Wearing a G-1 Flight Jacket Off Base?

Vince: I flew crew on transports in 1958-1959 for the Navy and we all
wore "half-Wellingtons". They were bought at the Navy Exchange, were
made by Frye, and were called "Jet Boots."

For some reason, I can still remember mine were made by Jarman. Odd
show memory works; I can never remember important things.

Never saw an officer or enlisted going off base in a flight suit, just
wasn't allowed.

At Cherry Point, early 1950s, we weren't even allowed to wear any
flight gear except from the ready room to the airplane and back.

You had to wear the uniform of the day to get out. This
was at Pax River, MD. Flight suits, flight jackets and boots went in
your flight locker at the hangar.

You remind me of the time I flew an R5C to Pax to pick up the ground
crews of an F4U squadron after the fighters departed for Cherry Point.

As I was taxiing out, a wall of fog moved across the field. I'd
never seen anything like it. Or since.

The tower said "The field is closed. The field is closed."

I couldn't even see well enough to taxi back to the ramp. They had
to send out a jeep to lead me in.

I had nothing on but a summer flyng suit, dirty and smelly. But
somehow the rest of the crew and I managed to get out the gate to a
bar right there. (Was it still there when you were at Pax?)

When I got back to Cherry Point, next day, the skipper of the fighter
squadron chewed my ass out, saying I just wanted to spend the night in
D.C.

vince norris

we had 21 straight days when the temperature never rose to zero at any
time.

Sounds like NAS Glenview - without the lobsters. g

--
Mike Kanze

436 Greenbrier Road
Half Moon Bay, California 94019-2259
USA

650-726-7890

"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."

- Henny Youngman


"Robert Moore" wrote in message
. 7...
"Doug \"Woody\" and Erin Beal" wrote
My last trip to Brunswick was January 1995 for a week. DANGED
cold!

Jeeze...I spent three years ('59-'62) there in VP-21 (P-2V).
Aviation Greens would have been comfortable even in June!
My last winter there ('61-'62), we had 21 straight days when
the temperature never rose to zero at any time. It would drop
to minus 25-30 at night. For enduring the Brunswick climate,
we were rewarded with deployments to Iceland and Newfoundland,
both warmer than NHZ.

Bob Moore
VP-21, FAETULANT, VP-46
PanAm (retired)

Larry- They were pretty expensive- BRBR

Loved mine but were not a 'liberty' uniform, working uniform only so some that
memorized the uniform regs would whine when ya wore them off base...

I wore my greens often w/o blouse, with leather flight jacket until I retired
in 1992....
P. C. Chisholm
CDR, USN(ret.)
Old Phart Phormer Phantom, Turkey, Viper, Scooter and Combat Buckeye Phlyer

vincent p. norris wrote:

Vince: I flew crew on transports in 1958-1959 for the Navy and we all
wore "half-Wellingtons". They were bought at the Navy Exchange, were
made by Frye, and were called "Jet Boots."


For some reason, I can still remember mine were made by Jarman. Odd
show memory works; I can never remember important things.


Never saw an officer or enlisted going off base in a flight suit, just
wasn't allowed.


At Cherry Point, early 1950s, we weren't even allowed to wear any
flight gear except from the ready room to the airplane and back.


You had to wear the uniform of the day to get out. This
was at Pax River, MD. Flight suits, flight jackets and boots went in
your flight locker at the hangar.


You remind me of the time I flew an R5C to Pax to pick up the ground
crews of an F4U squadron after the fighters departed for Cherry Point.

As I was taxiing out, a wall of fog moved across the field. I'd
never seen anything like it. Or since.

The tower said "The field is closed. The field is closed."

I couldn't even see well enough to taxi back to the ramp. They had
to send out a jeep to lead me in.

I had nothing on but a summer flyng suit, dirty and smelly. But
somehow the rest of the crew and I managed to get out the gate to a
bar right there. (Was it still there when you were at Pax?)

