Osprey Men-at-Arms 205 : US Army Combat Equipments 1910-1988

Whether referred to as web gear, TE-21, TA50, LBE or LCE, the American soldier's individual combat equipment was seldom praised - except by its developers. Nevertheless, it has always been, and will continue to be an essential part of the fighting man's burden. To say that a soldier's web gear (the most common soldier's term for it from World War I to the present) is close to him is an understatement. It has long been a precept that while he is in the field, if a soldier is not actually wearing his gear, it had better be within arm's reach. A combat soldier withdrawn to the rear can feel quite naked without his gear - his attitude now is very different from his reaction during the first days in basic training, when staring down at a confusing tangle of belts, straps, pouches, and unknown objects, while the drill sergeant announced, 'I'm gonna show ya all how to put this junk together... it's gonna be part of ya!'. With the aid of plenty of contemporary photographs, diagrams, and eight full page colour plates by Ron Volstad, Gordon Rottman's text unearths a wealth of information on the changing nature of US combat equipments from 1910-1988.

Contents

• Introduction
• The M1910 Infantry Equipment
• The M1912/14 Cavalry Equipment
• The M1917/18 Equipment
• Early World War II Improved 1910 Equipment
• Late World War II M1910 Equipment
• The M1956 Load Carrying Equipment
• The M1967 Modernized Load Carrying Equipment
• The All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment
• The Integrated Individual Fighting System
• The Plates