Black Boot Or Brown Boot Army In Korea?

[skb12172]

I have been watching MASH on Netflix. I noticed that Radar is wearing brown boots while Hawkeye and the others are wearing black. Bad costume continuity? Different uniform standards for officers vs enlisted? Which is accurate? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Aesop]

It's purely the result of drug-fuelled late '70s costume assistant at Fox doing a shitty job of continuity, because "no one will be looking at this", because they had no idea the show would go on for 37 seasons, and be seen in syndication on par with shows like Gilligan's Island and Star Trek in perpetuity, forever, 3M times a day somewhere in the world, even before streaming Netflix Instant TV On Demand appeared on the scene.

Or because Gary Burghoff's feet were more comfortable in the brown boots.

Odds: Exactly 50-50 either way.

And shame on you for thinking any sort of 70s TV sitcom had any semblance of touchstone to actual Army/military uniform standards, ever, at any point in American history.

The offending costumer has doubtless long since retired anyways, after either retiring on the proceeds of a long-running series, or a chain of subsequent schlocky TV crapola to make it to their pension.

Oh, and AFAIK, the uniform standard was black boots, shined.

For M*A*S*H*, that would also mean liberally dosed with SPFX bloodstains, not least of all for accuracy, but also because this was the media's paean against war in general, the Vietnam War specifically, and the military in general.

Then the country woke up and elected Ronald Reagan.

[randy]

In direct answer to the question in the subject line, IIRC the army used brown combat boots (i.e. WWII type) until after the Korean Armistice.

[skb12172]

I thought so, since the war seems to have been almost entirely fought with surplus WWII equipment.

[PawPaw]

As I recall, black boots weren't introduced into the Army until 1957. From Wikipedia:

The first true modern combat boots in the US Army, officially titled "Boots, Combat Service", were introduced in conjunction with the M-1943 Uniform Ensemble during World War II.[12][13] They were modified service shoes, with an extended, rough-out or, more commonly, a smooth leather high-top cuff added.[12] The cuff was closed using two buckles, allowing the boots to replace the existing service shoes and leggings worn by most soldiers with a more convenient and practical solution.[12] The boots, and the service shoes they were made from, had a one piece sole and heel, made from molded synthetic or reclaimed rubber.[12][13][14] These "double buckle" boots were worn through the Korean War as a substitute for the Boots, Russet, Leather Lace Up introduced in 1948. The first type of Combat Boots, or Combat Tropical boots were based on the "buckle boot" design and worn during the early parts of the Vietnam War.[15]

In 1957, the US Army switched to shined black combat boots, although the transition to black boots was not completed until late in the Vietnam War, which also saw the introduction of the jungle boot.[4][15][16] Both of these boots had a direct molded sole.[17] The jungle boot had a black leather lower and an olive drab nylon upper.[18] Black boots continued to be worn following Vietnam, with the M81 BDU, although non-shine boots were considered by the Army.[4][19][20][21][22] As the BDU was replaced with the MCCUU, Army Combat Uniform, and Airman Battle Uniform the services transitioned to more practical, non-shine footwear.[4][23][24] The only current military service mandating shined black combat boots are the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, the Auxiliary Cadet Detachment of the Naval forces, and the Civil Air Patrol, the Auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, in conjunction with the BDU utility uniform.[25]

When I was a rookie Trooper in 1973, we still had NCO's from what we called "The Brown Boot Army", and they were held in some regard, if not outright awe.

With the advent of the Schwartzkopf boot in 1990, the Army has returned to brown boots, albeit of roughout leather. My service has now come full circle and I'm one of those guys who served in "The Black Boot Army".

[D5CAV]

Union Army was black leather in 1860
US Army was brown leather by San Juan Hill in the Spanish American War
It was brown leather until Vietnam, when it went back to black
As Pawpaw said, now back to brown/tan since Desert Storm

Fashions change, even in the Army, although a bit slower than in Paris or New York.

[skb12172]

Found out a bit more from the MASH wiki. They didn't pay much attention to footwear, since most of the time the actors were actually wearing sneakers, due to the majority of filming being from the waist up. During times that feet are visible, there is a mixture of brown and black army boots with at least one secondary, recurring character wearing old brown work boots. Looks like Aesop called it on this one.

[Yogimus]

I GOT GREEN!

[Langenator]

Union Army was black leather in 1860
US Army was brown leather by San Juan Hill in the Spanish American War
It was brown leather until Vietnam, when it went back to black
As Pawpaw said, now back to brown/tan since Desert Storm

Fashions change, even in the Army, although a bit slower than in Paris or New York.

Actually, the current brown/tan iteration didn't begin until 2005 with the introduction of the ACU. Wear out for the black boots was October 2007, IIRC. Before 2005, the desert boots were theater specific deployment issue, plus the OPFOR at NTC (who also got the old chocolate chip desert uniforms).