When I got back to Cherry Point, next day, the skipper of the fighter
squadron chewed my ass out, saying I just wanted to spend the night in
D.C.

vince norris

The main drag in Lexington Park, the town outside the base, was bars and
gambling arcades when I was there. Lots of slots, pinball machines, etc.
Lots of strippers, bands (mostly made up of off duty sailors), whores,
and an ocean of booze. Unfortunately I was a kiddie cruiser and didn't
reach legal drinking age until the day after I was separated from active
duty.

Early fall was fog time IIRC. Your skipper didn't know his geography
very well, DC is fifty miles away and the Greyhound bus only ran twice a
day when I was there, morning and afternoon.

Was good duty though, that's where I met my wife in 1958 and we've been
married since 1960. Two kids, five grandkids, and 1.5 greatgrandkids
later she's still a beauty and a good woman. Her Dad retired from Civil
Service on the base as did the youngest boy and a brother-in-law of hers
still works there at Flight Test, or that's what it was called last time
I was up there in 1991.

Alan Shepard was a member of MIL's church and I met him there. Met John
Glenn one day over at NATC, just long enough to salute him and say "Good
morning Sir." My total 15 minute touch with fame was meeting these two
gentlemen. Never miss a space shot on the TV since.

Yeah, we suited up at the hangar and walked to the plane. When we got
back we reversed the sequence and that was the law as established by our
skipper. Since he was a full Captain no one tended to disobey as we knew
he sat on the right hand of the Secretary of the Navy. Yup, old days,
long gone and not missed by anyone but us old farts.

George

Was good duty though, that's where I met my wife in 1958 and we've been
married since 1960. Two kids, five grandkids, and 1.5 greatgrandkids
later she's still a beauty and a good woman.

Congratulations! You've been blessed! I've got seven grandkids but no
"great" ones yet.

vince norris

Loved mine but were not a 'liberty' uniform, working uniform only...

Too bad! I thought they were a darn good-looking uniform.

(And not just because they sorta resembled marine greens!) ((:-))

vince norris

I second that.

Next to my father's Service Dress Whites (called Summer Whites back when I
was growing up in the 60's and 70's) it was my favorite uniform. I remember
him wearing it a lot. According to Dad when he arrived at his first duty
station, VW-11 in Argentia, as a brand new NAO it was not uncommon for
officer flight crew to wear the Greens instead of flight suits. Even when he
transitioned to the VP community and flew the P2V's, some folks still wore
their Greens instead of flight suits.

I asked him about whether it was considered a working uniform versus being
an optional dress uniform. He responded that it was a "working uniform",
especially where the surface/submarine community was concerned. He recalled
how the marine sentry standing gate guard between NAS Norfolk and the Naval
Station where his carrier was moored would remind officers and chiefs coming
aboard the naval station of the Admiral's strict orders that folks wearing
aviation green were to make a beeline to the ship with no stops in between.

It's ironic that some of the prior posts here speak of them being worn by
folks at NAS Brunswick, ME. That's where I last remember Dad wearing his
Greens from 70-72. After that he took command of a reserve center where he
was the only aviation type onboard. When he arrived at his next duty
station, a pacific coast naval air station in 1975, both the Greens and old
style khakis were history.

In fact Brunswick was the last place he wore the old Service Dress Khaki
(the one with long sleeves, tie, dress coat and brown shoes). I'm surprised
he didn't wear it while at the reserve center since it was an authorized
optional uniform until the Summer of 1975. However, he relates that toward
the end it wasn't as comfortable a uniform as it had been when he was first
commissioned. He said that his first uniforms had bellowed pleats whereas in
later years they tended not to be tailored that way and often looked a
little frumpy. Nonetheless I thought it was a neat looking uniform and a far
better sight than the current short sleeve CNT version of khaki that passes
for a dress uniform today.

Also, from what I can gather from various historical photos and from what
I've been told, the Aviation Green uniform's popularity waned considerably
after the Korean War era, especially among tactical aviation folks. And when
patrol, transport and other squadrons flying prop driven aircraft adopted
flight suits as required clothing while in flight, I think that started the
initial demise of the uniform.

