Posted on Sep 17, 2018
9 interesting reasons behind US military uniforms
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Airmen
Sailors
Soldiers
Marines
Uniforms
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I am not sure I agree with the comments about the AF uniform. We always said the original women's double breasted jacket was the result of a suggestion on what to do with excess potato sacks.
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Patricia Overmeyer
Actually, you aren't too far off Lt. Col. Brown. Have you read Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of WWII by Liza Mundy? Pretty interesting how the women of the Navy and Army had to take in the men's uniforms, resew parts of them, etc. The whole book is great for lots of other reasons as well. But the potato sack uniform was definitely a major source of contention.
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COL Mikel J. BurroughsSFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSLSMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas [~563704:LTC Stephen FordSGT David A. 'Cowboy' GrothCPT Jack DurishPO1 William "Chip" NagelTSgt Joe C.SP5 Mark KuzinskiMaj Marty Hogan MSG (Join to see) SSgt (Join to see) LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) SN Greg Wright Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS SSG Warren Swan Cynthia Croft SPC Margaret Higgins 1SG Carl McAndrews
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"7. What is the meaning of the symbol on top of a Marine Corps officer's cover?
"The quatrefoil -- the cross-shaped braid worn atop an officer's cover— represents the rope pre-Civil War era officers wore across their caps to allow sharpshooters high in the rigging of a sailing ship to identify friend from foe in a shipboard battle."
Untrue. This is the so-called "traditional explanation" we were given as recruits, except that the explanation took the rope quatrefoil back to the War of 1812. A little research will reveal that the quatrefoil did not appear on Marine officers' caps until the 1859 uniform regulations, when it was specified for the undress kepi as a distinction. There is no evidence of it appearing earlier. The quatrefoil on the undress kepi was popular during the Civil War - Army officers and Confederates wore it, too, as well as some European officers. In the Marine Corps, the quatrefoil was worn only on officers' undress kepis and caps until 1904, when Marine uniform regulations adopted dress and full dress frame caps (originally in the "conductor" style) for officers. Prior to 1904, officers wore shakos or helmets (as did enlisted) in full dress. On the blue, white, khaki and green frame cap covers, the quatrefoil was the same color as the cloth it was mounted on. On the blue dress and special full dress cover, the quatrefoil was of gold lace. An interesting (if little known) fact: The enlisted 1904 special full dress cap (blue with a wide red band around the bottom) was the only enlisted cover that has ever had a quatrefoil (red) upon it. It was worn from 1904 to 1912.
"The quatrefoil -- the cross-shaped braid worn atop an officer's cover— represents the rope pre-Civil War era officers wore across their caps to allow sharpshooters high in the rigging of a sailing ship to identify friend from foe in a shipboard battle."
Untrue. This is the so-called "traditional explanation" we were given as recruits, except that the explanation took the rope quatrefoil back to the War of 1812. A little research will reveal that the quatrefoil did not appear on Marine officers' caps until the 1859 uniform regulations, when it was specified for the undress kepi as a distinction. There is no evidence of it appearing earlier. The quatrefoil on the undress kepi was popular during the Civil War - Army officers and Confederates wore it, too, as well as some European officers. In the Marine Corps, the quatrefoil was worn only on officers' undress kepis and caps until 1904, when Marine uniform regulations adopted dress and full dress frame caps (originally in the "conductor" style) for officers. Prior to 1904, officers wore shakos or helmets (as did enlisted) in full dress. On the blue, white, khaki and green frame cap covers, the quatrefoil was the same color as the cloth it was mounted on. On the blue dress and special full dress cover, the quatrefoil was of gold lace. An interesting (if little known) fact: The enlisted 1904 special full dress cap (blue with a wide red band around the bottom) was the only enlisted cover that has ever had a quatrefoil (red) upon it. It was worn from 1904 to 1912.
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