M-65 Field Jacket

The M-1965 Field Jacket, also known as the M65, is a popular field jacket designed for the US military. It was introduced into US military service in 1965 to replace the M-1951 field jacket, an evolution of a Second World War design, the M-1943 field jacket. The M-65 field jacket was widely used by United States troops during the Vietnam War in which the jacket became useful for troops serving in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, as well as keeping a soldier warm from the cool weather conditions that came after monsoonal rains.

Originally introduced in olive drab, it is now produced in a variety of patterns including Woodland camouflage, “chocolate-chip” desert camouflage, Tigerstripe, black, navy blue, Universal Camouflage Pattern, and the Australian Disruptive Pattern Camouflage. The frontmost portion of the jacket has two large hip pockets and two medium-sized breast pockets. The size of the breast pockets were intended to hold m14 magazines, which is 7.62mm NATO caliber (similar to 30 caliber rifle cartridge). The lower torso pockets were intended to carry either more magazines, or grenades, which is why they’re wider; to allow easy-reach to deploy grenades. When US switched to 5.56 caliber M16 rifles, the magazines were narrower, but breast pockets were perfect for 30-round banana clips. The rearmost neck portion and collar of the jacket features a zipper which houses a protective hood.

The jacket can be combined with a button-in insulated lining for cold weather wear.

Information from: Wikipedia