US Tank Crew Personal Clothing and Equipment 

Puts on a balaclava and talks in an Irish accent to a camera while sitting on a couch in a non-descript room.

Not a tanker, nor past military. Just a comment on the Wiley X glasses/goggles. Big thumbs up and mine saved my sight at work after taking an 8 inch aluminum hose coupling across the eyepiece. I have the wraparound gasket-ed set with interchangeable lenses, ear pieces and a stretch strap. Wore hearing protection muffs over them so the strap came in very comfortably. The fitting hit knocked me out for a short time an resulted in a gloriously blackened eye full circle where the gasket compressed, not a mark on the prescription lenses.

Developed a thinner balaclava? My first thought was they'd procured Navy style anti-flash hoods. And seeing it worn, well... I wonder if they use the same supplier as the USN... Edit: And yep, there it is later.

Very well done , Nick . I guess I'm an old guy who likes this type of topic .

Having fired small arms (as a civilian) and gotten some unpleasant burns from casings (and a small scorch mark on my shirt at one point), I could absolutely see something a thousand times larger and more potent being hot enough to do some serious damage to laces if left there.

Served in Kirchgons, Germany with 32nd Armor, I wore the field liner inside my nomex. Rolling out in the Autobahn next to my TC on a cold February in the wee hours of the morning. HEATER was broke. Froze my Ass off. Gunner got hypothermia. TC could careless as he was from Seattle. I came from the Philippines and Immigrated to southern cali. After the roadmarch. Went straight to the PX and bought Matterhorns Gortex boots. Eventually bought matterhorns tanker boots later. I also bought gortex socks as it came in handy when you go to the wash rack. Hated those CVC. I had a large noggin and was issued a medium. Lol. VICTORY OR DEATH!!! DELTA 2/32 ARMOR. "DESPERADOS".

During my brief military career, some 50+ years ago in US Army, I had to deal with two Majors. Looking back, I believe both were born as Majors and at no time during their lives had they ever experienced anything that could be described as "fun." I'm sure the same can't be said about the Chieftain.

i formally object to the cooling jacket being called "the tie fighter jacket" when it clearly should be called "the mech jock vest" or simply "mech vest". which, of course would require the cvc helmet then being called "the neural helmet".

The aircrew coveralls have velcro to prevent zips being a FOD hazzard.

Was always jealous of the tankers gear, I was in a Bradley crew as an infantrymen so we weren’t permitted to wear the tanker boots. I found this odd because the advantages would’ve applied to either vehicle crews.

I’m a firefighter and the flash hood is part of our gear and has been for over 2 decades.

In WW2, my father was a gunner, radio-op in the 1st Hussars, 22nd Sherbrooke Cdn Reg. He said when doing maintenance, they wore black coveralls at first. Not good as the looked too much like a Panzer crew uniform from a distance. No helmets, just a black beret. In most photos, I see him wearing and rest of crew wearing German belt buckles. As for side-arms, they would ditch the holsters as they were too bulky when you needed to quickly get in/out of the hatches. They would just stuff the Webley 6-shooter and later 45 autos into their waistbands.

I would imagine as plastics were invented and synthetic laces became standard, prolonged use of them around hot shell casings would eventually melt them

Great video, thanks for what you do. While in the USN in the early 1970s we were told to stuff our dungaree bottoms into our nylon socks and to roll down the sleeves on our cotton shirts for General Quarters. Some protection! Thankfully we didn't see any real combat.

I was a m60a3tts crewman in 1982-1986 with the 1/68 armor in wildflicken germany

In the UK, the overalls I wear for work (welding) can be different grades of fire resistant. I think the best ones are the fire retardant ones as I have had fire resistant overalls set on fire before

Ah yes, the RN in 1982, anti flash hoods and _nylon_ overalls, that went well.

I have my dads old cvc helmet, not sure exactly why he had it, he was a cook in desert storm

..Angry Cop pointed out that the velcro on the ACU was just the thing for patrolling..theres nothing like alarming your enemy on a quiet night with the loud sound of velcro..not a problem in a anti-stealth vehicle like a tank though..

