Ike jackets..

[cball]

1954 Boots hit it lucky.We were some of the last Marines to be issued the short Ike jacket,and they sure looked sharp..In fact guys that came in later would try to buy them from you,some offered a months pay.I kept mine ..Any of you old salts have yours? Sgt C Ball

[devilhund1]

I wish I still had my Ike Jacket as you call it. I went in 52 and if I can recall,we refered toit as a battle jacket. I had two of them and whenever the uniformof theday was dress greens,I wore thebattle jacket until about 1960.

[cball]

Yea, I remember they had brass buttons and hardware and we would polish the black off to make em look old .

[devilhund1]

do they still issue the GreenRaincoat andGreen overcoat? I always thought it looked weird whenwearing dress blues.

[10thzodiac]

Back in '61 I came by a battle jacket from one of guys. It was a little small and wore it only once on leave. I got into a pretty good ass whipping contest while wearing it, I finally got even with an older guy who use to bully me in school.

He asked me if I thought I was tough now that I was a Marine. He didn't even get a punch in, I decked him and was on him like stink on sh!t !

The whole bowling alley and bar emptied out to see the fight, free drinks for the 18 year old Marine in the battle jacket ! I remember the bartender giving me the you're not old enough look, but served me anyways while my under-aged buddies watched

His mistake, I had grown up

[fmoyer]

Still have by Battle Jacket as well as two pair of greens w a wool over coat have no idea why I keep them around could not even begin to fit into them.

[cball]

Sorry for refering to`them as Ike jackets ,they were Battle jackets.

[Art Petersn]

I still have mine. went in 10/31/55-10/30/55. We called it the Ike and also Battle Jacket. Sure wish I could get into it.

[cball]

I dont remember any wool overcoat ,we had a green nylon material raincoat with a liner that you could remove..

[ggyoung]

I was issued a battle jackit in 1964. My DI's wanted it bad. I was the only one in my series to get one.

[Quinbo]

I think it was 1988 when the Eisenhower jacket was brought back into service. 1985 when the horse blanket coat was replaced by the spie coat and wooly pully.

[Phantom Winger]

do they still issue the GreenRaincoat andGreen overcoat? I always thought it looked weird whenwearing dress blues.

Back in '82 they issued the green wool overcoat or the green rubber raincoat if you were Reserves. They were replaced by the double breasted trenchcoats in 83/84 if I remember correctly.

[HMCFMFWife]

I have two sea bags out in the garage.One for the Navy and one for the Corps. When my two sons were doing some sorting out they came across the two sea bags. It was to soon after loosing their Dad last Oct.23,2006 to open the bags. I know there are Ike Jackets there from 51-52. Paul did 8 years with the Marines as their Doc.
HMCFMFWife
Marge

[Sgt Leprechaun]

"Ike Jackets": The army basically thought these up in 1943, they were originally a cut down version of the service jacket. The original idea behind them was to conserve material for the war effort. Officers stole the idea from the british 'battle dress' jacket, and started having their own coats cut down in Brit tailor shops. Eventually, the War Dept saw how popular the things were (Ike wore one, thus the name) and began issuing them in large numbers to the troops.

The Marines took a liking to them, and started having Aussie tailors do the same things to their Service Dress Alpha blouses. General Vandegrift gave the authorization for wear, and it was later approved by HQMC, (after WWII) when they began being issued. The official name for the USMC version is the "Vangegrift" coat, but Marines called them either "Battle Dress" or Vandegrifts. They were issued well past the Korean war, and authorized for wear until approx 1963 if I recall the regs correctly. That's when it became mandatory for the "winter" and "summer" greens, as well as the khakis.

The "Horse blanket" was issued from the 1960's until 1983, if I remember right. It was also issued with the green raincoat. Both were replaced with the "All weather" coat in 1985, with a mandatory wear out date of Oct 1986 if I remember right. Those who weren't issued the AW coat had to go and buy one.

The 'tanker' jacket was also introduced for "optional" wear about the same time period. It's still an "optional" item of purchase if memory serves.

Wooly Pulleys were authorized as an 'optional' uniform item for purchase around 1979, I believe.

Yes, I'm a military uniform/collector geek. It's what I do

[Quinbo]

The tanker jacket was what I was thinking of as the reintroduced Ike jacket. The wooley pulleys became a mandatory uniform item in 86. Often debated but there was also a green wool scarf issued with the all weather coat.