M-1951 field jacket

M-1951 field jacket

The M-1951 field jacket was a US Army four pocket jacket made of 9-ounce wind resistant water repellent treated cotton sateen cloth in Olive Green Shade 107 (OG 107).^[1] It was redesignated as the M-1951 field coat in November 1956.

It was based on the M-1943 field jacket that was replaced by the similar M-1950 field jacket that had inside buttons for a button-in liner.^[2] The M-1951 was given snap fasteners instead of buttons and a zipper. Unlike the M-1965 field jacket that replaced it, the M-1951 had button cuffs, a pointed collar and had a separate hood that buttoned on to the collar. Many soldiers liked the M-1951 as it presented a sharper appearance than the M-1965 field jacket when starched. It was still issued in many units as part of the organizational issue.

M-1951 field trousers were made of the same material and were also in the OG 107 colour. They had six pockets similar to the M-1941 jumpsuit and was issued at the same time as the field jacket in organisational issue. Like the jacket it had a separate cold weather liner that could be buttoned in. The trousers had drawstrings on the trouser cuffs and waist and cloth straps inside the cargo pockets that could be used to support heavy items. Suspenders could also be worn with the field trousers.

A rare example of the M-1951 Field Jacket in the 'emerald green' colour Shade 255 was the Aggressor Field Jacket used by the US Army's Aggressor Force until the late 1970s when the arrival of real Soviet uniforms were issued for more realistic training. This jacket, along with matching fatigues has the same layout as standard field uniforms but later models are somewhat similar to the M-1965.

References