U.S. Navy bridge coats

[Doctor Damage]

Some WW2 images.



1941 USN officer - this coat has a belt and wrist straps and seems to be a black version of the officer's overcoats which senior army officers started using in WW2. It doesn't seem to be a bridge coat.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Thanks for posting this great info. I had to purchase my bridge coat, but I am an Officer Candidate School grad. From my understanding the Mids in NROTC are required to turn their bridge coats back in upon graduation. I have a friend that graduated from the Academy and he says that since they have to pay for all of their issued gear, they get to keep their bridge coats.

I have just spent the last year at the Army Command and General Staff College, and I tried to wear my bridge coat as much as possible because it made the Army guys jealous. They don't have anything like it anymore and they would always comment on how much they were impressed by it.

Thanks for the inside info on bridge coats. Regarding non-USN coats, I recently read a post in which a USMC guy called their All Weather Coats "bags", which sounds about right since those things are functional, but kinda crappy!

 

[Peacoat]

Thanks for posting this great info. I had to purchase my bridge coat, but I am an Officer Candidate School grad. From my understanding the Mids in NROTC are required to turn their bridge coats back in upon graduation. I have a friend that graduated from the Academy and he says that since they have to pay for all of their issued gear, they get to keep their bridge coats.

I have just spent the last year at the Army Command and General Staff College, and I tried to wear my bridge coat as much as possible because it made the Army guys jealous. They don't have anything like it anymore and they would always comment on how much they were impressed by it.

Does the Army no longer have its greatcoat? If not, what do they wear in cold weather with their greens?

 

[Treetopflyer]

Does the Army no longer have its greatcoat? If not, what do they wear in cold weather with their greens?

They no longer have greens. The only dress uniform they have is their ASUs (Dress Blues). They wear their black rain coat with that. Other than that, they wear their Army Combat Uniform (ACU) everywhere. Even when they travel commercially, which as a Navy guy, I find very inappropriate since it is a working uniform.

 

[Peacoat]

They no longer have greens. The only dress uniform they have is their ASUs (Dress Blues). They wear their black rain coat with that. Other than that, they wear their Army Combat Uniform (ACU) everywhere. Even when they travel commercially, which as a Navy guy, I find very inappropriate since it is a working uniform.

Dress blues as a standard office uniform? What do they wear for formal occasions? A few years ago I could still wear my dress blues. Having been in the closet for several more years, it has probably shrunk a bit.

I find the wearing of the ACU anyplace other than on post, inappropriate as well. What is this Army coming to?

A black raincoat? There is no class in that.

 

[Treetopflyer]

Dress blues as a standard office uniform? What do they wear for formal occasions? A few years ago I could still wear my dress blues. Having been in the closet for several more years, it has probably shrunk a bit.

I find the wearing of the ACU anyplace other than on post, inappropriate as well. What is this Army coming to?

A black raincoat? There is no class in that.

The office uniform is the ACU. The ACU has replaced a few uniforms, from what I understand.

 

[Doctor Damage]

^ Treetop, is the so-called All Weather Coat still in use for the army?

 

[Doctor Damage]

U.S. Coast Guard bridge coat, according to the seller. Unfortunately they didn't provide a photo of the tag(s).

 

[Peacoat]

The lapels are much larger than on my bridgecoat; the same size as peacoat lapels.

 

[Treetopflyer]

^ Treetop, is the so-called All Weather Coat still in use for the army?

I am not sure about that one. I'm Navy and was stationed with the Army guys for a year. I know about some of their uniform items, but not all. I do know that they hate the black berets.

 

[Doctor Damage]

^ Thanks.

Here's a band leader in 1953 in bridge coat. Too bad it's a low quality image or we might see if he's wearing rank stripes on his cuffs or not.

 

[Peacoat]

I am not sure about that one. I'm Navy and was stationed with the Army guys for a year. I know about some of their uniform items, but not all. I do know that they hate the black berets.

