Air Cav uniform

Pretty much.  It is usually worn to social functions, balls, award ceremonies, etc.  It is sometimes worn in theatre, but not normally in combat. 

LTC Kilgore in Apocalypse Now was not the norm with his Stetson on the battlefield.  It is a great movie though.

"Charlie don't surf!!!!"

   The stetson affected by many air cav personell was not an authorized part of  the uniform. It was worn on unofficial occassions, ( ie, the unit "O" club in theater). It is worn by veterans at reunions and other such gatherings, but would most likely be frowned upon at official Army functions where non-air cav officers would be present. The stetson was a way to set the air cav pilots apart from their contemporaries and was generally a morale/esprite item. The Army is somewhat anal in its attitude toward any of its branches wearing a uniform that will set it apart from any other group. The two piece nomex flight suit of the Vietnam era was developed in an effort to creat a flight uniform that was similar to the jungle fatigues and utility fatigues worn by all personell. During the early days of the war, aircrew flew in fatigues. The two piece nomex wasn't as comfortable as the cotton coverall we were issued stateside, but you could take the shirt part off when you weren't flying which made the heat a little more bearable. 

   On an editorial note, the stetson wearing colonel in Apocalypse Now wasn't the only thing that was bogus in that movie. It grossly mis-represented the First Cavalry Division, the character of its soldiers, and their conduct. The only thing it got right was the names of the actors on the final screen credits.

Our SMO here at Rucker wears his stetson on Fridays when we do the "Solo Cycle" party.  Its primarily a social event, but that's really the only time I've seen a Stetson around here.

Jon

I see Stetsons 3-4 times a day out on the flightline here at Ft. Rucker.

Keith 

It depends on the unit. At Fort Hood the stetson and spurs was worn primarily for social occassions; beer calls, formals, and change of command ceremonies (battalion and up I think). In Korea I was with 4-7 CAV and we wore stetson and spurs every Friday, but only on our camp. NCOs and enlisted can also wear the stetson and compete for their spurs.

m1garand wrote:

Friend of mine was an FSO for 3ACR at Fort Carson and for his official functions, his entire unit wore stetson hats.  Whenever I visited him, I also seen some troopers wearing spurs with their combat boots as well.  Also, another friend of mine is from 101st CAV (NY ANG) and his unit also wore stetson hats for formal functions as well.  However, I don't think they wore it at the field.

When were with the 504th? My Brother was in that unit back in the early 80s.

I too was stationed at Ft. Bragg, however; I was a dirty nasty leg (proud of it) in corps artiliery. 

goondman wrote:

m1garand wrote: Friend of mine was an FSO for 3ACR at Fort Carson and for his official functions, his entire unit wore stetson hats.  Whenever I visited him, I also seen some troopers wearing spurs with their combat boots as well.  Also, another friend of mine is from 101st CAV (NY ANG) and his unit also wore stetson hats for formal functions as well.  However, I don't think they wore it at the field.   When were with the 504th? My Brother was in that unit back in the early 80s. I too was stationed at Ft. Bragg, however; I was a dirty nasty leg (proud of it) in corps artiliery.

Mid 90's. 

The new army is a bit more up-tight than the Viet Nam era army.  We court-martial LTC's now for exposing enemy troops to "forced nudity."  Seems a bit much to me if you review the treatment of US POW's in Viet Nam.  Sophmorish and annoying treament of enemy combatants who, if thesituation were reversed, would cut our heads off does not concern me one ioda.  Frankly, I kinda enjoy standing around naked having people look at me.  I appreciate the attention.

I digress.  We wore Stetsons in combat 24/7 from 1969-1973 that I know of.  After Nam we were not supposed wear tanker jackets except in a tank, or tanker boots.  I wore the tanker jacket at all times and wore the boots and wore a white wool comrade hat.  It depended on your ability to deflect or absorb flak.  I was a captain and company commander and had a tanker boss.  We also lived on a tank Kaserne and did not worry much about what the artillery or grunt weenies thought.  They were lucky we let them in the club.

At Hood in the 6th Air cavalry Combat Brigade  from 75-78 we wore Stetsons all over post, and spurs.  And we had strippers in the club at lunch.  I liked the old army better.  "Naked don't bother me!"

Hugh Mills

LTC ret USA

"If you ain't cav, you ain't shit."