Post by Grizzly on Aug 11, 2011 12:07:23 GMT -5
Due to my nature of being a "'Nam Nut," I've decided to put together a guide to help aspiring Vietnam airsofters build their very own impressions of Vietnam War US Army Units. I hope to be as helpful as possible, but please be advised that my Vietnam impression is nowhere near finished, so I will be unable to provide any pics of it at this time. However, I will use my knowledge of the equipment and uniforms used in this conflict, as well as many photos, to help recreate each of the impressions I will be going over in this guide.
In this guide, I will teach you how to successfully buil an impression based on infantry( www.mydyingbreath.com/images/photos/ben_in_gear_b.jpg ), cavalry( static.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/260278-bigthumbnail.jpg ), and Ranger, also known as LRPs or LRRPs( www.lcompanyranger.com/images/rose13.jpg ). Early Advisers also fall into this category. I will not cover the Marine Corps in this guide, as their equipment is vastly different and my knowledge of it is to less of an extent.
The first thing you must ask yourself is what time frame you intend to imitate. This is important because the equipment issued changed slightly over the course of the conflict. It lasted thirteen years, after all. After you have made your decision, you must then decide what kind of unit you wish to resemble. This is a difficult decision, as different units had much more contrasting appearances compared to the modern US military. NOTE: I will merely be posting links to photos of items in this guide, keeping those with lower connection speed in mind and leaving the shopping up to the reader.
Lets start with infantry. Infantry are your average foot soldiers, the most well-known and most-portrayed personnel serving in Southeast Asia. First off, you need to decide if you will be packing light or heavy. If you prefer to pack light, as if on patrol, you will not need to purchase a flak jacket. However, for the purposes of this guide, I'm going to assume you'll be packing heavy, where a flak jacket would be worn. There were two types of flak jackets issued during the war. If you intend to look as though you are serving between 1965 and 1968, you'll need an M55( www.cranetechnologiesinc.com/Body%20Armor/USMarineM55FlackVest1.jpg ). This is the style most often associated with the Marine Corps, though its use in the Army was heavy until the introduction of the M69( gallery.kitmaker.net/data/24189/M69_Fragmentation_Jacket.jpg ), which is appropriate if you plan to imitate an infantryman from 1969 through 1973. For web gear, you have two options. Luckily, web gear from this time period is pretty much universal for each issued weapon, so I will merely be posting full sets. The most common web gear issued during the conflict was M1956, made of cotton( strikehold.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/m1956-lce-1.jpg?w=600&h=450 ). It was soon found that the cotton material was susceptible to dry rot in the humid jungle weather, leading to the partial adaption of nylon M67 gear( www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploads//monthly_09_2010/post-3273-1285385178.jpg ), often mistaken for ALICE. Next up is jungle fatigues. Keep in mind these are different than modern BDUs in htat they have slanted chest pockets, and are a darker shade. Here is a shirt: www.nexternal.com/armynavy/images/vietnam-fatigue-shirt--od1.gif and now the pants: www.mooremilitaria.com/rothco%20pants.jpg After your fatigues are in order, you'll need some jungle boots. Be sure to remember which era you are looking to imitate. For '61 through '66, you'll want black boots such as these: www.nexternal.com/armynavy/images/Black_Ripple_Jungle_Boots1.gif If you plan on imitating 1967 through 1973, you'll want the kind that were first issued in '67, with OD trim: qmfashion.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/p_196393_1297658.jpg Last comes the helmet. Any M1 or M2 steel pot will do, so long as it doesn't have a paratrooper chin cup. The helmet cover is extremely important. Be sure to get a Mitchell Pattern cover( mpmuseum.org/securuniform/hats/nato2.jpg ). Be careful, because covers sold in army navy stores are ERDL pattern( www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploads//post-15-1168452675.jpg ), and were not issued in numbers until after the conflict ended. For those who do not want the helmet, an OD head wrap or bandana is perfectly acceptable. This will just about wrap up your infantryman impression, now go out an get it dirty!
Next up on this guide is cavalry, also known as AirCav. Keep in mind that this impression will look similar to infantry, but is much lighter in load due to being meant for only a few hours or days in the field. The majority of this impression can be built off of the infantry impression, so I'm not going to list everything again. However, it is important to know not to wear a flak jacket with this impression, because mobility is the AirCav's greatest strength. Also be sure to replace your M1 or M2 helmet with an M1C paratrooper helmet, because it has the appropriate chin strap, worn to keep the helmet from falling off in a chopper. As far as I know, AirCav units wore black boots for the duration of the conflict. However, be sure the boots you get are not jump boots, as they were only issued to paratroopers.
Last but not least is my personal favorite, LRRPs, or Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols. These 6-man(light) or 12-man(heavy) teams were Rangers whose job was to sneak behind enemy lines and conduct recon, rescue prisoners, set up ambushes, and the like. Stealth is the goal here, so tiger stripes are common, though ERDL and "duckhunter" were commonplace, too. here are some tiger stripe jungle fatigues, starting with the shirt: www.battlefieldadventures.com/catalog/4621.jpg and now the pants: www.fatiguesarmynavy.com/images/items/vintvietigercamopants5.gif You will also need a boonie hat, the wide-brimmed type common of the era: t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ902xEFbq5HwX4e6PzG8WLZKiKL-pfZIz7yn_R8k-t3hUxcI_4Jg Jungle boots are a given, usually the later model ones with OD trim. And of course M56 or M67 web gear. Be sure to pick up some jungle green face paint to keep the sun from reflecting off of your skin: www.oempromo.com/upload/Prod_088/Nato-Jungle-Camouflage-Face-Paint-Stick_46526417.jpg
Thank you for taking the time to read this guide. I hope it proves useful, and have fun out there making your Vietnam impression. Cheers, and see you on the field.
