Jump to content

Patches in action: Photos of SSI being worn by the troops.


Teamski
 Share

Recommended Posts

Members of the 458th Transportation Company (PBR) in Vietnam. The unit was assigned to the 18th Military Police Brigade and wore that SSI along with a locally made pocket patch seen in the photos.

18th MP Brigade.PBR Pocket Patch.1.jpg

18th MP Brigade.PBR Pocket Patch.2.jpg

18th MP Brigade.PBR Pocket Patch.3.jpg

18th MP Brigade.PBR Pocket Patch.4.jpg

18th MP Brigade.PBR Pocket Patch.5.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

163rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Note the wear of the OG-507 fatigues at this late date and the two different patterns of helmet covers. Photo caption reads: "Annual Training 1983 while serving as Chaplain to the 163rd Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Montana Army National Guard. Taking a break behind one of the tanks with Major General Jim Duffy, the Adjutant General (Commander) of the Montana National Guard."

 

 

 

163rd ACR.3.Chaplain.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Salvage Sailor
3 hours ago, seanmc1114 said:

Member of the Air Corps wearing the General Headquarters Reserve SSI pre-World War II

GHQ Reserve.Air Corp.Pre-WWII.JPG

General Headquarters Reserve.3.jpg

 

Looks like the Hawaiian Department to me, 5th Composite Group, Hawaiian Air Force, 1930's

 

175309480_5thCompositeGroup001.jpg.414124124dff64835473d27c94cc7be7.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Salvage Sailor said:

 

Looks like the Hawaiian Department to me, 5th Composite Group, Hawaiian Air Force, 1930's

 

175309480_5thCompositeGroup001.jpg.414124124dff64835473d27c94cc7be7.jpg

 

At first I thought that too, but I didn't see the vertical gap at the top and bottom of the yellow symbol. But I'm sure you're right since the DUI matches up. Thanks for the correction. 

Hawaiian Department.5th Composite Group.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2nd Service Command SSI worn in North Africa in 1943. The caption suggests this was January 1943 while President Roosevelt was attending the Casablanca Conference. Several months ago I posted the second picture of Brigadier General William Hale Wilbur wearing a Second Army SSI while receiving the Medal Of Honor from the President and Generals Marshall and Patton at the same conference. This leads me to believe that some officers brought their dress uniforms with them from their previous stateside assignments and just hadn't gotten around to replacing their old SSI with that of their new assignments.

2nd Service Command.North Africa.1943.jpg

Second Army.Casablanca Conference.1943.2.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Several photos of the first style VII Corps SSI worn by members of the 107th Mechanized Cavalry Reconnaisance Squadron at the beginning of World War II.

VII Corps.First Style.2.jpg

VII Corps.First Style.3.107th Mech Cav Recon Squadron.jpg

VII Corps.First Style.4.107th Mech Cav Recon Squadron.jpg

VII Corps.First Style.5.107th Mech Cav Recon Squadron.jpg

VII Corps.First Style.6.107th Mech Cav Recon Squadron.jpg

VII Corps.First Style.8.107th Mech Cav Recon Squadron.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Members of the 107th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Ohio National Guard wearing unnumbered Armored triangles in 1950 and 1952 and the Second Army SSI in 1955. In the 1951 photo, it appears that at least two of the soldiers are wearing some kind of tab underneath the triangles. I have blown the picture up, but it is too blurry to read what they say.

107th Armored Cav.1950.jpg

107th Armored Cav.1951.1.jpg

107th Armored Cav.1951.2.jpg

107th Armored Cav.1955.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, seanmc1114 said:

What exactly was the distinction between who wore combat stripes and noncombat stripes since the branches were classified into three categories - combat, combat support and combat service support? Signal Corps, along with Military Intelligence, Corps of Engineers and Chemical Corps, was a combat support branch. So which classification of rank insignia did it fall under? 

As its understood, when these came out in the year 1948 only men of the five Combat Branches wore the Blue on Yellow stripes, Infantry, Field Artillery, Cavalry (IE Armored Cavalry Regiments and some of those Constabulary people in Germany), Armored (IE Tanks) and the Coast Artillery (IE Anti Aircraft Artillery), all the rest, the Yellow on Blue, but as you seen Sean, like in Stanton's Uniforms of the Korean War, you'll see like a MP wearing the Combat one, or other sources were Combat Support or even in some cases Support people assigned to say a Infantry Regiment's HQ, or Battalion, or even Company Hq wear the Combat one, lets say like a Medic, guess they felt it was fine to do as they are serving permanently in a combat unit..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, seanmc1114 said:

3rd Armored Division early in World War II. Note the double branch insignia with an "HQ" disc.

3rd Armored Division.Early WWII.jpg

Wow never seen one of those  big HQ on it, just under the unit number, post this one in the Collar Disc Sean

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/4/2018 at 5:13 PM, seanmc1114 said:

Member of the 19th Special Forces Group, probably early 1970s. Since he is wearing leadership tabs and jump wings, would it be safe to assume he is Special Forces qualified? Yet he is wearing an overseas cap with the Airborne patch rather than a green beret, either with a flash or just a candy stripe.

