Unusual US Air Force Security Forces Woodland BDU Jacket?

[equitis]

I've just acquired a 1999 contract Woodland BDU jacket manufactured by Golden Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Contract # SPO100-99-D-0344) in size Medium Regular and originally issued to a member of the US Air Force Security Forces (signified by a subdued pattern USAF Security Police cloth badge attached to the left breast pocket).

Nothing particularly unusual about that, except that it appears that all the pockets are sewn up (and the buttons removed).

At first I wondered if this was a specific variant of BDU straight from the manufacturer, but further inspection of the threads used would indicate that the pocket flaps have been professionally stiched down at a later date and that stiching seems to be consistent with the thread used to stich on the police badge and USAF patch.

I have a number of BDU jackets and I know the pockets can get quite saggy, so stiching them down obviously makes for a smarter uniform, though in this case it was probably an academic exercise as this jacket has the flat style pockets, so would have been pretty smart anyway.

I was just wondering if this is (or was) a common practice, or was this individual particularly meticulous about their appearance?

Best regards,

Iain

[Walkwolf]

I have seen jackets where the pockets were closed due
to the patches being applied to them. Perhaps this
mod is just a personal preference.........?

[equitis]

Hi Steve,

Now that makes sense. I imagine it's going to be difficult to get a sewing machine into a pocket, especially if it's not a bellows type pocket, in order to sew on the patches. I suppose if necessary to have a "working" pocket you have the option of hand sewing or completely removing the pocket and reattaching later, but for simplicity just stiching through the pocket into the inside of the jacket seems a very reasonable compromise.

I notice it's mostly USAF BDUs that have pocket patches, and as this is the first USAF one I've acquired it came as a surprise, but I'm guessing this is probably a common solution.

Many thanks!

Iain.

[gagevet]

We used to do that for some uniforms for use during inspections. They were easy to press and looked good. Most of mine had an opening in the inside so I could still use the pockets for paper pens ect.

[Walkwolf]

Another thing is, that over a rather short period of
time, the pocket flaps become faded and worn
where the buttons lay beneath.........