Viet Nam Era Army Airborne Training School Helmet

[helmet2id]

I picked this one up many years ago but I do not remember when, where or from whom. This one was worn at the Army Airborne Training School in Fort Benning which, I believe, was run by the First Battalion of the 507th Airborne Infantry Regiment. It is a rear seam shell with a heat stamp that is very hard to make out but looks like I-62?? to me. It came without straps, and the liner that was in the shell when I acquired the piece, a CAPAC dated 1962, does not have the female snaps needed to secure the short straps from the shell. I think the liner, which has a Lieutenant rank decal on the front, is original to the piece none the less since they came together and the wear to both the shell and the liner is consistent. Over the "Follow Me" decals on the liner are the remains of decals the significance of which I do not know and would welcome any information regarding the same. Hope you like it. Jim G.

[helmet2id]

I have been informed that the liner and shell definitely were not paired during their respective service lives but were married later. Here is the post from US Militaria Forum posted by a former Instructor at the School. Jim G.

Posted Today, 07:43 AM
Hi Jim,
A little information on your Ft, Benning helmets:

Liner first. Your liner is an OCS TAC Officer liner. You will notice that it is not an airborne liner so it would not be matched to an airborne pot. The OCS candidates wore liners similiar but with an OCS decal in the front and no blue band. The remnants of the decals above the "Follow Me" are not familiar to me so I can't comment about them.

Steel pot. This helmet is very similar to the helmets issued to the instructors of the Airborne School except our helmets had our rank and names in white across the back of the helmet. The "5" is unknown to me. We had to turn in our issued M1C when we were assigned to a committee (Ground or Tower) and were issued these black helmets. While your helmet shows wear and tear they were a high gloss black and very distinctive. When we left the Airborne assignment we were required to turn in our black helmets and received our issue helmets in return.

I have a good friend that still has his helmet. He had been transferred over to the Pathfinder Committee and he had not turned in his black helmet because he was still assigned to the Airborne Department. So he left Ft. Benning with the helmet. But it was lost for 35 years. He thought the packers had stolen it from his household goods. A few years ago his son was looking for his camo net to make a ghillie suit and when he dumped out the duffle bag there was a "clunk" on the concrete floor and there was his black helmet all wrapped up in his net.
Lost for 35 years and still there all the time.

[helmet2id]

More information provided when I advised Rolf that the helmet shell was dark green and not black. Cheers, Jim G.

Posted Today, 02:01 PM
"Dark green!!!!" It looks black in your pictures. Soooo, possibly it is a airborne company cadre helmet.

Let me break down the Infantry School a little bit so you understand how the Airborne school was organized back before the 507th was activated 1984.

The School Brigade (TSB) was the headquarters for many infantry based schools including OCS, Ranger School, Infantry Officers Basic Course, Advanced Non Commissioned Officers Course, The Basic Airborne Course, etc, etc, etc
.
The Basic Airborne Course consisted of two elements: The 4th Student Battalion which consisted of airborne training companies. They were numbered 40 thru 49, although when I was an instructor they only had 42nd thru 45th Co (however years earlier I was in 47th Co when I went through the course). The company cadre were not part of the Airborne Department and did not wear the gloss black helmets although many did decorate their helmets with the "Follow Me and Airborne tab" decals.

The second element was the Airborne Department which was responsible for all instructors and training committees. While we were assigned to HHC, 4th Student Bn. for accountability, we were attached to the Airborne Department for operational control and further attached to the training committees.

The training committees consisted of Ground Training Branch (1st week), Tower Training Branch (2nd week), Jump Training Branch(3rd week), Jumpmaster Training Branch (2 week course) and Pathfinder Training Branch (3 week course). Only the Ground and Tower committees used the gloss black helmets mentioned above. Jump and Jumpmaster committees used white Bell motorcycle helmets and Pathfinders had standard M1Cs with camouflaged covers.

However, when the 507th was activated all the above changed. The instructors were assigned to the individual training companies and each company ran the three week training facilities. The only committees with full time instructors were the Jumpmaster committee and Pathfinder committee. This all happened a year after my reassignment so I didn't experience the change over.

I hope this make the things clear as mud.

Maybe I can get some pictures of my friends Instructor helmet and post them here.

Rolf

[BEAR]

Hi, I know this is an old post but I can show an Instructor's Airborne helmet from the 70s and early 80s for those who are interested.
This picture came from the Airborne Museum at Ft. Benning.
This helmet is exactly like the one I wore when I was a "Blackhat" Instructor in the late 70s.

BEAR

[helmet2id]

Thanks for the picture and for your service! Jim G.

[BEAR]

Thanks Jim,
Sorry for the late reply but my wife has just gone thru some serious surgery, but now she is recovering at home, so now I can spend more time on the computer.
I still have my Instructor's helmet, which is kind of a anomaly since they were tightly controlled. When we were assigned as instructors we turned in our issue helmets and received the shiny black Airborne helmet with our rank and name on the back. When we were reassigned we turned it in and got our issue helmet back. The black helmet then had a new rank and name applied and issued to a new instructor.

BEAR

Sorry, I see the issue procedure had already been explained earlier. My bad.