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L-2b's?
- Thread starter Chris217
- Start date
watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
I wish I could tell you for sure. It's been claimed that the MA-1 and L-2B appeared around that time, but I can't say how many were actually in circulation. The first dated examples I've seen are '58 8279B MA-1s, so I guess we can assume that the predecessor 8279 and 8279A predate them by at least one year. A similar timeline should apply to the L-2B.
Weasel_Loader
Active Member
I think its safe to assume that some bases did not get L-2B as early as some bases and had to make do with older L-2As until they got their supply of L-2Bs. There is photographic evidence of blue nylon in use well into the mid 60s though, especially N-2A and N-3As.
One of my favorites. Taken in the early 60s when Barry Goldwater visited the 43rd BW for a flight on a B-58.
One of my favorites. Taken in the early 60s when Barry Goldwater visited the 43rd BW for a flight on a B-58.
the transition from any given uniform item to another in the US inventory is surprisingly often very protracted and the initial adoption of an item runs alongside the older stuff for years a lot of the time. From memory for instance in his work on cold war US uniforms shelby stanton states thta although the Army Green uniform was introduced for wear in 1957, the absolute ban on the brown uniform was not enforced until about 1960 or even 61. I would have to check but it illustrates how long hte changeover can be.
I was issued early vietnam era items when I got my initial issue at SP supply in 1987.
I was issued early vietnam era items when I got my initial issue at SP supply in 1987.
watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
Tim P said:
Tim:
I agree totally and your Stanton reference is accurate. Believe it or not, I have an OD M1950 Ike jacket in my collection with Army Green chevrons that was obviously used during the wear-out period. For a great example involving flight jackets check out the 1958 film The Hunters. In the early part of the film airfield scenes include personnel wearing WW2 shearling, blue nylon, OD nylon, and what appears to be at least one B-15D which is incorrect for Korea but at least it shows that sage items were being circulated by the late '50s and worn alongside all the earlier stuff.
Swing
New Member
deeb7 said:
That's L2B date might be right (but it's probably a year or two too early), but that MA1 date is waaaay too early. The B-15D didn't make it into the supply until mid '53 at the earliest, then you had to go through the MOD stage in '54 to '56 before the MA1 was standardized in '57 (IIRC).
~Swing
watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
Swing said:
That's more the way I always understood it. If I'm not mistaken there was discussion on the old forum about the B-15s being modified in 1957, which is consistent with the new collar specification of the MA-1. The one thing that throws me a bit is the progression from the original 8279 to the A and B models. I've seen plenty of '58-dated Bs. Does this mean that the original spec was modified twice in one year? There also appear to be some contractors of the A model that disappeared rather quickly, such as the Rolen. In any case there was obviously much activity in the jacket department back then as the orange-lined MA-1 appeared in 1961.