I was hoping that when then-Secretary Lehman brought back the Greens and
brown shoes he would also replace the CNT with the old style dress khaki -
no such luck! However, the brown shoe did make the CNT's a bit more
respectable looking. While a summer intern at a naval station I noticed
aviation types assigned to the naval base staff wear them with pride.
However, folks didn't take to the Greens. Even my old college roommate, a
NFO in the E2C community, wore the shoes but didn't bother with the Greens.
I've seen them a few times around Whidbey, but not like I did growing up.

One final note. While perusing the old family photo albums I came across
pictures of my father's sister's wedding. He was the one who walked her down
the aisle. Since he was the only one in his family to have served in the
military he was always asked to wear his uniform. Looking closely at the
picture I realized he was wearing neither dress blues, dress whites, nor
even dress khakis. Instead he walked his sister down the church aisle in a
Aviation Green working uniform!! When I asked him about it, he shrugged and
said that it was a busy weekend with two reserve squadrons being called up
in response to the Pueblo Incident. He and all the other active duty cadre
were getting folks mobilized and it was either that or a flight suit. At
the time he was stationed at the former NAS New York (Floyd Bennett Field).
His family couldn't tell an American naval seaman from a Royal Navy Admiral
of the Fleet. He just had to stay clear of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the
freckled face kid wearing his weekend sailor suit could care less what
uniform he wore as he drove out the maingate. As an epilogue, a couple
years ago while visiting relatives in New York that I hadn't seen in ages.
My aunt related that the only good thing about her wedding day was having
her older brother walk her down the aisle in his sharp looking navy uniform.
--

vincent p. norris wrote in message
...
Loved mine but were not a 'liberty' uniform, working uniform only...

Too bad! I thought they were a darn good-looking uniform.

(And not just because they sorta resembled marine greens!) ((:-))

vince norris

vincent p. norris wrote:

Was good duty though, that's where I met my wife in 1958 and we've been
married since 1960. Two kids, five grandkids, and 1.5 greatgrandkids
later she's still a beauty and a good woman.


Congratulations! You've been blessed! I've got seven grandkids but no
"great" ones yet.

vince norris

The men in my family tend to die young, mostly of heart disease. We tend
to marry young and breed early. My daughter married at 18, had her first
baby before she was 19 and then two more, all three years apart. I've
got grandkids that range from 23 to 3 since my son was a late bloomer. B-)

Yes, I have been truly blessed, good wife, good kids, mostly good grandkids.

George

"TAH" wrote
In fact Brunswick was the last place he wore the old Service
Dress Khaki (the one with long sleeves, tie, dress coat and
brown shoes).

Jeeeze...can someone tell us what commissioned officers are
wearing now? I left the Navy in 1967 after 10 years of service.
My uniform didn't change much though, double-breasted blue to
single-breasted blue at PanAm.

Bob Moore

Here in Washington State, Navy Region Northwest has Service Dress Blues as
the service uniform from October through April. Summer Dress Whites (short
sleeves) from May through September. Service Dress Khakis (CNT's with
devices and ribbons) may be worn year round. Usually if you are standing
the duty or attending a function where coat and tie are appropriate, one
wears the blues or whites. Otherwise folks wear khakis. Through the early
90's working blues were authorized during the winter months, but with khakis
being authorized year round I don't see them as much. And of course,
everyone finds an excuse to wear cammies it seems - exaggeration but you get
the point.

--

Robert Moore wrote in message
...
"TAH" wrote
In fact Brunswick was the last place he wore the old Service
Dress Khaki (the one with long sleeves, tie, dress coat and
brown shoes).

Jeeeze...can someone tell us what commissioned officers are
wearing now? I left the Navy in 1967 after 10 years of service.
My uniform didn't change much though, double-breasted blue to
single-breasted blue at PanAm.

Bob Moore