 

post-1761-0-42777100-1522876305_thumb.jpg

Weird!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/27/2013 at 10:23 AM, seanmc1114 said:

Airborne tab over 3rd Army SSI - not sure what unit this would be

post-1761-0-47207900-1364394228.jpg

SF assigned the Psyop Warfare Center at Ft Bragg 53-62.  Later became JFKSWCS

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

President John F. Kennedy authorized Special Forces soldiers to wear a rifle green beret in 1961, but SF soldiers had been wearing them off the books for the better part of the previous decade.  If the photo is from the 1970s, then it was a decade after JFK's approval to wear the green beret.  Could be that he was a non-SF qualified NCO assigned to the JFKSWC.  Until one finishes the Q-course, they cannot wear the green beret.  When I was at Ft Bragg in the 1970s and again in the 1980s, it was not uncommon to see folks wearing a maroon beret (airborne qualified) with a SF patch on their shoulder (because they were assigned to the SF community, but not SF qualified).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the mid-1970s, the 82nd wore a maroon beret -- but it was only locally authorized at that time.  When a group of four of us were sent TDY to the FA School at Ft Sill, we were given a direct order by a colonel at the school to remove our berets and wear regular Army-authorized headgear.  (I noticed that the colonel was not wearing jump wings.)  We initially (politely) told him to pound sand - we were TDY and not assigned to Ft Sill.  When the Ft Sill IG called the 82nd Abn DIVARTY commander (who was then-Colonel "Mad Max" Thurman) to complain, COL Thurman told the IG to pound sand -- his paratroopers definitely WERE going to wear the beret.  In 1979, when General Bernard Rogers (CSA) rescinded the authority for the 82nd Abn Div to wear maroon berets, there were funeral ceremonies on the parade ground to bury those berets before donning the dreaded baseball caps.  That only lasted until November 1980, when the maroon berets were authorized once again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Ranger-1972 said:

President John F. Kennedy authorized Special Forces soldiers to wear a rifle green beret in 1961, but SF soldiers had been wearing them off the books for the better part of the previous decade.  If the photo is from the 1970s, then it was a decade after JFK's approval to wear the green beret.  Could be that he was a non-SF qualified NCO assigned to the JFKSWC.  Until one finishes the Q-course, they cannot wear the green beret.  When I was at Ft Bragg in the 1970s and again in the 1980s, it was not uncommon to see folks wearing a maroon beret (airborne qualified) with a SF patch on their shoulder (because they were assigned to the SF community, but not SF qualified).

Here you go, a topic just on that, the Maroon Beret within Special Forces.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Came across this shirt last night where the Texas National Guard 71st Airborne Brigade (Sep) patch with Tab is worn, since it is in full color along with Rank and BOS dates it befor the Summer of 1970, (Brigade formed  15 January 1968) Curious thing as you see, is there is no Jump Badge, the Tapes are the 67-68 Stamped type Subdued, and in the one close up where the U.S. ARMY Tape is seen, we do not see any ghosting of the cloth Jump Badge, unlikely it was a metal badge. So if a legit 71st Abn Bde shirt, they had some non jumpers in it???? Maybe is the 68-69-70 period when the brigade was actived???

army-vietnam-era-sateen-combat-shirt_1_43e42889092c40c92aabd6c97cdc67a7 (1).jpg

army-vietnam-era-sateen-combat-shirt_1_43e42889092c40c92aabd6c97cdc67a7.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Ranger-1972 said:

President John F. Kennedy authorized Special Forces soldiers to wear a rifle green beret in 1961, but SF soldiers had been wearing them off the books for the better part of the previous decade.  If the photo is from the 1970s, then it was a decade after JFK's approval to wear the green beret.  Could be that he was a non-SF qualified NCO assigned to the JFKSWC.  Until one finishes the Q-course, they cannot wear the green beret.  When I was at Ft Bragg in the 1970s and again in the 1980s, it was not uncommon to see folks wearing a maroon beret (airborne qualified) with a SF patch on their shoulder (because they were assigned to the SF community, but not SF qualified).

The maroon beret was authorized for wear in January 1973. I had just graduated BAC and was so excited to wear my new beret. However when I arrived at my duty station in Alaska, the commander did not authorize the beret so we wore the garrison cap with glider patch. Before 73 any personnel assigned to SF but not Q qualified, they wore the glider patch. After 73, they wore the maroon beret.

Also for the SF, if soldiers had not been assigned to a SF Group they wore a short piece of patch under their crest on their berets which meant they were qualified but unassigned. These troops were referred to as "Candy Stripers".

candy stripper.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, BEAR said:

The maroon beret was authorized for wear in January 1973. I had just graduated BAC and was so excited to wear my new beret. However when I arrived at my duty station in Alaska, the commander did not authorize the beret so we wore the garrison cap with glider patch. Before 73 any personnel assigned to SF but not Q qualified, they wore the glider patch. After 73, they wore the maroon beret.

Also for the SF, if soldiers had not been assigned to a SF Group they wore a short piece of patch under their crest on their berets which meant they were qualified but unassigned. These troops were referred to as "Candy Stripers".

candy stripper.jpg

Your source for the SF info is dead wrong.   The soldier pictured above was assigned to 6th Group at Ft Bragg, was not SF qualified.  The pic appears to be prior to fall of 1966.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, patches said:

 

 

Came across this shirt last night where the Texas National Guard 71st Airborne Brigade (Sep) patch with Tab is worn, since it is in full color along with Rank and BOS dates it befor the Summer of 1970, (Brigade formed  15 January 1968) Curious thing as you see, is there is no Jump Badge, the Tapes are the 67-68 Stamped type Subdued, and in the one close up where the U.S. ARMY Tape is seen, we do not see any ghosting of the cloth Jump Badge, unlikely it was a metal badge. So if a legit 71st Abn Bde shirt, they had some non jumpers in it???? Maybe is the 68-69-70 period when the brigade was actived???

army-vietnam-era-sateen-combat-shirt_1_43e42889092c40c92aabd6c97cdc67a7 (1).jpg

army-vietnam-era-sateen-combat-shirt_1_43e42889092c40c92aabd6c97cdc67a7.jpg

The soldier was not airborne qualified.  It was common especially in the Guard and Reserve to have NAPs in an airborne unit.  The airborne tab is part of the patch not a signifier of qualification.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...