wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL (Will Martin) (04/25/91)
From: Will Martin <wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL>
I noticed these acronyms/abbreviations in an ad for US military surplus
uniform items, and cannot figure out what they mean. On some, I have
a guess or partial explanation, which may well be wrong. The ad
identifies the items as to vintage, so I've given that. Can anyone
explain these to me?
(Please e-mail and I'll consolidate a posted summary.) [ <<< YES! -CDR]
Vietnam-era:
ERDL trousers
FPBA vest ("Flak Protective B? A?" maybe?)
WW-II era:
JQMD Khaki 2-magazine pouches for M1 Carbine ("J? Quartermaster Depot M?"
maybe; could it be "Japan-Quartermaster-Depot-Manufactured" made
in occupied Japan or something like that? or is "J" "Joint"?)
There's also a "JQMD 1949 Canteen Cup", which is why I thought of
occupied Japan.
Helmet liners with khaki HBT suspension and "HBT 3-pocket dungaree
jacket" ("HBT" in these two contexts might refer to the fabric,
but I have no real idea.)
Korean-War era:
JOMD 1950-dated belt pouch for 4 30-rd M1 Carbine magazines (Maybe
"JOMD" is a typo for the "JQMD" mentioned above?)
Thanks for any explanations!
Regards, Will
wmartin@stl-06sima.army.milscw@ollie.SEAS.UCLA.EDU (Stephen C. Woods) (05/03/91)
From: "Stephen C. Woods" <scw@ollie.SEAS.UCLA.EDU> (Couldn't mail direct to Will Martin -scw) >Vietnam-era: >FPBA vest ("Flak Protective B? A?" maybe?) Fragment Protecting Body Armor I remember the little warning message to the effect that: ...this body armor will NOT stop all Small-arms fire... One of the great understatments of the 20th century. WW-II era: >Helmet liners with khaki HBT suspension and "HBT 3-pocket dungaree > jacket" ("HBT" in these two contexts might refer to the fabric, > but I have no real idea.) Right, HBT is Herring Bone Tweed, so called because when examining the fabric there appear to be diagonal stripes arranged in rows (the rows run up/down the farbic, like so (you have to turn your screen on its side). \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ////////////////////////////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ////////////////////////////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ////////////////////////////////////// Having herring bone utilities was considered 'very salty' in the early-mid 1960's Marine corps (HBT stopped being issued in the mid-late 50s) much like still having a plain (non cammo) utility cap is now, if they were very faded they were even saltier. Wearing 'out of date' uniforms indicates that you've been around for a while (over a lot of ocean, hence 'salty'), and are therefore someone of importance (in a peer to peer way) this is much more important in a peace-time environment than in war time. "I've worn out more seabags than you have socks". "I've got more <F>ing time <something improbable and often obscene> than you have in the whole <F>ing Corps". -- Stephen C. Woods; UCLA SEASNET; 2567 BH;LA CA 90024; (213)-825-8614 UUCP: ...{ibmsupt,hao!cepu}!ollie}!scw Internet:scw@SEAS.UCLA.EDU