Yes, It's an aberration. What was the Army thinking?

Here's a band leader in 1953 in bridge coat. Too bad it's a low quality image or we might see if he's wearing rank stripes on his cuffs or not.

Lt. Morris looks to be older than the normal Lieutenant (0-3). The navy still has the officer sleeve rank stripes* on its uniform jackets, but not on the bridgecoats. Probably figures the shoulder board ranks are sufficient.

_________
* For the Navy:

1/2 stripe = Ensign O-1
1 1/2 stripes = Lt. Jr. Grade O-2
2 stripes = Lieutenant O-3
2 1/2 stripes = Lt. Commander O-4
3 stripes = Commander O-5
4 stripes = Captain O-6

 

[Doctor Damage]

1/2 stripe = Ensign O-1
1 1/2 stripes = Lt. Jr. Grade O-2
2 stripes = Lieutenant O-3
2 1/2 stripes = Lt. Commander O-4
3 stripes = Commander O-5
4 stripes = Captain O-6

Do you know if they used the same configuration of cuff stripes on the bridge coat cuffs? I have only seen one vintage coat with cuff stripes and epaulets and that's not enough to be reliable. I ask because as I recall the army during WW2 had cuff stripes on some officer's coats but only representative stripes, such as one thin stripe for junior officers, one thick for generals, or something like that.

 

[Peacoat]

Do you know if they used the same configuration of cuff stripes on the bridge coat cuffs? I have only seen one vintage coat with cuff stripes and epaulets and that's not enough to be reliable. I ask because as I recall the army during WW2 had cuff stripes on some officer's coats but only representative stripes, such as one thin stripe for junior officers, one thick for generals, or something like that.

I can only assume the same configuration was used on the bridgecoats to denote rank. The Army will do things the way it wants to do them, and is not influenced too much by what the Navy does and the same for the Navy. So I don't think we can infer too much by the Army's sleeve configuration, but I really don't know.

I just dragged out my dress greens jacket, and it has the single black stripe going around the sleeve. I found a picture of a Colonel (O-6)*, and he had the same stripe as mine, so I guess the generals had the thicker stripe. I think the Colonel would take offense being referred to as a "junior officer" (especially this Colonel), but I understand what you mean.

_________

*In the Navy, a "Four Striper."

 

[Doctor Damage]

Photos of woman's bridge coats. These have six buttons, rounded collar points, and a shaped upper torso...



... except, of course, when they don't have those details:

 

[Doctor Damage]

Time for some oddball and misc coats. This one is was made by Neptune (from Boston) in 2008 and looks to be of high quality (as might be expected from this company) in a thick wool. It has normal pea coat buttons, which suggests it was aimed at the civilian market, but it has epaulet loops which suggests a military-intended coat; of course the buttons could have been changed at some point. In any case, if this coat had been a 42L I would have bought it for sure.



This coat is a bridge coat in all details except it has only six buttons. When I first saw it I thought it was a women's coat, but it doesn't seem to have the right details for that (see previous posts) and it measures out to a genuine men's size, so perhaps it's just a sample coat or something.

 

[Tkecks]

I bought one of those Neptune 2008 bridge coats. size 46L, bought to be layered in the cold. Really nice quality. One detail you can't see on those photos is that it lacks a back belt; I prefer them without the belt.

 

[Doctor Damage]

I bought one of those Neptune 2008 bridge coats. size 46L, bought to be layered in the cold. Really nice quality. One detail you can't see on those photos is that it lacks a back belt; I prefer them without the belt.

Thanks for the info about the rear half-belt. There's one on e-Bay right now without the belt and I thought it might have been removed but the seller claims it her husband bought the coat when he entered the USN.

 

[Doctor Damage]

US Merchant Marine Academy bridge coat, made from what looks like a fairly lightweight wool twill (definitely not melton or the vintage kersey). It has a removable warm liner.

 

[Doctor Damage]

The 2013 Army-Navy game was apparently a cold one...