Red sir, RED is the Artillery branch color! You seemed to mention everyone else but skipped Artillery Red when you mentioned them! Of course I'm being a bit tongue in cheek, but as a proud Redleg I had to comment! Thumbs up and all that, keep making such great videos

I like the bright yellow stars on the Helmet, so the sniper knows which head to shoot. Very convenient. Of course if all you're fighting are a bunch of peasants who can't hit the broad side of a barn it doesn't really matter.

Thank you!

You wore a cooling vest like a mechwarrior!

Those hoods are what structure firemen use when they go into burning buildings

Funny thing is the balaclava is U.S. Navy. We have had them for years!

I was mad as hell when they gave the legs the beret i busted my ass to get... LOL berets are however useless . Patrol cap was my fave.. RLTW!

Been a few years, have you gotten back in an Abrams/Bradley? Or do they still have you commanding a desk?

OK that 1911 looks awesome. Who makes it?

10:44 does that mean you also do unboxing videos now?

I'm not sure what good than thin anti-flash would be. It's only really for dealing with flash and not actual fire, and if their is a flash in a tank their is going to be a fire very shortly there after. As for the origin of anti-flash, Jutland. If your in a turret, handling room or a magazine and their is a flash their is still a few minutes before the magazines will detonate so if you are wearing anti-flash you can then flood the magazines. If you aren't wearing anti-flash you can roll around in agony and then be destroyed in an explosion along with the rest pf your ship. They did exist before but kind of came and went in popularity but after this the RN kept them religiously.

What model is that tanker holster cause I've been looking for it but i can't find it

Loved when we invaded iraq they required us to wear CVCs in the Brad's and tanks but our JLIST over it lol

Can you show your US dress uniform?

hey chieftain i’m at training right now i’m an aspiring tank, i will be a drive, do you have an advice for me....

can you do this with soviet equipment?

ed 86-89 ntc star wars mre

The main advantage of the tanker coveralls is going to a bar in them and convincing the ladies you're a Pilot.

"when i played infantry obviously i'd switch to a leg holster" - spoken by a true IRL gamer

"Who would shoot me in the back in a tank?" Dunno. How much do you trust your crew?

The small pocket on the inner thigh one finds on U.S. flight crew uniforms is for a shroud cutter. The line ties to the shroud cutter to reduce chances of loss.

As a former tank crewman, first thank you for pointing out that the black beret was ours long before the rangers stole it. Second, the "cooling vest" was more like a convection oven in Iraq. When the air you are pulling in is 120 degrees the air it moves around your body is 120. Third, the second reason for tanker boots was for blood circulation. CVC bag is the poggie bait bag. I don't think I ever carried anything but snacks in that thing. Still have my tanker jacket, my holster, my Stetson and my spurs.

When I was in Iraq in 2008, we were issued a dark green t shirt that was cotton. The tan t shirts were still poly material, so at a glance the NCOs could tell if you had the correct uniform on or not.

Could be fun to have a breakdown of different era tank uniforms like ww1, ww2 etc

Mandatory Chuck Norris T-shirt, never change boss never change

The RN did indeed have flash hoods when they went to the Falklands. However, they (or the procurement bean-counters) hadn't learned the lesson about wearing nylon coveralls when your ship is on fire. Fortunately, it turns out that one of the most effective forms of first aid for having your uniform melt onto your skin is a quick dip in the South Atlantic.

The original US issue tanker boots had 1/4" straps that would stretch. In Germany we would buy the German version of the boot which had 1/2" straps and is now adopted by the US military. In the 11th ACR you never had to complete a gunnery table to own or wear them. The story and reason for the straps was in case of flash fire, fast donn/doff, and as you stated to keep laces from getting snagged. Glad to see they upgraded the "Earth, Wind, and Fire" googles.

