MACV SOG-FIELD UNIFORMS AND GEAR

[savoy3]

There is always discussion as to what teams wore for uniforms and what gear was carried at different time periods of the war in Vietnam...search for " Project Delta B-52 " and you will find lots of pictures and great articles on their role in MACV-SOG..In photos of 1969 there is a picture of a team prepping before a mission and there is a wide selection of camo and gear for this 1 team..did not know Recon units wore ERDL Cammie's in the field ? For living history reenactors ther is a wealth of info and photo so you can ( get it right )so to speak..Enjoy

[pwmiraldi67]

Hey bro

 

this topic has been covered to death!! Your not going to see SOG RTs wearing the ERDLs in the field on actual missions till the last 5 minutes of their involvement, not to mention you'll never see SOG RTs wearing Tigerstripe on cross border missions, just wasnt done!

Delta and SOG, although both SF are like apples and oranges,

 

paul

see below this should help.....

 

 

The appearance of Recon men assigned to SOG varied form year to year and from camp to camp. What some recon men did in CCN was not copied in CCC or CCS.

 

The basic SOG RT uniform was the standard issue cotton poplin/cotton rip stop jungle fatigues. This is the basic guide to what uniform compositions worn at which years. Although some uniform variations do overlap. Uniforms were worn devoid of any patches and or rank. Some teams dyed these fatigues black in or around late 1967-1968. Some teams are seen wearing the black dyed fatigues as late as 1969-70, but this was the exception, not the rule. Along with dyeing their uniforms, some team members went as far as dyeing their gear and/or spray-painting their gear also.

Beginning in or around 1969, some teams began spray painting disruptive patterns on their fatigues, as well as their gear, rucksack, and headgear. Others, such as Tilt Meyers in CCN and RT Idaho, felt this made the uniform even hotter and dint allow the uniform to breath, so needless to say, he and his team didn’t do this.

 

By 1971 teams serving out of CCN wore name strips with either “NO-PEN” or “NO-ALLERGIES” along with blood types, such as “A-POS” or “A-Negative” these were ONLY worn in CCN. Another CCN innovation was the spray painting/stenciled Team name across the back of the Recon members shirt, such as RT VIPER. Again, this was only done by some teams of Command & Control North. Some team members in CCN also had name tapes that read luv YOU HO CHI MIHN, and luv YOU I’M DEAD. Wearing this would insure the NVA killed them instantly instead of being captured alive and tortured, any Recon mans worst fear.

 

*The following are a short list of the basic uniforms and the modifications as well as color schemes:

 

TYPE I: Standard Poplin US jungle fatigues; four pocket shirt unmodified: 1967-68

 

TYPE Ia: Standard Poplin US jungle fatigues; with the addition of 2 extra pockets on the sleeves: 1967-68

 

TYPE Ib: Standard Poplin US jungle fatigues; with the addition of 2 extra pockets on the sleeves and the addition of a large pouch on the rear : 1967-68

 

TYPE II: Standard poplin or poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues dyed black (modified): 1968

 

TYPE IIa: Standard poplin or poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues dyed black (modified) with the addition of 2 pockets on the sleeves, making garment a 6 pocket shirt: 1968

 

TYPE IIb: Standard poplin or poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues dyed black (modified) with the addition of 2 pockets on the sleeves, making garment a 6 pocket shirt, and additional large pocket on rear: 1968

 

TYPE IIc: Standard poplin or poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues dyed black (modified) with the removal of 2 lower pockets and the addition of 2 lower pockets to the sleeves, making garment a 4 pocket shirt, and additional large pocket on rear: 1968

 

TYPE III: Standard poplin or poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues spray painted with a black disruptive stripe pattern (modified): 1969-70

 

TYPE IIIa: Standard poplin or poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues spray painted with a black disruptive stripe pattern (modified) with 2 additional pockets added to the sleeves: 1969-70

 

TYPE IIIb: Standard poplin or poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues spray painted with a black disruptive stripe pattern (modified) with 2 additional pockets added to the sleeves and 2 pockets added to the rear OR a 7 pocket M-16 cotton bandoleer: 1969-70

 

TYPE IIIc: Standard poplin or poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues spray painted with a black disruptive stripe pattern (modified) with the removal of 2 lower pockets and the addition of 2 lower pockets to the sleeves, making garment a 4 pocket shirt, and 2 pockets added to the rear OR a 7 pocket M-16 cotton bandoleer: 1969-70

 

TYPE IV: Standard poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues (Unmodified): 1970

 

TYPE IVA: Standard poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues (modified) with the addition of 2 extra pockets on the sleeves: 1970

 

TYPE V: Standard poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues in ERDL (Unmodified): 1971

 

TYPE Va: Standard poplin/ripstop US jungle fatigues in ERDL (modified) with the addition of 2 pockets on the sleeves: 1971

*The use of the ERDL uniform as a “Cross the Fence” uniform was in the last 5 minutes of the war! Hence, probably shouldn’t be done unless you are portraying the last months of US involvement in SOG.

 

*Additional modifications such as zippered pockets and Velcro closures and neck loops were all done by the owners and can be found in any of the 5 variations depending on year and location of the team and owner preferance.

[gwb123]

There is always discussion as to what teams wore for uniforms and what gear was carried at different time periods of the war in Vietnam...search for " Project Delta B-52 " and you will find lots of pictures and great articles on their role in MACV-SOG..In photos of 1969 there is a picture of a team prepping before a mission and there is a wide selection of camo and gear for this 1 team..did not know Recon units wore ERDL Cammie's in the field ? For living history reenactors ther is a wealth of info and photo so you can ( get it right )so to speak..Enjoy

 

 

Please feel free to post links to what you have found on the web and that way everyone can see what you are referring to.

 

Keep in mind that with all the ways there are to enter something into an internet search, and depending what pops up, it could take someone dozens of tries to find exactly what you were looking at.

 

As you can see with Paul's response, there is a lot of expertise and interest on this topic. And when discussing Vietnam era material, there is always the exception to the exception. It's hard to rule anything out completely as uniforms and insignia were so often left to local taste.

 

Paul is also being modest here... he has written a book on the subject and you may find it of interest...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Uniforms-Equipment-I...mp;sr=1-2-spell

[pwmiraldi67]

your too kind bro!!!!!

 

working hard on a 7 volume set dealing with SF which will cover SOG, of course Ive gotta wait till Jason hardys book come out so I can get all his info since he's the guru when it comes to SOG history!!! cant do it without him!!!!

 

p

[BEAST]

Paul,

Very nice timeline of uniforms worn! Should CISO manufactured uniforms also be included in there?

[kammo-man]

CISO is an important part of the SF vietnam story so why not ......

 

 

owen

[pwmiraldi67]

Paul,

Very nice timeline of uniforms worn! Should CISO manufactured uniforms also be included in there?

 

yes I think your right, I was just listing the US uniforms, but I'll make an adaption to the list, thanks bro, of course now Ive got to add all 3 of the CISO variants lol

 

paul

[savoy3]

Please feel free to post links to what you have found on the web and that way everyone can see what you are referring to.

 

Keep in mind that with all the ways there are to enter something into an internet search, and depending what pops up, it could take someone dozens of tries to find exactly what you were looking at.

 

As you can see with Paul's response, there is a lot of expertise and interest on this topic. And when discussing Vietnam era material, there is always the exception to the exception. It's hard to rule anything out completely as uniforms and insignia were so often left to local taste.

 

Paul is also being modest here... he has written a book on the subject and you may find it of interest...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Uniforms-Equipment-I...mp;sr=1-2-spell

Thanks...