We are continuing our work on the next manuscript - Red Alert: The structure of the Soviet Infantry Regiment. As usual, this book will be illustrated by our own photographs, depicting Soviet uniform and equipment. A lot attention of attention will be given to the officer's uniforms, as there was a whole wardrobe for every Soviet Officer.
In this article we will talk about the most worn uniform by the Soviet officers of the 1970s and 80s - the M69 everyday suit. If you are interested in Soviet uniform - we have a hole list of the clothing of the time.
History of the Soviet officer everyday uniform
The introduction of the enlisted men M69 parade uniform was a big novelty in the Soviet Army. It was well loved by the soldiers - it was fashionable and more comfortable than the previous tunic. But the officer set was not exactly new for the professional army personnel. This is an important remark - all so-called "officer uniforms" were not only issued for the actual commissioned officers. It was intended to all those who worked in the Armed Forces, as opposed to doing national service. And there was also an exception (the Soviet Army was full of these)
The uniform that Soviet officers were using as their everyday wear was designed quite some time ago - in 1955 a very similar set was already introduced to service. The main difference with the updated M69 set were the trousers - following a very old Russian tradition, both trousers and breeches were dark blue. In 1969 it was decided to separate the colours into two distinct sets of uniforms. The khaki color became the everyday suit and the blue was now reserved for the parades. Since then, this uniform did not experience any changes until the very collapse of the Soviet Union and its Army respectively.
The M69 officer suit
The half-wool suit consisted was issued to every officer, warrant officer and contracted soldier. The whole set consisted of following pieces of clothing:
Jacket
Breeches
Straight trousers
Cap
Shirt
Tie
By the book, this set was supposed to be worn by officers on daily bases, but only as a barrack attire. However, quite often officers did not bother to change into the field uniform for any sort of tactical exercises. It is not uncommon to spot this on the photographs. Same goes for the work with the vehicles - officers would just throw on some overalls.
This was a very handy set of clothing - suits were universally loved in Soviet Union at the time and Army was not an exception. Every professional military person would wear it almost exclusively and on daily basis.
This uniform could have been worn in a variety of settinngs, depending on the ossacion. All of these are described in detail in the rules and will be discussed in Red Alert: Structure and Uniforms of the Soviet Infantry Regiment. As a general rule, it is important to remember following points:
Straight trousers were worn for going out, so were rarely seen inside the base
Jackboots were always worn with breeches
Althoug it looks strange, belt was not always worn
M69 everyday officer set In Afghanistan
Since this was an integral part of the Soviet officer's look, there was not way for this set of uniform to avoid Afghanistan. Of course, situation and climate in Afghanistan did not call for a half-wool official looking suit to be worn on daily bases.
In Afghanistan, officers uniforms kind of degraded by one category - the parade blues were not used at all, the everyday suit was used for some very special official events, field uniform was used for everyday events and the field clothing was very mixed depending on the season. It was also used in colder month by those officers who worked in higher cabinets. However, by mid-80s it was almost redundant because of the new, fashionable and overall cool M88 Afghanka. Ever since it hit the warehouses in Afghanistan, every POG officer got one set yo be worn for daily routine.
ความคิดเห็น