Well, at last, some decent gear for tankers! When I was a tanker in the 1960's we had nothing specific for tankers, were not even issued tanker helmets, had to do with como gear worn under a regular steel pot. So uncomfortable and unwieldy we usually wore only the liner in the field (useless for protection). Not in the field we wore the much hated "Patton or Hardee cap", which we had to buy, and as the como gear crushed it quickly, we had to buy them often. Uniforms were the same as infantry "fatigues" and as they quickly became so covered in grease stains (especially the "turret ring tattoo across the back) we had to buy replacements often (pay was less than $100 a month for privates then so that expense hurt) we could, however, put zippers for the boots and would haunt surplus stores for WW2 tanker jackets and raincoats (try wearing a poncho in a tank!) and even aircrew helmets we could wear. Two items from the German army were much envied, the black uniform that did not show the grease stains and the black beret with a bump cap inside for protection great for field use and for just working inside the tank. Love your vids, watch them all.

As a current M1A2c operator, I can defiantly confirm those nomex suits get way too hot in the summer and not hot enough in the winter.

Did you guys get different gas masks? I picked one up somewhere with a long tube between the mask and canister. I was told it was for tankers. Marine grunt here so excuse bad spelling and grammar. I'm hungry. Where are my crayons.

Looks like someone's unit bought commemorative Kimber 1911 railed pistols.... Nice.

“Couldn’t be arsed to clean of desk” My Brian: flashes back to the video where he had 40k tanks on his desk Me: I know why his desk his cluttered

"Who's going to shoot me in the back in a tank?" - there speaks a popular officer :P

I am guessing that when a tanker needs to rely on a camouflage suit, something has gone seriously wrong.

The Navy has used the thinner balaclava for at least 30 years

2nd ACR back in 75 to 80 had berets, and when they had them they wore them in the tank and not cvc's understandably that's part of the reason the beret got yanked in 80 and swapped for Ranger Patrol Caps with a Border tab replacing the Ranger tab ,again to a lot of rangers distress. Also Stetsons in circa 1878 were supposed to be blocked pretty much like a fedora

Ooooo finally! I know something that Manic does not. The hat cord is descended from a "Sword Knot" used to tie the saber to the wrist so as not to loose the sword during combat. As sabers became used less and less, the sword knots became more and more decorative. Until today where nobody know the origin.

WWI vs WWII vs Korean War vs Vietnam War and so on tanker uniforms? Maybe a short history or evolution. I would LOVE to learn.

Nobody is buying the book? I quite liked it., and I'm hoping you've got plans for a couple more.

The Royal Navy started using anti flash hoods in WW2 for some personnel such as gunners. By the time of the Falklands all crew were using them when at action stations. It wasn't until the Falklands though that they learned the hoods needed to be tucked into the overalls for the best protection as explosions can blow them off.

You mentioning flame resistant clothing and balaclavas brought back a long gone memory: when we got our (conscript) infantery equipment we also got a balaclava (maybe for winter face camo) and it had a lable stating "schwer entflammbar" on it. Which basically means flame resistant. But you could also read it as "difficult to inflame". It is a german expression for something that can withstand fire for a bit. And when i entered the room in the barracks as second to last guy, one of my 11 new "roommates" was already holding a zippo to his balaclava to test if the label was true... He stopped after i told him that it doesn't mean it won't burn, just that it will take longer.

I'm sure Sofilein would have loved to stand in as a human mannequin, demonstrating how all these pieces are correctly worn. :)

