"Question about WW2 US uniforms" Topic

I just picked up a bag of WW2 command decision riflemen, and in reality I just need a few for the project I'm working on to fill-out the TO&E. Now, the question is how far after WW2 are these guys useful for?

If we had a period of slow simmer before the balloon went up in Europe and there was the possibility to ship a bunch of National guard units to Europe by boat, by what year would the "classic ww2" look be too old for second and third line troops?

The uniform changes in the Cold War era are as follows:

M1943 combat uniform was used from Autumn 1944 unmodified until 1951. From Summer 1944 right through to 1958 there was the "Ike" jacket olive drab service uniform which was more formal but was still worn on deployment but not normally in combat.

In 1951 the US army switched from M43 to HBT (Herring Bone Twill) fatigues but they heavily resembled the M43, especially the jacket. The biggest difference were the trousers, which were made of the cotton HBT instead of wool which the M41 and M43 were.

That uniform was worn until 1962/63, when it was replaced by the OG-107 utility uniform.

In terms of miniatures and painting, use standard WW2 American infantry painted in M43 (that is, US Dark green jackets worn over matching trousers or olive drab ones) up until 1958, which is when the M1 Garand went out of service and was replaced with the M14. Make sure the boots are dark brown with no gaiters and the helmet should have the sand coloured duckhunter pattern camouflage cover. This should cover you from 1945-1958.

South America? Africans? Middle East? probably good through the early seventies……….

If you check photos of US Army of the period you'll see that not all have camouflage helmet covers. Most camouflage helmet convers are worn by the USMC. The 57mm recoilless rifles were a company level weapon and I believe QRF carries them. By the time Korea rolled around the Thompson was a rare item having been officially replaced by the M-3 Grease Gun. For an excellent reference on Korean War uniforms see Shelby Stanton's book. Its worth getting.
For the Middle East Jordon used US weapons M-1 Garand, BAR , Thompson etc. but equipment will be in British helmets, web gear and uniforms. For South American there will be uniform and web gear differences but the weapons for Bolivia, Columbia and Nicaragua will be US stuff.
For Africa, most of the US stuff I've seen were M-1 helmets until the 70's when M-16s began to appear in the Congo.

BTW if you need it I've got a To+E for a Russian Rifle Company for the early to mid 50's

I want to echo what Dennis said about the Stanton book. I have his US Army Uniforms of the Cold War and it's invaluable. In fact, if you're interested in the US Army in the cold war, Korea and Vietnam, do check out all his books.

Thanks guys,

From what I can tell, anything past the Cuban Missile Crisis is too modern for the uniforms to work.

I guess my 1975-1990 VDV are too modern for the job :-(
On the other hand, I'll have to get some Russian infantry for my pre-existing WW2-1946 era tank collection (T-44, T-54, IS3, IS10, SU101) … Yes, I'm a sucker for what-if tanks.

I'll just have to base them individually and use my surplus to represent FOW bases that are below 50% of strengths instead of having multiple guys with casualty caps when I put on a game of IABSM.

Martin,
Just a thought but anytime past 1956 the AK-47 will enter the scene as a replacement for the SKS. A few years ago I watched a game that was set in 1957 with a platoon of US Infantry with WWII weapons vs. two platoons of Russians with AK's etc. If there are clear field s of fire the US player has a fighting chance, if not it doesn't go well.. Once the Russian got within a 100 meters it was a massacre. The US forces were defending.

The M43 trousers were not made of wool. They were a heavy cotton material and were originally cold weather gear to be worn over the wool m41 trousers.

True, but between 1944 and 1951 the OD wool trousers were mixed with the M43 jacket. The wool trousers became part of the Ike jacket duty uniform.

As an addendum, if you're going for 1962 to 1980, I find ARVN figures to be a good match. They wore a uniform very similar to OG-107.