books. Wasn't sure about the date for SAC so I only estimated it.

 

When I entered the Air Force and Security Police in 1977, the two most popular dress uniform items for Security Police (Forces) were a Ike-type Shade 1549 jacket with hooks around the bottom of the waist to hold either a leather or web belt. I still have the jacket, the airman stripes of that era had blue stars and I remember wearing a blue scarf (still have it too), not the white one that is most common. The only ribbon I had at the time was an AFOUA. The command crest on the beret was enameled and the clutch backs on the back would always corrode from moisture and sweat.

 

The other favorite uniform -- at least for me -- was the dark blue Shade 1549 shirt with 3-inch stripes and military creases. I had four, wore out two and made it a point of wearing that uniform on the last day it was authorized in 1988. Raised some eye brows that day.

 

I also still have the MA-1 flight jacket with subdued insignia. Most confortable. Amazing that jacket still holds it own 30+ years later.

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A fella named Nish Zundal a Fighter Pilot in the 50s, a Flight School portrait I imagine.

 

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Another portrait, 5th AF Korea vet Edward Kowalczyk, I think he from Bayonne New Jersey.

 

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Another 5th AF Korean War era Blues.

 

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Actually it's a character from a MASH episode, Good Bye Radar. :P

 

This was the manifest clerk at the Tokyo MATS office (Yokota AFB?) who spars with Radar on flight availability for flights to Kimpo.

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Hello,

 

It's been a while since I have posted on this forum. I recently acquired a USAF 1949 enlisted service cap and original box. The cap is dated 1-5-1956, based on 29-11-1949 spec as best i can tell. Will post multiple images of thepost-1720-0-21416900-1437507843.jpg cap for reference.

 

Here is the inside of the 1956 service cap showing the original foam ring (which has turned brittle and cracking). post-1720-0-71272300-1437507947.jpg

 

Here is the original box. After looking closer at the USAF specification, it is a 1956 dated hat, based on the 1949 specs.

 

As best I can tell, the USAF specification reads:

 

1-5-1956 QM-1760 01 1982

SPEC. MILC-3088 28-11-1949

PHILADELPHIA KNIT --- CO., INC.

 

Still a great hat for display of the early 50s era uniform.

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I have a late 60s era USAF officer's mess dress uniform question. My father served from 1969 - 1971 and wore the white jacket mess dress for certain functions. Luckily, he saved that uniform and I have that today. The only thing missing is the shirt that would have been worn under the jacket with the black bowtie (I guess wore it with regular tuxedos afterwards). Would this have been a standard white non-flared collar dress shirt or a tuxedo shirt? Would this have been a USAF issued shirt or procured by the officer?

 

Thanks,

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Here is a page about shirts with dress uniforms from the Air Force Manual 35-10 1 July 1966 line 26 with X line up with uniform on top of page section C . Hope it helps

Allen

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Thanks Allen for the information. Looks like either a plain or pleated shirt made for cuff links. Will check at some of the formal places in town and purchase a shirt based on my father's size.

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aclfan, officers didn't have "issue" uniform items. ALL officer uniforms were and still are private purchase. I see this a lot on these forums and I guess people who don't know assume that officers get some of their uniform items issued. They don't but do get "equipment" items such as flight suits,& jackets. parkas and other items issued, but those thing are not considered as "uniforms".

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Lee,

 

I know officer uniforms were procured, not issued. They are governed by the USAF for style, color etc. Since officer clothing may have USAF tags, I would think it was possible to purchase uniforms in the PX, especially for new officers assigned to a base. These would be basic, off-the-rack variety, but serve the purpose nonetheless. I believe my father bought his that way.

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Lee,

 

I know officer uniforms were procured, not issued. They are governed by the USAF for style, color etc. Since officer clothing may have USAF tags, I would think it was possible to purchase uniforms in the PX, especially for new officers assigned to a base. These would be basic, off-the-rack variety, but serve the purpose nonetheless. I believe my father bought his that way.

. Yes, that's exactly how officers procured their uniforms. The point is, they were of higher quality than "Issue" and we're not "Tossed in a box as you passed down a line". Having been on both sides, big difference between "Issued" and going to the Exchange and buying your stuff
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