I can absolutely confirm that laces melt from the old shell casings: I had it happen to me during the early 90's on the old defensive live fire at NTC, with the M1IP and it's rifled 105. I was a driver who had been temporarily yanked to play loader for the rotation. As I recall we fired every main gun round we had aboard my tank (41 at the time). My laces melted when the casings went above my ankles. We started chucking them out the loader's hatch because one of them had rolled up against the gunner's leg and because I had no place left to stand. There's no aft cap catcher with a full casing coming out. Yes, we had to retrieve them from the ground after the live fire was done. The old 105 M1 carried a max of 55 rounds of main gun ammo but we only had 41 rounds on board. We didn't put the 8 rounds in the hull because no one wants a tank with live rounds aboard turning their turret past the range fans to get to them. We were also 6 shy of a full load in the turret, because (by unit SOP) we weren't allowed to use the 3 round turret floor storage (it tended to collect small debris that wouldn't let you get a round back out), nor the 3 outer stowage tubes on the ready rack's rotary rack. Too many loader's used to break a finger when that sucker spun around with the weight from the unused rounds. Do you remember that monstrosity? We used to joke about which unlucky bastard would end up flipping off everyone for a couple weeks with a finger cast.

Eyewear: Wiley X SG-1 with the strap. Worked well for me.

15:44 if the TC disconnects from the Intercom while the tank is driving backwards it means "Tank full stop" at least here in germany. Still prefer to wear a baret instead of a helmet inside a tank.

This video gives you a real grasp at just how deeply the Chieftain cares about ergonomics

"Really, who is going to shoot you in the back in a tank?!" - Sounds suspiciously like famous last words! lol. The helmet lining has a striking resemblance to older helmets from WW2, Russian and American. I think that is a cool legacy left over from good design. However, always found it funny that kind of gear is so far behind modern tech. The noise-cancelling should really be much better. You mentioned the Vic 3 (?) was much better which is good to hear. I hope you make BC mate!

How did you end up in the US army all the way from Ireland? Greetings from the homeland btw🇮🇪

Great Video and keep up the good work. From an old MG, the balaclava is a requirement for tank gunnery. If you were went down range without it, you might as well clear and elevate and go back and receive your DQ. If the standards fell so low that units allowed crews not to wear them, that is on them. The M1A1 with the 120mm and its semi-combustible ammunition is how the requirement for Nomex came about. Yes there was Nomex underwear, but the Army did not procure it. The flashhold was a godsend, but it seems it took the conflict in Iraq to get it into the supply system for units to order it.. Comment on the eyewear suggestion - The best I found was the Aviator sunglasses. Yes I had to purchase my own, take out the lens and send them to an eyeglasses shop to have my prescription put it, but it was worth it. Wiley's was to 'fishbowl' for me. The REF and APEL (www.peosoldier.army.mil/equipment/eyewear/) get you what you should need, so don't piss off supply and have it ordered. I had the older UVEX, but I still went to my old aviators otherwise I suffered like the Chieftain. Tanker boots - Nice! Your an officer Chieftain and you should be able to afford the Dehner's boots by now. You also hit the main reason for tanker boots, flex in the ankles while sitting in the tank for long periods of time. Good to see some old knowledge being distributed. I read below on protective masks and inserts. You should do a vid on that. From the older M-25 (the one with the hose and canister that someone was trying to remember) to the M42 and how that came about for the hose (remember requirements) and the new M-51 pro-mask. To the poster on the eye lens inserts on the mask, on the M-25 yes if you did not put them in right, you could poke something out. My experience is once a scratch my right temple...once. Made sure after that to always have lens insert put in properly. On the CVC cord and quick disconnect, yeah when it got old, it was not hold. so you took the clip and clipped the cords together. After Desert Storm we always seem to have a few CVC cords. When we got ready to go to Iraq, each tank had the boresight cord or the 25 ft version. On your plates and body armor. Some of my guys wore the plates in the chicken vest (aka Nomex Armor Vest), until 1st MARDIV said "No Army you cannot." Had to go back to the IBA. I don't know about removing back plates, but we had a little problem in the Fallujah- Ramadi area called snipers, so we wore plates. To each his own I guess. Of the CVC Gloves you did not show the older set with the black leather palms. When the REF clothing kicked in and everyone received Nomex gloves, It seemed the (www.armyproperty.com/nsn/8415-01-074-9432) these gloves were out of supply and the aviator's were accepted as the normal issue. Makes sense in big Army, why buy two different gloves when they are basically the same thing. Stay on the tank!

