"SEATO uniforms in Vietnam" Topic

I'm ok for painting US and ARVN uniforms (as ARVN uniforms were US uniforms with different shoulder patches), but other SEATO troops served in Vietnam too. Can anyone point me to a guide for uniforms for the ANZAC, South Korean, Filipino, and Thai troops that fought in-country? While we're at it, what about uniforms for the Royal Cambodian and Royal Laotian Armies? Thanks guys!!

I can only point you to osprey publishing and also to squadron signal. they have sveral volumes that have some great illustraitions. Otherwise if you google say South Korean troops in Vietnam or any of the others there will be some pics as well….

The Osprey books on the wars in Laos and Cambodia are excellent starting points. The Signal book on Laos is also very good, as is Roland Neveu'sThe Fall of Phnom Penh , samples of which can be seen here:

link

Thai troops:

link

link

link

link

As you can see, they don't look all that different from their South Vietnamese counterparts.

Note that it was the troops of the Khmer Republic who did the heavy fighting against the Khmer Rouge and the NVA.

Having searched the internet, I find that all the troops in question used what appear to be stock US uniforms, though the Thais, Laotians, and Cambodians appear to have had helmets that are closer to the US WWII pattern. Anzac troops seem to have often worn boonie hats and sometimes digger hats. Otherwise, everything I see appears to be straight off the shelf US uniforms

Pretty much…The early SF had some variety with Duck hunter ,tiger stripe and what not that also applied to some CIDG/Mike Force units. but as the CIDG/Mike Force became larger and larger you saw less and less diversity and more simple green fatigues. there where also localy made cammo used for ARVN National field Police called "cloud pattern " that was Different but then just about every "special" unit had or made adjustments from the norm to make themselves stand out.

Just as an aside The Ambush Alley games supplement "Ambush Valley" published by Osprey has all the TO&E info and picks you could ever use as well as tons of illustrations and pics of painted models for gaming….It covers Viet Nam ,and the secret wars in Cambodia and Loas But NOT the french indochina war…Mikey

When I joined, we got jungle pattern camo BDU's in addition to our fatigues, but guys who had been in longer had OD green BDU's. At what point did jungle camo replace straight green? I remember no one wanted to wear tiger stripe. The older guys said it stood out from the surrounding jungle as if it were "duck hunter orange"

I dont think it did …the marines where quicker to adopt the ERDL type cammo in line units . in the army it was primarily used by special mission units. I dont think the BDU entered general use untill 82-83

I joined in the late 70's and shortly after I finished AIT, the jungle pattern was recalled and we were all issued "woodland" pattern BDU's to wear in the field. The standard green fatigues remained for on-base day to day wear.

I was in Vietnam and saw U.S. in nothing buy olive. I had no contact with special forces who would wear the tiger stripes. My understanding is they had a certain degree of popularity with special forces as a status symbol. I do not use that term in any derogatory way. I just could not think of any better way to say it. Perhaps, as a badge of their elitness would be better.

However, I have seen very few photos of SOG operators in tiger stripes. They seem to have used the olive, but would sometimes spray paint black patterns on them.

I saw no woodland camoflage where I was. I did not even know it was in use until years later.

Tom

Woodland wasn't issued until (I think) the late 70s

FYI, the ARVN uniforms were not "US uniforms with different shoulder patches" they were based on French uniforms and had a differen cut & color that US uniforms.

Hmm, at 1/285, cut really isn't relevant, but how would you characterize the color difference?

FYI, the ARVN uniforms were not "US uniforms with different shoulder patches" they were based on French uniforms and had a differen cut & color that US uniforms.

The regular ARVN initially wore a mix of older French Union Army uniforms and Korean War-era American uniforms. By the 1960s, a local OD uniform outwardly similar to the US OG 107 fatigues, but produced locally and incorporating numerous design differences replaced the older uniforms. In the late 1960s, US jungle fatigues also began to become available.

Elite units and other services differed greatly from the standard ARVN uniforms as well. Almost every South Vietnamese elite formation had its own camoflage pattern associated with it. The VNMC had actually been the first to use the "Tiger Stripe" pattern, which then got passed on to other elite formations and US elite forces. Many other patterns existed, all loosely based on existing designs such as the various World War II-era "leopard spot" patterns, the ERDL pattern, and the French Lizard pattern. The GVN National Police Field Force wore a unique pattern, known generally as the "cloud pattern."

South Korean, Thai, and Philippine forces in Vietnam generally wore US uniforms, as they were integrated into the US logistics system. Lao and Khmer forces, and elements operating in those countries, depending on period, wore a decidedly more motley array of gear, being supplied through very diverse sources. Irregular units in Laos often showed various uniform styles all at once for instance. In all cases, elite forces were again commonly seen in a number of camouflage patterns.

I would recommend picking up Osprey's recent Men At Arms on the ARVN, as well as the old Osprey on Southeast Asian Special Forces.

Thanks very much for the info!!

G'day, PHD.

Australian and NZ uniforms were different in both cut (very obvious) and colour (slightly greener and greyer) than US uniforms. The webbing was based on US patterns, but British items, such as the '44 pattern Bren pouches, were also in use. There's some good photo's at link . In 1/285 they'd probably be identical to US figures, except for the weapons and the fact our troops rarely wore the helmet (the one time I can think of was 8RAR's operations in the Long Hai Hills in '70), preferring the bush hat (aka "giggle hat"- helmets are noisy in the jungle and don't even offer a real protection advantage at typical contact ranges). We were still wearing the same gear when I joined in '75, not changing to DPCU until the early '90's (though we trialled DPCU in Townsville in '82 or so)- I think I've still got some old greens at the farm, in fact.

SASR were different, of course, wearing what they wanted to wear. That led to a friendly fire incident when they shot and killed one of their own men, in fact.

Cheers.

Dal.