Atomic Bazooka: The "Davy Crockett"

Tactical Nuclear Weapons: It sounds like something from the movie "Starship Troopers", but these things actually existed.  During the late 1950's the US Army developed a small tactical nuclear warhead that could be fired from a specially designed recoilless rifle.  They  named it the "Davy Crockett" after the famous pioneer.  The theory went that when the red hoards came streaming across the boarder (either into West Germany or into South Korea), these small infantry teams armed with Davy Crockett weapon systems could "nuke" the first wave of the invasion, slowing the enemy's advance and creating a radioactive "no-mans land" along the boarder.  This would have provided the US and NATO (in the case of West Germany) with at least 48 hours to mobilize forces and evacuate families.  Not a bad theory, but I'm glad no one ever had to test it out.

The two patches shown here are from the Davy Crockett Company assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, part of the 24th Infantry Division in West Germany during the 1960's.

(above photo found here)

79th Division Doughboy, World War One

Picked up this neat portrait at an antique show over the weekend.  Certainly an above average photo when it comes to insignia!  On his "overseas" cap he wears the "T" insignia of Supply Train units, meaning that he would have worked at a forward supply distribution point for an Infantry Regiment, probably close to the trenches.  On his left shoulder he sports a 79th Infantry Division patch, probably an early french made version.  This was a "National Army" (what is now known as Army Reserve) unit formed of men from Pennsylvania.   In the middle of his left sleeve is a red "discharge chevron", showing that he has been mustered out of the service but still allowed to wear his uniform in a veteran status.  His rank patch, if any would be on the opposite sleeve.  On his left cuff are two overseas service chevrons, each representing 6 months of service overseas.  And to make it even more interesting, he is wearing a rare 1918 pattern jacket with internal pockets.  This was designed for two reasons, first was to save wool (since the internal pockets would be made of cotton, as opposed to external patch pockets made from the same wool as the coat) and it also presented a cleaner, more european experience.

Bikini Beach: 170th Assault Helicopter Company, Vietnam

I don't normally go after insignia from the Vietnam war, but I stumbled across a small lot of patches and insignia from a guy who was a pilot with the 170th Assault Helicopter Company that included this wonderful Vietnamese made patch.  After reading up about this unit I can really see why Vietnam era aviation is a popular area to collect.  These guys flew UH-1 helicopters in both the gunship and troop transport ("slicks") configurations.  During their time in Vietnam they performed a wide variety of missions, including much time spent in support of Special Forces, LRRP, and SOG missions.  They operated in the Pleiku Province, located in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam and adjacent to the Cambodian border.   Due to their close proximity to the border, they flew many "over the fence" missions into Laos and Cambodia in support of Special Forces teams.   The company was in the thick of it for a little over five years (1965 to 1971), winning numerous awards and commendations and participating in some pretty "high-speed" operations.  And if you watch the original "A-Team" TV series, stock footage of a UH-60 belonging to these guys was used for the intro (seen here)

Here his a flight crewman wearing the "bakinis" patch on his flight jacket, Vietnam 1969 (found at the 170th AHC website here)

African American Quartermaster, WWII

Since February is Black History Month, I figured I would share this picture I found at an antique store this weekend.   This guy doesn't have much insignia to speak of, really just a Quartermaster collar disk.  But, I thought the picture had a lot of character.  Probably dates from 1942 or 1943 since he has a khaki tie but still wears a brown leather belt.

United Nations Command, South Korea patches

While this organization technically came into being in 1950, it seems like this insignia didn't come about until a bit later (August of 1957 according to Chris Aleck's "Authorized Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the US Army").   Shown here are three different variations, probably all from the late 1950's or 1960's.   The left two are both Korean made, while the one on the right is an American made example.

AAF Flexible Gunnery School, Fort Myers Florida

I've been after one of these for a while now and was finally lucky enough to get one.   Embarrassingly, I didn't know exactly what the "F.G.S" stood for.  Fighter Gunnery School, perhaps?  That wouldn't make sense, only fighter pilots would need that and this clearly has an enlisted air gunners wing on it (very different from a pilot).  After some snooping around I found it.  Flexible.  Of course.  Basically meaning that the gunner can move the gun around himself, as opposed to a gun that is mounted to the aircraft in a fixed direction (like on a fighter plane).

The Army Air Forces Flexible Gunnery School at Fort Myers Florida was started in 1942 and closed down at the end of the war.   All I need to find now is a photograph showing this patch actually being worn.  I think it was most likely a cuff patch, since that was the standard location for flight instructor patches at that time.  Anyone out there know?

ODA 3113: Afghanistan

A friend of mine picked this patch up for me at FOB Salerno, Afghanistan in February of 2010.  It is from Special Forces ODA 3113.  In normal people words that means Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha (i.e. "A-Team") #3,  A Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group.

A quick look through ebay shows that modern SF ODA patches are already becoming the minefield of fakes and knock-offs that Vietnam era SF insignia have been for decades.  But this one is real and I even know the exact shop it was made in.  By the way, I have no clue what the "VBD" means.

While the exact missions of ODAs are not overtly publicized, it is most likely that these guys were partnered with (i.e. working with and training) Afghan Army Commando's operating in Khowst province near the Pakistani border.  Below is a photograph found at militaryphotos.net showing part of an ODA from 3rd Group at FOB Salerno in April 2010.  Are they ODA 3113?  Who knows.

Note the modified BDU's worn with Afghan Army insignia, including the Afghan National flag and the Afghan Commando patch.  An example (which my wife begged off of a Special Operations medic for me while we were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009) is shown below.