Speaking of the stetsons: I was awarded combat spurs by the cav unit I was with in Afghanistan, even though I was not with them. Is there a regulation or guidance on such things? I have been unable to find it anywhere.

I know this is an old video but on the subject of eyewear and finding thin safety glasses that are comfortable under a CVC helmet may I recommend the Peltor or 3M securefit safety glasses. They're super cheap, come in smoke, Amber and clear and have a very thin frame that fits great under ear protection. I haven't really spent a lot of time wearing A CVC helmet but I have spent a great deal of time wearing a pair of comtacs under a Kevlar and those thin temple pieces really helped reduce the indentation that tended to form on the sides of my head when I wore the issued ESS glasses. the next best thing by the way are some of the other cheap 3m safety glasses you can find at most stores these days, many have really thin temple pieces that are quite comfortable to wear under ear-pro.

I was recon infantry and recon jeeps/armoured humvees. My country is too small to really have anything else, so it is interesting to see what the other kinds of services have^^ (BTW, I am from Luxembourg)

That holster was so much better then the old black leather ones we had. They where old worn out and if you had a bad clip on your Lt. Leska cord, I mean lanyard, you would feed your 1911 to the turret monster.

As a submariner we also wore anti-flash, go figure ! Are there now females in tanks in the US, and if so what changes have been made to PPE? Or is it one size fits nobody. Merry Christmas one and all, have a better, brighter and happier new year.

"You could nick this,,," Yep, you can take a man out of the Army but never take the Army out of the man. Forever more he will be an official procurer. Nicked your book at Amazon.

Wait, you were 11th ACR, which Squadron and Troop?

It's amazing to see how similar in design the tanker coveralls are to my old submarine coveralls. We had belt loops since we wore a belt with ours, and no "rear access hatch" but the 2 way zipper and general layout seems to be very similar. We also wore sneakers with ours underway, because quiet. Edit: Also, that lighter flash hood has been in standard use by the Navy since forever. Looks like they just started giving them to tanker types because it works for you guys too.

WileyX makes ballistic eyewear were the plastic frames can be switched with a strap, though they do not have the ability to have only monocles - according to my knowledge.

Speaking as a U.S. Taxpayer, Single -- proud to serve, sir! -- I can't believe so much of the clothes, eyewear, etc., we give soldiers is apparently not ideal. All that testing and review, and it still isn't perfect for the job? I mean the Army has been training armor crews for desert fighting since at least 1940, so you'd think they would have everything down pat.

Man, the stuff we were issued in Germany looks ancient compared to the American one. No nomex, just cotton; eye-pro like your old ones (but without tinted lenses); no Kevlar helmet, either leather ones that look like the what the soviets war in WW2, or the interior of your helmet without the exterior,;no tanker holsters or anything like that and no tanker boots.And I left in January 2019! I don't even want to think about how much money I spend on what should have been standard issue.

"No one is gonna shoot me in the back in a tank" - The first guy to be shot in the back in a tank

I had the Revision wide frame goggles, (never worn,) and WileyX SG1's which were super ballistic but fogged up in the desert heat. Great to see what the poor people wore to work. We commuted by air and mostly worked the night shift.

Just watched the video, first I've heard of the book. Went to order it on Amazon, and it's unavailable. I hope that means they all sold?

Are there any differences in what is worn/used between a tank crewman and a Bradley crewman? Also, what's the name of the holster you showed off? I'm putting together an airsoft loadout representing a dismounted Bradley crewman in the late 80s, right after the Bradley entered service, and finding information has been extremely difficult. I thought it was akin to a regular infantryman except for a CVC helmet and a chest holster, but I think based on this video I am very wrong. If you ever had to go on mission outside of your vehicle, did you just use your pistol or were you given a rifle? Also, did you use a vest or anything like that or just a pistol/combat belt?

