Modern Combat Uniforms

Includes: U.S. and Canada, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Europe, Israel, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, South Pacific, India and Pakistan, and Latin America; and webbing and equipment.

The US Marine Corps has been a key part of the US presence in a host of combat zones. While sharing some weapons systems with the other US Forces, the Marine Corps has developed its own distinctive approach to matters of dress, personal equipment and armament. The most important trends are a new generation of camouflage clothing, body armor, and night-vision equipment, which have transformed the appearance and capability of the individual rifleman. The men and women of the USMC have been at the forefront of these developments, utilizing innovative items of dress and equipment during their extensive service in a range of challenging environments across the world. Featuring specially commissioned full-color artwork and detailed photographs, this book explores the USMC's key contribution to the development of the combat infantry soldier's clothing and personal equipment in the 21st century.

In the age of modern warfare the changing landscape of the 21st century battlefield has demanded a transformation within the US Marine Corps Special Operations. Adapting to a huge range of combat environments, an enormous array of specialist uniforms, protective armor and battlefield electronic devices have been developed to facilitate missions in the most extreme conditions. A special forces operator may now have available to him a dozen distinct types of body armor and two dozen different weapons; never before in American military history has so much been given to so few. Authored by J. Kenneth Eward, professor at the American Military University, and illustrated throughout with official and private photographs and meticulous color plates, this volume offers the first detailed, authoritative study of the characteristics, and the performance in the field, of the most modern combat gear and weapons provided for USMC specialist operators to date.

A comprehensive guide to the major military and paramilitary camouflage patterns used around the world from the end of World War II to the 2010s. This book is a one-stop, generalized reference illustrating as many patterns as have been researched into contemporary times. It surpasses all previous efforts. In addition to color tiles illustrating camouflage patterns, it includes photographs of the designs being worn by military and paramilitary personnel, something few other references have done in suitable combination. Praise for Camouflage “It’s doubtful you will find another such book that covers the scope of topic, regarding the post-World War Two period, as well as this one has . . . highly recommended to both the scale modeller and military combat uniform enthusiast.” —War Wheels “This is a one-stop dream reference for painters of modern miniature soldiers.” —Historical Miniatures Gaming Society

Uniform: Clothing and Discipline in the Modern World examines the role uniform plays in public life and private experience. This volume explores the social, political, economic, and cultural significance of various kinds of uniforms to consider how they embody gender, class, sexuality, race, nationality, and belief. From the pageantry of uniformed citizens to the rationalizing of time and labour, this category of dress has enabled distinct forms of social organization, sometimes repressive, sometimes utopian. With thematic sections on the social meaning of uniform in the military, in institutions, and political movements, its use in fashion, in the workplace, and at leisure, a series of case studies consider what sartorial uniformity means to the history of the body and society. Ranging from English public school uniform to sacred dress in the Vatican, from Australian airline uniforms to the garb worn by soldiers in combat, Uniform draws attention to a visual and material practice with the power to regulate or disrupt civil society. Bringing together original research from emerging and established academics, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of fashion, design, art, popular culture, anthropology, cultural history, and sociology, as well as anyone interested in what constitutes a "modern" appearance.

Talks about the evolution of Army uniforms from World War II to Vietnam. This work traces uniform systems from conception through actual field development and issue.