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Woody,

I really wish we would go back to a uniform similar to those...maybe different material...but those look more like a military uniform versus a business suit.

Not long after leaving jump school at Benning

1966 Lackland AFB Basic Training, 1966 Keesler AFB Computer School.....obligatory flight jacket and scarf photo. Was on exactly three military flights in four years. Two of them to and from Germany.

I certainly agree just haven't been able to warm up to the newer version since I see plenty around here living close to the AFB. Hardly wore the dress blues more than a few times even though I had two deployments in four years but 1505's was the travel uniform of choice since we all flew standby in those days..Not much need for dress when you spend 24 months in jungle fatigues and a hot flight suit.

The USAF has a long history of dinking around with uniforms. As I mentioned earlier, I joined in June 1956. We were perhaps the first BT flight to be issued a mix of what was army cotton khaki with blue belt, hat, and silver colored insignia, and the new 505 light cotton summer uniforms. The 505s were an abomination, light basket weave cotton that looked like they had been slept in by 1000 hours. Worst was the pleated jungle jacket that comprised a Class A uniform. In certain combinations, the uniform of an E-1 Airman Basic had no military insignia whatsoever, just basic bus driver. You younger folks just visualize an airman in shorts with knee sox and a pleated jungle jacket. Mercifully, this combo was lost to history.

Better were the blues. The dress blouse was military and classy, and the blue Ike jacket, brought over from the army but blue, was a good looking and very functional piece of gear. Predictably, it was abandoned at some point. Also not regular issue, but authorized, was a dark blue wool shirt.

There was rumor that the 505s were designed by a group of generals' wives. It was also felt that the USAF of the 1950s wanted to adopt a more corporate look, sort of a military version of IBM. IMO, none of this contributed to morale and a general military bearing. It sucked.

Paul

A good friend of mine 11 yrs my senior went through AF boot in about '54 and said his first issued shoes were brown. Guess they spent hours removing the finish and were given black dye to comply with issue regs. The uniforms of that day did peg the suck meter.

Guess it could have been worse. Can you imagine running around the flight line wearing... bell bottoms?

Dave I went to Chanute for Jet over 2 maint.

Woody, you got it right.

1956 USAF Basic, Part II.

We were issued two pair of work shoes or boots. One pair was the smooth black leather brogans which we were required to spit shine. The other was a pair of army combat boots, rough raw brown leather with a two buckle flap on top, which we were also ordered to dye black and spit shine, after cutting off the flap with a razor blade!

Imagine if you can how many cans of Kiwi it took to put a shine on raw suede leather, but we did it. There was one flight that was also required to scrape and spit shine the soles. We heard that they wore out fairly quickly after basic training.

Actually the army boots were good, functional footwear. Very comfortable and wore a long time.

The odd uniforms didn't stop there. For fatigues we were issued mechanic's coveralls, but they were starched in an attempt to give them a semblance of military appearance. The instructors has theirs tailored.

The trainees' coveralls and brogans were topped with a jungle helmet. Probably functional protection from the Texas summer sun, but a goofier, unmilitary look for basic trainees is hard to imagine.

Paul

When I went through basic I was issued 1505s, summer blues, and winter blues, and cotton fatigues. The newer light blue shirt and AF blue trousers were coming in and the 1505s were being phased out. In the 80's the AF issued wash and wear fatigues that were probably the best overall for work wear. When TDY you just pulled them out of the dryer, gave them a shake and hang them up. The camo BDU's were not aircraft maint. friendly. The bellows pockets caught and ripped when working in tight areas like wheel wells. Changing the Master Sergeant stripes pissed me off. I said "if I want to look like Slim Pickens in a western movie I would have joined the Army"!!!

Wish they'd done that sooner. I remember ironing fatigues using spray starch and then go crawling around airplanes.

Paul39,

Those double buckle army boots you were issued were the M1943 model!!!They were meant to replace the regular Army Garrison boot and the rough out M1942 boot. And to replace those ridiculous M1938 Leggings that were a disaster to lace up!

To the topic of uniforms, just prior to my arrival at Ft Bragg in spring of '85, they had discovered a warehouse full of OG-107 jungle fatigues left over from Vietnam. There were enough "forgotten" uni's there to issue every member of the 82d and supporting units 2 pair, plus tons available off post.
They were great in summer compared to regular BDUs
Makes one wonder what other "forgotten" treasures our military has out there

Uniforms? From the time I arrived at Ft. Jackson in '81, to the time I was discharged in '84, we went through 4 types of uniforms; We started with the Pickle Suits, then on to Camouflage Jungle Fatigues, then to OD Green Jungle Fatigues, and finally to BDU's. I was starting to wonder if I was in The Army or a Government Fashion Show.

Had they transitioned out of wooden ships by then?

My two daughters and I have been sitting admiring the views, and I am here to say every last one of you who posted a pic is MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW !!!! So say WE

Fort Sill July 29 1998 to 10 October 1998 then onto Fort Jackson for school graduated December 17 1998. Their are picture somewhere my wife has them in a box. Been in 17yrs I will retire 30 July 2018 and we are on our 4th uniform, BDU's, DCU's, ACU's and now MultiCam's.

Ask and ye shall receive

1st platoon , B company, 2nd battalion, 3rd Brigade. Fort Leonard Wood 1970.
Most commonly known as Fort Lost in the Woods, MO.
Still don't miss the snakes and crunch bugs.

Fixt.