I'm an idiot who has never done anything, and I'm here to give criticism. I think your book isn't selling, because 1. The price is a little too steep. I know you probably can't help this. 2. The cover makes it look less like a historical book and more like a World of Tanks Strategy Guide.

I used to wear tanker boots at my first unit in W. Germany in the mid-80's. Then Top said that we were in an infantry battalion, and to lose the boots before he sent my Platoon Sergeant to pull them off my feet and toss them in the trash. Loved my nomex. In Hoenfels and Graf my field uniform was usually drawers, tshirt, boots, cravat, goggles, MOPP gear, M203, k-pot/cap, and nomex. And ACUs sucked, but they were far better than the old summer BDU's.

Fun fact: When I was in Dragon Company, 1/3ACR in the early-/mid-nineties, Clinton's SECDEF was cutting our budgets so fast that whenever we went out on maneuver field ops with the tanks (M1A1 Heavy) we were ordered to leave our NOMEX coveralls back in the rear. Why? Because they wear out *fast* and tear easily thus needing replacement before gunnery or real-world deployment. Since the squadron was pretty much broke for anything outside of fuel and critical parts we wore our OD green cotton mechanics coveralls instead as replacing those was "cheaper" than replacing a NOMEX coverall. Everyone's mechanics coveralls were frayed and had holes in them from checking the battery acid levels where a small drop of battery acid would just eat a hole through them. Even when we were road marching to gunnery at the Dona Ana Range we were in mechanics coveralls instead of NOMEX, which were kept in our duffle bags stowed in the rear bustle rack of the tank wrapped in a "taco" made from our tank's tarp. The only time we wore NOMEX was during actual gunnery. Also, the cooling vests didn't work unless the NBC system was running. Running the NBC system required the tank to be put into what's called "TAC IDLE" which keeps the engine revs up when in (N)eutral on the t-bar, usually whenever you're on the defense in a firing position because the first thing the enemy likes to do is "slime" you with gas/chemical/bio rounds. Running the engine in TAC IDLE burns a lot of fuel, resulting in more money having to be spent on fuel so we were ordered to *never* run the tank in TAC IDLE unless conducting a tank gunnery exercise in full MOPP-4 and even then most tank commanders left it off to conserve fuel. You see, the big problem was that in the desert the NBC system's filters tend to get clogged up so that when you turned it on, they would quickly heat up and catch fire and next thing you know, black smoke is pouring out of the NBC hoses inside the tank. And guess what is the one item on the tank that 19K are *not* authorized to mess with even to conduct detailed PMCS on? That's right - the NBC system. Only the tank mechanics could mess with it, which they never did. Friend of mine died this way out at NTC. We tried to get him out but the tank was shut down and we had to manually traverse the turret to get it over the back deck so we could access his driver's position (he had the hatch closed of course) and well, that's not a fast thing to do. I was one month out of 19K OSUT training at Ft. Knox. Needless to say, that while the tank itself was issued those vests we tended to leave them in the platoon CONEX in the motorpool because at Ft. Bliss on the El Paso/Juarez border there was nothing but dust clogging up everything. Many, many other things were bad for us U.S. tankers in the 90s thanks to the Clinton Administration but at least Bush plussed us all up in the 00s so we no longer had to go to NTC or do field maneuvers with 3-man tanks. My TC once busted his knee open on the TC's guard and we went down to a 2-man crew - me as the TC and our driver - when he was medivac'd to the rear during the middle of training exercises. You know it's gotten real bad when a tank is crewed by just two Specialists until a replacement NCO can be sent out from the REAR-D.

Airforce recruiters should start mentioning they get more pockets than everyone else

15:45 I’m not sure if the Chieftain or any other tanker will see this, but in UK rail, you have to give continuous confirmation of a live link when someone is talking a train backwards in to a position where the driver cannot see where the train is going. That is required to be done by either using a radio that injects beeps in the absence of speech, or by verbally confirming the instruction to proceed over and over. This seems like a safety technique that could usefully be applied to tanks if (as the chieftain suggests) comms can be lost during reversing.

