Poster

Wally,
I had a calendar from the Mairne Coprs Musuem and it was comprised of posters that were used for recuiting.(sp?) These were photos of real marines going about their everyday duty. At least that's my foggy memory of it.
I gave the one that you are showing to an old H-34 mech who framed it and has it hanging in his study.
As for the orange flight suit. I believe that was the color before the tan ones were issued.
Am sure that others will know more regarding this than me.

S/F Gary
HMM-263 '66-'67

Recruiting Poster Photo

Bytes,
Judging from the equipment those Marines are carrying,I'd say that poster is
probably circa late 50's or very early 60's.
The H-34 would appear to be from LTA Santa Ana.
The orange flight suits were still being issued at LTA state-side as of 1966,
although being phased out by the green wool.
The hi-vis orange was adopted for SAR purposes.Easy to see from the ground
& the air.
The orange suits were much preferred in the states from a comfort stand-
point by many of the crewmembers,to the degree that we would launder them
ourselves,rather than turning them in to base laundry.
The cotton/polyester was a lot cooler & reflected the sun.Very desireable out
at LTA during the summer months.
Semper Fi
MIKE COLLINS

The Wings painted on the clam shell doors were on all MAG-26 Aircraft in the late 50's/ early 60's.

Since the wings are black the H-34 belonged to HMM-264.

Recruiting Poster

The Utility Uniforms should be the old style herringbone cloth pattern. My college roommate, a member of the Platoon Leaders Class commissioning program, was probably issued some of the last of this uniform in '64 or so at OCS Quantico. At the time, anyone with the herringbone fabric could claim membership in the "Old Corps."

The radio on the ground is a PRC6 which entered service in 1951 replacing the World War Two BC611 "Walkie Talkie." It used vacuum tubes and worked on only one preset frequency. Battery life was short. It was also difficult to align. Alignment was done on a 'bench" with a special accessory.

The PRC6 had a power output of 350 MW making its range limited.

Its replacement, the PRC25 that the was used extensively in Vietnam, was far superior featuring the ability to change frequencies, or channels, power output of up to 1.5 Watts and a Milspec range of five miles. We know, however, that line of sight, helicopter to ground, extended that range greatly.

The reason grunts use FM and aviatiors use AM goes back to a technology battle between the Army and the Army Air Corps in WW Two. A related topic is frequency asignments which continue to be controversial to this day.

In the civilian world, air to ground communication with controlers is rapidly changing to - how shall I say it? - text messaging. But that is another story.

Photo ID

Marty is correct, the MAG 26 birds in the early 60's had the wings on the clamshell doors, and Craze, they were in New River. The orange flightsuits were quite visible, but they were HOT!:cool:

The ground Marines look a lot like the Marine "statues" in the New Marine Corps Museum. It's uncanny...Take a look at the site or calendar, and see if you all don't agree...

orange flight suits

i have, as i speak, my last orange flight suit, issued by hmm-264, hanging in my closet next to my flight jacket. as i recall, we were to wear them when our mission called for us to fly over water.