OK, folks, we have all seen the green "combat leader" stripe worn by some NCOs in the ETO, if not live, certainly in photos. Here is an Ike I recently picked up which only has this on one sleeve. I thought they were to be found on both. Am I mistaken, or was it only worn on one side?

I have always seen it on both sides. Could one have been removed from the other side?

On the shoulder loops, is that only for Officers?

Or were they used both ways (ie on loops and on sleeves)?

 

I so far have seen them on both sides.

 

Erwin

On the shoulder loops, is that only for Officers?

Or were they used both ways (ie on loops and on sleeves)?

 

I so far have seen them on both sides.

 

Erwin

 

 

Erwin,

 

The combat leader epaulet loops were worn by both NCOs and Officers. My understanding is that the sleeve stripes were earlier wartime and the epaulet loops were worn later. I don't know if there was an overlap time period when they were both worn. I have not seen enough of the sleeve stripes to know if they were worn in pairs or singularly.

 

Here is a postwar (German Occupation) epaulet loop that has an embroidered Artillery DI.

 

I have always seen it on both sides. Could one have been removed from the other side?

 

I did look carefully to see if the stripe had been removed from the right sleeve -- no sign whatsoever.

 

During WW2, officers in the ETO did wear these on the shoulder loops. NCO's seem to have been limited to the sleeve. After the war, all wore them on the loops.

 

Now, we know these do not appear on Pacific theater uniforms. Are they limited to certain divisions, armies, etc in the ETO? It seems logical that we would see more than we do, yet they are fairly uncommon.

 

Any thoughts?

Thanks for the info, Sarge.

 

As far as I know I have seen them on uniforms of the 4th Armored, 26th Infantry, 28th Infantry and - if I'm not misttaken - 29th Infantry Division.

I am sure there were many more using these combat leader stripes.

It puts the wearer on a sort of "special" status.

 

Erwin

The only uniform I have with the green stripe under the chevron is for a S/SGT in 7th ARMY. THe stripe is on both sleeves. This is a wool shirt. A friend had his complete uniform and when he sold it I did not want the Ike as I don't really collect dress stuff but I did want a reprensentative piece with the green stripe. Both the shirt and the Ike had the stripe. Looking back now it was a mistake breaking up the set but collecting was different then.

 

Attached are a few pics of the combat leader in use for officers. The first 2 pics are from Shelby Stanton's WW2 uniform book. I do not recall where I found the others.

 

I have 1 tunic with a leadership stripe under each combat patch. However they are sewn on really loosely and if 1 were to fall off, it would be hard to tell that it was ever there. When I get a chance, I'll post a pic of them.

BTW, in a somewhat related bit here, the army recently decided that ALL NCO's and officers will now wear the Leadership tabs, as all MOS's are considered 'combat leaders' in the current war.

BTW, in a somewhat related bit here, the army recently decided that ALL NCO's and officers will now wear the Leadership tabs, as all MOS's are considered 'combat leaders' in the current war.

 

Interesting -- I wonder how that'll play out on the "nbew" blue uniform to go into effect in '11.

Thank God I will be out of the Army before that uniform goes into the system. I know that prior to the new dcision that only Combat MOS NCO's and officers in leadership positions wore the leader tabs. I couldn't say for WWII but it seems that alot of stuff that goes on uniforms back then were not put on them, or were modified some. I keep seeing uniforms with US enlisted brass on both collars and no branch, or branch insignias where the DUI's go on both sides under the US ones and wonder about the originality of that, but alot of people seem to think that that is ok, so to my knowledge, I have not a clue to the leadership tabs as well.

Thank God I will be out of the Army before that uniform goes into the system. I know that prior to the new dcision that only Combat MOS NCO's and officers in leadership positions wore the leader tabs. I couldn't say for WWII but it seems that alot of stuff that goes on uniforms back then were not put on them, or were modified some. I keep seeing uniforms with US enlisted brass on both collars and no branch, or branch insignias where the DUI's go on both sides under the US ones and wonder about the originality of that, but alot of people seem to think that that is ok, so to my knowledge, I have not a clue to the leadership tabs as well.

 

The more I see of the 101st Abn Div BG above, the more I think he is wearing a star embroidered on darker material, say for the M43 firld jacket, rather than on a green leader stripe.

 

Another thought:

IF these were authorized in the ETO, would they still have been worn when GI's came home? Certainly many if not most were issued new uniforms for discharge.

Given that, the only green stripes that would have survived would have been rare or in the bottom of the duffle bag or been shipped home separately.

Okay, I posted on this before the series of crashes seems to have deleted my response. I have two 101st officers with the green leadership tabs on the shoulder boards as is correct; one is from 1/501 and the other is from 1/506. I also have seen in the hands of a veteran a FSSF 3-6 and later RHQ 502 vet with the stripes underneath his rank chevrons as they he was enlisted. I think Jake Powers attempted to email me about this and this was during the series of computer crashes and could never respond.

 

Kurt Barickman

This is an ID'd but unreasearched Ike with leadership insignia from my collection.

 

I think they wore them also on the homecoming uniforms.
This is a ike that belonged to Ray Milversted and it looks like his homecoming
uniform. Notice the ruptured duck.

Stephan

 

EDIT: Picture no longer available

The stripes under the rank insignia.



Stephan

Nice jacket Gil I like the way it's stitched.

 

I alway's tought a leadership stripe was postwar, like post 1946? From what year where these stripes seen on jackets? If it was already said on this topic, forgive me.

In ref to the earlier posting above about the dress blues for the army, I'll be curious to see how that plays out as well. But, yeah, it's also weird to me to see medical and other NCO's/Officers who aren't in the 'tradtional' combat branches wearing those green tabs....it just doesn't look "right" to me.

 

As I understand it, they haven't figured out if they will even be able to wear the color SSI on the shoulders or not. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Nice jacket Gil I like the way it's stitched.

 

I alway's tought a leadership stripe was postwar, like post 1946? From what year where these stripes seen on jackets? If it was already said on this topic, forgive me.

 

I would agree that the leader loops on the epaulets are post war -- for EM's. Officers wore them there earlier as the photos above show. The isue here are the green stripe/bar worn on the sleeve below the chevrons.

btt

For the record, here is a close-up of a silk leadership stripe on a Ruptured duck Ike jacket....

 

-Ski

Hard to see photo- But there are combat leader stripes under each Sgt cheveron. Guy was a tank commander with 11th Armored Division.

 

Picture of a Cavalry Captain from the 89th Reconnaisance Troop wearing Combat Leader loops on his eppaulets in a 1945 dated photo.

 

Left sleeve only....