M-1965 Field Jacket on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The M-1965 Field Jacket (also known as M65, M-65 Field Jacket, and Coat, Cold Weather, Man's Field), eponymously named after the year it was introduced, is a popular field jacket initially designed for the
/ref> It was introduced into U.S. military service in 1965 to replace the previous
The M-1965 Field Jacket (also known as M65, M-65 Field Jacket, and Coat, Cold Weather, Man's Field), eponymously named after the year it was introduced, is a popular field jacket initially designed for the United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...
under the ''MIL-C-43455J'' standard, produced by Alpha Industries, the Southern Athletic Co.; the John Ownbey Co., and the Golden Mfg. Co., among others.M-1965 FIELD JACKET/ref> It was introduced into U.S. military service in 1965 to replace the previous
M-1951 field jacket
The M-1951 field jacket was a U.S. Army four pocket jacket made of 9-ounce wind resistant, water repellent treated cotton sateen cloth in Olive Green Shade 107 (OG 107). It was redesignated as the M-1951 field coat in November 1956.
Description
T ...
, itself an improvement on the M-1943 field jacket introduced during World War II, although the M-51 continued to be issued for quite some time.
The front portion of the jacket has two large hip pockets and two medium-sized breast pockets. The collar of the jacket features a zipper which houses a protective hood. The M-1965 field jacket can be combined with a button-in insulated lining for cold-weather wear, as well as a button-on fur trimmed winter hood. The jacket is fastened with a large aluminum or brass (later nylon) zipper, with a storm flap fastened with snaps covering it.
The jacket is constructed of a durable cotton or cotton-nylon or cotton-polyester blend sateen fabric, which was windproof due to its tight weave and water resistant due to that and chemical treatment, originally in OG-107
The OG-107 was the basic work utility uniform (fatigues) of all branches of the United States Armed Forces from 1952 until its discontinuation in 1989. The designation came from the U.S. Army's coloring code "Olive Green 107" and "Olive Green 50 ...
, first without epaulets and utilizing an aluminum zipper like the M-51 before it, then with epaulets and still with the aluminum zipper, then with the brass zipper. Like many other uniform items at the time and in the past, Marine Corps examples were stamped with "USMC". Later, the jacket was issued in the brown-dominant "Woodland" ERDL camouflage pattern in 1981, (shortly after which the brass hood zipper was replaced with a nylon one, with the main zip soon following) coinciding with the introduction of the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU), shortly after then in the Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU) and the Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU) patterns as well, before finally being used in the Army Combat Uniform (ACU), employing the rather short-lived Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) before finally having been retired, by which time the normal name and branch tape and division patch locations were outfitted with Velcro
Velcro, officially known as Velcro IP Holdings LLC and trading as Velcro Companies, is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of hook-and-loop fast ...
. The jacket has also been produced for civilian use since at least the early 1970s, and is and has been available in many different colors and patterns, many of which were never used by the United States Army or any other armed service.
The M-65 field jacket was widely used by United States forces during the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
in which the jacket became useful for troops serving in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam due to its wind and rain resistance, especially in the monsoon season and after. It was and is a standard issue to US troops in several other wars all around the globe as well, due to its long service life.
See also
*Uniforms of the United States Army
The uniforms of the United States Army distinguish soldiers from other service members. U.S. Army uniform designs have historically been influenced by British and French military traditions, as well as contemporary U.S. civilian fashion trends. Th ...
* U.S. Army M-1943 Uniform
*M-1951 field jacket
The M-1951 field jacket was a U.S. Army four pocket jacket made of 9-ounce wind resistant, water repellent treated cotton sateen cloth in Olive Green Shade 107 (OG 107). It was redesignated as the M-1951 field coat in November 1956.
Description
T ...
*Extended Cold Weather Clothing System
The Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS ) is a protective clothing system developed in the 1980s by the United States Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, Natick, Massachusetts. The first generation ECWCS cons ...
*OG-107
The OG-107 was the basic work utility uniform (fatigues) of all branches of the United States Armed Forces from 1952 until its discontinuation in 1989. The designation came from the U.S. Army's coloring code "Olive Green 107" and "Olive Green 50 ...
*Battle Dress Uniform
The Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) is a camouflaged combat uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces as their standard combat uniform from the early 1980s to the mid-2000s. Since then, it has been replaced or supplanted in every br ...
References
United States Army uniforms Jackets 1980s fashion United States military uniforms Military equipment introduced in the 1960s {{US-Army-stub