Aggressor Helmet

[Bernhard]

Fellow collectors ,

 

I did a short search on this forum about these kind of helmets and I am under the impression that

none have been shown so far.

Some years ago I got this aggressor liner together with two or three Manuals about aggressor warfare as well as

one pair of trousers , a gymnastiorka style shirt a field jacket in "aggreesor green "

For your information I add a scan of the color plate about the "aggressors Uniform"

The manuals are very interresting as really create a history of the "aggressor" Nation and also a kind aggressor "language" describing their weapons and ranks and so on.

All in all a very interresting piece of cold war history.

Hope you like it !!

 

[Bernhard]

Here are some uniforms to be worn by the OPFORs

 

 

Here are some pics of my "aggressor helmet " that is in fact a standard M1 liner that had

this wooden comb added by using screws .

The leather chinstrap is a repro.

 

 

 

Another pic:

 

 

[tylis2]

Nice. Mine is similar, only it has a red star painted on the front of the comb. It came out of Ft. Meade

[Bernhard]

Thank you for your comment tylis2 !

 

 

Regards

 

Bernhard

[sgtdorango]

Thats a nice seldom seen item!!....they should have there own thread in the reference section!... :thumbsup: ....mike

[ItemCo16527]

Now, that is one cool helmet. I've never seen one like that before. Thank you for sharing this beautiful peace of Cold War history with us.

[tylis2]

Here's mine. It's a WW2 Westinghouse liner with shade#3 web. The headband is a 1950's with a shade #7 web. The comb has been screwed on with wood screws from the inside, and then the whole thing was painted in a WW2 Olive Drab. The flash has distorted the colours, but the side view is close. The Red Star is a vibrant fire engine red. I have the a gymnastiorka style shirt somewhere....Steve T

 

[Bill47]

Let me show my ignorance here: Who used these helmets and why?

Thanks.

Bill

[tylis2]

US Army. Usually in 'war game' type scenarios where they were trying to teach our guys the difference in uniforms, tactics and firearms.

[sgtdorango]

Yes, these were worn by the "bad guys"......mike

[Mercenary25]

More OPFOR helmets in variety of styles can be found in thread from another forum.

 

http://iacmc.forumotion.com/us-army-f150/o...highlight=opfor

 

Cheers.

[sgtdorango]

Theres one for sale here http://warrelics.com/test2.asp?id=C1475 .......mike

[Bugme]

These are both very neat as well as very ugly helmets. As mentioned, these were used by U.S. forces acting as the aggressor force during maneuvers. These are all from the Cold War era.

[tylis2]

OK. So now we've seen the helmets...but has anyone ever seen a picture of these in a training scenario? :think:

[12A54]

I never saw one in use, but remember photos in manuals. The one that comes to mind was (I believe) the Combatives Field Manual FM 21-150, 1971

[craig_pickrall]

This is the instructions for making them. It dates from 1953. I used to see these in surplus stores in the 50's but never bought one. They were usually banged up when they were surplused out. There are other versions of the comb that vary from what is shown in these instructions.

 

[Sabrejet]

Seems to have been a bizarre..almost comedic..way of doing things! To differentiate between the "opposing forces", would it not have been easier to simply paint or mark the liners in a distinctive way? That wooden ridge makes it look more Roman than Russian! There's a photo of an OPFOR general in one of my books wearing such a helmet liner and dressed "Soviet-style"...looks more like a Hallowe'en costume!! How could they be taken seriously dressed like that?! (Just my humble opinion!)

 

Sabrejet

[p2tharizo]

Very interesting thread! I hope I come across one someday...

[Cobrahistorian]

OK. So now we've seen the helmets...but has anyone ever seen a picture of these in a training scenario? :think:

 

Going through our archive here at the museum, I did see a few shots of them used in training stateside. It'll take me a while to find them (we have about 50+ years of National Guard Magazine photos here) but I'll see what I can do.

 

Jon

[Bugme]

tylis2 said:

OK. So now we've seen the helmets...but has anyone ever seen a picture of these in a training scenario? :think:

 

Here's a photo of the aggressor helmet being used during training in California in the 1960's. Photo is from the Patton Museum. In this case, the combs utilized on here, appear to be attached to a normal camo covered M-1 helmet and not to the liner.

 

This is from one of Armolds books showing a later version special manufactured aggressor helmet.

[gaz232sqn]

Hi

 

Very intersting topic, I have seen one of these on a European website,it was believe made of resin/plastic, and in a very russian style in appearance.

 

I will surf the net,and try and download a link!

 

Good one,something different :thumbsup:

[Garandomatic]

So why make them like that? How does that teach our guys what the enemy looked like? Not trying to be disrespectful in my tone, I just don't understand it. I've got a Soviet helmet picked up off of Cubans at Grenada, supposedly, and it looks nothing like it... What Soviet-allied enemy had a combed helmet like that that?

[gaz232sqn]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPFOR (Opposition forces)made to look like a Russian lid :thumbsup:

 

Strange no?

[Bernhard]

My fellow collectors ,

 

I was really surprised by all the responses that my aggressor helmet thread got.

As I already wrote I got also three manuals and three pieces of uniform together with this helmet.

To give you a better impression about the whole lot I took some pics of my "Aggressor" items.

The manuals are from the late sixties and are very interresting.

 

 

 

Another manual shot:

 

The Aggressor nation that is depicted in the manuals is completely fictional as is the

Aggressors Nation`s language and even currency.

 

Map out of the manual :

 

And finally an "Aggressors Shirt" in green .

[dave nh]

I know this is a old tread,was wonering if these uniforms were hard to come by?

 

Thank you

David