In this guide, I will teach you how to successfully buil an impression based on infantry( www.mydyingbreath.com/images/photos/ben_in_gear_b.jpg ), cavalry( static.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/260278-bigthumbnail.jpg ), and Ranger, also known as LRPs or LRRPs( www.lcompanyranger.com/images/rose13.jpg ). Early Advisers also fall into this category. I will not cover the Marine Corps in this guide, as their equipment is vastly different and my knowledge of it is to less of an extent.
The first thing you must ask yourself is what time frame you intend to imitate. This is important because the equipment issued changed slightly over the course of the conflict. It lasted thirteen years, after all. After you have made your decision, you must then decide what kind of unit you wish to resemble. This is a difficult decision, as different units had much more contrasting appearances compared to the modern US military. NOTE: I will merely be posting links to photos of items in this guide, keeping those with lower connection speed in mind and leaving the shopping up to the reader.
Lets start with infantry. Infantry are your average foot soldiers, the most well-known and most-portrayed personnel serving in Southeast Asia. First off, you need to decide if you will be packing light or heavy. If you prefer to pack light, as if on patrol, you will not need to purchase a flak jacket. However, for the purposes of this guide, I'm going to assume you'll be packing heavy, where a flak jacket would be worn. There were two types of flak jackets issued during the war. If you intend to look as though you are serving between 1965 and 1968, you'll need an M55( www.cranetechnologiesinc.com/Body%20Armor/USMarineM55FlackVest1.jpg ). This is the style most often associated with the Marine Corps, though its use in the Army was heavy until the introduction of the M69( gallery.kitmaker.net/data/24189/M69_Fragmentation_Jacket.jpg ), which is appropriate if you plan to imitate an infantryman from 1969 through 1973. For web gear, you have two options. Luckily, web gear from this time period is pretty much universal for each issued weapon, so I will merely be posting full sets. The most common web gear issued during the conflict was M1956, made of cotton( strikehold.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/m1956-lce-1.jpg?w=600&h=450 ). It was soon found that the cotton material was susceptible to dry rot in the humid jungle weather, leading to the partial adaption of nylon M67 gear( www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploads//monthly_09_2010/post-3273-1285385178.jpg ), often mistaken for ALICE. Next up is jungle fatigues. Keep in mind these are different than modern BDUs in htat they have slanted chest pockets, and are a darker shade. Here is a shirt: www.nexternal.com/armynavy/images/vietnam-fatigue-shirt--od1.gif and now the pants: www.mooremilitaria.com/rothco%20pants.jpg After your fatigues are in order, you'll need some jungle boots. Be sure to remember which era you are looking to imitate. For '61 through '66, you'll want black boots such as these: www.nexternal.com/armynavy/images/Black_Ripple_Jungle_Boots1.gif If you plan on imitating 1967 through 1973, you'll want the kind that were first issued in '67, with OD trim: qmfashion.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/p_196393_1297658.jpg Last comes the helmet. Any M1 or M2 steel pot will do, so long as it doesn't have a paratrooper chin cup. The helmet cover is extremely important. Be sure to get a Mitchell Pattern cover( mpmuseum.org/securuniform/hats/nato2.jpg ). Be careful, because covers sold in army navy stores are ERDL pattern( www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploads//post-15-1168452675.jpg ), and were not issued in numbers until after the conflict ended. For those who do not want the helmet, an OD head wrap or bandana is perfectly acceptable. This will just about wrap up your infantryman impression, now go out an get it dirty!
Next up on this guide is cavalry, also known as AirCav. Keep in mind that this impression will look similar to infantry, but is much lighter in load due to being meant for only a few hours or days in the field. The majority of this impression can be built off of the infantry impression, so I'm not going to list everything again. However, it is important to know not to wear a flak jacket with this impression, because mobility is the AirCav's greatest strength. Also be sure to replace your M1 or M2 helmet with an M1C paratrooper helmet, because it has the appropriate chin strap, worn to keep the helmet from falling off in a chopper. As far as I know, AirCav units wore black boots for the duration of the conflict. However, be sure the boots you get are not jump boots, as they were only issued to paratroopers.
Last but not least is my personal favorite, LRRPs, or Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols. These 6-man(light) or 12-man(heavy) teams were Rangers whose job was to sneak behind enemy lines and conduct recon, rescue prisoners, set up ambushes, and the like. Stealth is the goal here, so tiger stripes are common, though ERDL and "duckhunter" were commonplace, too. here are some tiger stripe jungle fatigues, starting with the shirt: www.battlefieldadventures.com/catalog/4621.jpg and now the pants: www.fatiguesarmynavy.com/images/items/vintvietigercamopants5.gif You will also need a boonie hat, the wide-brimmed type common of the era: t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ902xEFbq5HwX4e6PzG8WLZKiKL-pfZIz7yn_R8k-t3hUxcI_4Jg Jungle boots are a given, usually the later model ones with OD trim. And of course M56 or M67 web gear. Be sure to pick up some jungle green face paint to keep the sun from reflecting off of your skin: www.oempromo.com/upload/Prod_088/Nato-Jungle-Camouflage-Face-Paint-Stick_46526417.jpg
Thank you for taking the time to read this guide. I hope it proves useful, and have fun out there making your Vietnam impression. Cheers, and see you on the field.