Im just glad to see the Chieftain uses a 1911. Or at least has one. Also, now I was never a tanker but I did get to crew an LAV and the attire is similar, though now the USMC issues the FROG uniform instead of the CVC coveralls (at least 4-5 years ago they did) for crewmen. The new ESS or Revision goggles are plenty comfortable for use with the CVC helmet but I still had the issue of headaches with glasses since I wore prescription glasses anyway.

The motor racing industry is always at the forefront of fire protection for racing drivers. I know that engineers working within F1 and probably other elite motor racing were involved with designing of new military vehicles for high IED threat environment. I wonder if they and the military used similar fire protection or even use each others knowledge. Of course the aviation industry has always had fire protection in mind so it's not like there's any shortage of experts. But military being what it is things move rather slowly at times and quite often crossing over of knowledge and experience is always held back by one guy knowing better than the other guy. Equipment for military personnel does seem to be improving.

I know I am way late to this party, but damn, this has to be the most interesting vid since I saw that army civics one you gave. Thank you very much.

Only Warrents are allowed to have fun in Aviation.

How I wish we had such personal equipment when I was a tanker in the first half of the 1960's. All of our stuff was identical a WW2 infantryman, indeed much of it was date stamped (as was all of our rations) in the 1940's. Tanker helmets? Never, we were required to wear the infantry steel pot with the old fashioned radio headsets underneath (painful). Most just refused to wear it unless directly ordered to do so (until that clueless officer was out of sight.) we could get away with just wearing the light helmet liner and most higher ups pretended not to notice. For the most part we just wore the much hated "Patten Cap", hated because it was not an issue item and we had to buy it, and hated because before long it had to be replaced due to black grease and oil stains in addition to deforning from having to wear the radio headset over it. we would have loved to have your gear, and ideally in black to hide the grease and oil stains which set us back to the PX to buy more "Good Luck" fatigues. (remember in the 60's a PFC made about $100 a month) The only item that was familiar was your first pair of goggles, identical to ours. Historical note, your Cav hats were (until 1941) general issue to the whole army in the "Montana Peak' style (think WW1 doughboy or modern "Drill Sargent"). The color was the same for all, O.D. Branch cords were as you pointed out, Company Grade and field grade officers wore black and gold cords, general officers , gold. this tradition was continued after 1941 with the piping on the overseas cap (discontinued with the introduction of the green class A uniform. Love your videos!

wearing body armor inside a 70 ton tank seems to be a bit much

The Abrams chemical/biological filter system is for the crew the event of a CBRN attack. The cooling vest is part of that system. It is designed as an overpressure system, meaning it's only supposed to be running for short periods or when the hatches are closed and the vehicle is properly over-pressurized. Crews tend to use the vest or the NBC system to cool their trousers and run it too long and with hatches open which causes the filters to overheat, melt and eventually catch fire. Chemical filters melting and on fire is really bad for the respiratory system, not to mention the tank. So, the cooling vest or "chicken vest" isn't issued out much anymore.

I just bought Can Openers (Merry Christmas), it had sat in my Amazon Wish List which I had forgotten so I advanced it to the cart for my enjoyment and education when it arrives.

The service I don't think should be wearing camouflage in general is Navy. You're on a ship! In general quarters, the enemy isn't going to spot the ship because of what the crew are wearing. On the other hand, if a sailor goes in the water, shouldn't they be wearing something bright and easy to spot? Not necessarily blaze orange, but something other than the color of the sea? Can someone explain why the Navy camouflages ordinary crew?

Pretty much identical to our uk fire service flash hood! Cool to see

In regards to eyewear that doesn't dig into your head under a CVC, the ESS Suppressor frames are a life saver. The arms are thinner as they're designed for wear with hearing protection, and as such work great with CVCs for you tankers and Brad crews as well as headsets for gun truck crews.

You mentioned the 6 table or 8 table, what does that mean re tanker boots?