1951 USAF Major's Uniform

[fishmeok]

Getting back into flight jackets has started me collecting uniforms again. I seem to be having a good run with Korean war-era gear lately. This is an early uniform set from R.M. Sumner, a USAF major, dated 1951. It has the blue wool tunic (size 43XL),trousers,and garrison hat (with rank and wings), khaki officer's shirt and pleated trousers, named tie and named belt. The khakis are particularly interesting and something I haven't seen before, they are made out of a dacron-vicose blend and marked with the USAF approval tag. The uniform is 1949 pattern so it has the same cut as USAAF clothing. I also have an early enlisted uniform, and 2 unused Bancroft USAF officer's peaked "pac-caps" dated 1956 (with the tags still attached). My collection grows...

With an L-2A- The blues fit me, but I don't feel at all comfortable wearing the full suit with rank- even for pics. Not mine, I didn't earn it. I may have to invest in some mannequins...

 

[Gideon Ashe]

Those dacrons were way cool.

They Dacrons were called "Silvertans"
In the middle 50's I had a set made (modified hand tailored)by I.Goldberg Uniforms in San Antonio, Tx. I was a simple two striper<silver wire on navy velvet>(A2/c)and should have been wearing the khakis I was issued at the basic training center at Samson AFB NY. <I am wearing a pair of those as I type this. Talk about quality of construction>Usually the Creighton silvertans were for Officers, and the Bancroft billed caps were not for the lowly EMs.

I drew officers like flies to , er, well you know to what, who could not wait to chew on my butt. However, I was NOT a green recruit by that time, having done a hitch in the "life" by that time.
I would stand at an absolutely perfect attention and let it roll over me, with a teensy tiny little smile. When it stopped, I would politely inquire specifically what regulation or element of the UCMJ I had violated or breached. Oh. Just the attitude part. OK then.
By the by, it NEVER was an Officer from SAC or TAC. Just the Training or Admin command weenies.
The thing some people's kids do for funsies. I do swear.lol
I have an old MA-1 in what at one time was Sage Green Nomex. I love that jacket and plan on wearing it this winter as I have done since 1960 when I was issued it. It is just starting to look broken in and in a few years may be really comfortable.

 

[Gaige]

fftopic:

Ah, the good ol' UCMJ...

*shivers*

I loved skirting it when I could whilst in the USMC. I recall calling a Gunnery-Sgt once to inform him one of his Marines didn't have to stand duty... upon realizing who was calling him (though it -was- by direction of the Master-Sgt), he had a royal fit and stated:

Gunny: "Why the &%@ isn't someone with rank calling me?!?"

Me: "With all due respect, Gunnery-Sergeant, last time I checked... E-4 is a rank in the Marine Corps..."

Gunny: "#*&&*$%##%@@!!!!!"

lol

 

[Gideon Ashe]

A contest requiring a tape measure....

...with a Gunnery Sgt.??
Talk about owning an economy sized set of steel ones.
I jerked around with Johns many times. THAT was for funsies, but never with Non-Coms. particularly with SENIOR Non-Coms.

Tip of the bonnet to you, fella.

 

[Gaige]

Thank you, sir... thank you.

Let me clarify: I didn't live to break, nor bend, the rules... I just found that, at times, people would cower in fear when they didn't necessarily have to.

I loved...repeat: loved being part of the Corps. I was sad to leave, but it was a no-brainer (Hardship Discharge (Honorable) due to severe family illness)...

To continue that story, the Master-Sergeant was standing in his doorway listening to my end of the conversation and came close to keeling over laughing when he heard me make the comment.

I wasn't disrespectful, I followed proper protocol... yet let the E-7 know just what I thought about his little slight.

And, well... my Master-Sergeant backed me on it... thankfully.

Perhaps I dodged a bit of a bullet that time... lol

 

[Fletch]

Let me clarify: I didn't live to break, nor bend, the rules... I just found that, at times, people would cower in fear when they didn't necessarily have to.

Of course, it could be argued that you had a responsibility to cower in fear of senior enlisted to keep Mr. and Mrs. Average American from having to cower in fear before the enemies of freedom.

 

[Gaige]

Then again, it could also be argued that it's no one's place within the military to belittle you for whatever rank you do manage to hold.

I grew up in a family full of military men (and women!) and so was around the lifestyle from the moment I was born. My view (stated in my opening sentence above) was instilled in me from a young age by my great-uncle, an Air Force Major, and backed by my brother, a Naval Lt.Commander.

Senior rank obviously commands deference (as it should) and immediate obedience to orders given. However, no one... NCO, Staff-NCO, Commissioned Officer, etc, should belittle someone due to their rank.

They've earned it, whatever that rank may be.

I will admit that, being a Corporal (and therefore an NCO in the USMC), I perhaps had a bit more confidence speaking my mind in such a way as opposed to if I'd still been a PFC or even Lance-Corporal.

 

[Diamondback]

Of course, it could be argued that you had a responsibility to cower in fear of senior enlisted to keep Mr. and Mrs. Average American from having to cower in fear before the enemies of freedom.

There is such a thing as respecting rank, but on the other hand, there are guys who throw their rank around unnecessarily and believe those of lower rank to be beneath the level of something you scrape off your shoe--an attitude which I'd argue is grotesquely unprofessional.

 

[Gideon Ashe]

There is such a thing as respecting rank, but on the other hand, there are guys who throw their rank around unnecessarily and believe those of lower rank to be beneath the level of something you scrape off your shoe--an attitude which I'd argue is grotesquely unprofessional.

That is the Fun part of having rank, don'cha know. Busting balls is a grand old military tradition and part of the overall game.(it is a game) Stepping up to the edge of insubordination but not going over, is the other half.
Truthfully, I cannot say how it is done these days. I was in during the early 50's, and DI's and NCO's were those to whom one genuflected. A Gunny was just, JUST below a God.
Physical punishment was not unheard of, and certainly colorful and creative use of language with particular emphesis on the genological aspects of one's forebears was in constant and everyday use.

Still, it was a fine time and wonderous adventures were to be had at government expense. A school of quality that no university anywhere could rival. Friends and enemies for a shockingly low price and a lasting education and personal benefits that endure through the decades.

 

[Fletch]

I was in during the early 50's, and DI's and NCO's were those to whom one genuflected. A Gunny was just, JUST below a God.

That's worth remembering for anyone who knows or works with old Marines. These guys literally could do no wrong. No one would have accused them of being unprofessional no matter what they did - the fault always had to lie elsewhere.