watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
Stony said:My 1976 model only has MIL-J-83388A on the label, so what would you call those jackets before the CWU-45/P?
MikeyB-17 said:OK, so as I understand it, the CWU-17/P had a hood and the means to attach it, the CWU-45/P didn't. You could retrofit a hood to a 45/P using the buttons supplied with it. I assume the 'CWU-45/P (mod)' in 'Suit up!' is a -45/P with a retrofitted hood? Would a -17/P say so on the label?
Gentlemen, these are good questions. I've never owned nor seen any examples of jackets produced under the original MIL-J-83388 spec so I can't comment on what the label says though I suspect it would not bear the CWU-17/P designation. I also find it odd that repeated Google searches fail to turn up so much as a single photo--even the excellent LJ Militaria website incorrectly states that the first winter CWU pattern was produced under MIL-J-83388A. However, we at least know the following:
1.) Per the USAF Technical Order concerning maintenance of Nomex flight gear (originally printed on 15 October 1972 and reprinted 16 January 1984 as Army TM 10-8400-202-13/Air Force TO 14P3-1-112) as well as the 1982 US Navy Rate Training Manual for Aircrew Survival Equipmentman (links to both publications are supplied earlier in the thread), the CWU-17/P is distinguished from the CWU-45/P insofar as it was supplied with a detachable hood and presumably manufactured with a means of attaching it.
2.) Jackets dated 1975 and 1976 are stated to have been produced under MIL-J-83388A specs dated 5 September 1973, are devoid of any "CWU" labeling, and lack attaching points for a hood, although instructions for modifying these jackets to accept a hood are provided in the above-referenced Army/Air Force technical publication.
3.) Jackets produced under MIL-J-83388A from 1977 on are expressly labeled "CWU-45/P," as are subsequent cold-weather versions.
Based on the foregoing, my best guess is that the CWU-17/P was unlikely to have been labeled as such although I imagine it must have been labeled MIL-J-83388 versus the later A revision. However, we do know that the A revision ultimately bore the CWU-45/P designation so I have no problem calling the '75 and '76 jackets "pre-CWUs" or "early CWU-45s." In any case it now appears safe to say that the 83388A jackets are not CWU-17/Ps.