G-1 military flight jacket

The G-1 remains a current uniform-issue item in naval aviation for officer and enlisted aviation personnel on flying status in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard (i.e., Naval Aviator, Naval Flight Officer, Naval Flight Surgeon, Naval Aircrewman, etc.) and was featured as the leather flight jacket worn by Tom Cruise in the film Top Gun.[1]

The G1 jacket can trace its history back to the M-422 jacket, which was brought into use by the U.S. Navy in the 1930s, originally standardized by the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics on 28th March 1940 as the M-422, the lengthening of the sleeves by one inch, the internal bi-swing elastic increased from 3/4 inch to 1 inch, and 7 lines of stitches added to the collar to add rigidity, warranted the change of spec to M-422A on the 1st October 1941.[2] This jacket shared the double button pocket design and the mouton fur collar of later designs, but was a bulkier cut which was also longer in the body[3] and normally had a salmon red lining.[4]

VB-3 Pilots in 1942. Some of whom are wearing M422A jackets.

In 1942 the M-422A jacket, was replaced by the US Navy by the visually similar AN-6552/AN-J-3A (the latter sometimes being made in horsehide) in an attempt to streamline production between the services as a war economy measure. The AN-J-3 (an AN-6552 without a fur collar and made in horsehide) also replaced the Army Air Forces A-2 jacket, although it was not widely issued. There was also a light weight AN-6551/AN-J-2 and a heavy weight AN-6553/ANJ-4 with the latter being the only one widely adopted by the USAAF.

The M422A jackets and their Second World War compatriots are not commonly seen with patches beyond name, qualification, and service on the left breast. By exception there is sometimes a single squadron badge on the right breast, but not to the level seen on the post war jackets.

In 1947, the US Navy introduced the first G1 jacket which can be correctly named as such: the 55-J-14 jacket. The 55-J-14 was called the G1 on its specification label. It shared the hallmarks of the original M422 jacket, but was shorter in the body so that it didn't bunch up when aircrew were sat down. This was the jacket more commonly seen during the Korean War. It retained the USN stamp in white lettering on the back of the collar from the M422a, and was the only G1 to do so.

Pilots aboard the USS Leyte, 1950. Wearing 55-J-14 jackets.

The MIL-J-7823(AER) which was introduced in 1950 is the ancestor of the G1 still issued today. This was the first to have USN stamped on the wind flap. This jacket evolved through to the D model (which was the last to have a black specification label) before the introduction of the E model in 1971. The E deviated by allowing synthetic materials to be used in the collar, and stamped cowhide rather than goatskin to be used in the outer.[5]

After the Second World War, it became common for G1 jackets to be adorned with patches earned during a pilot's career. Patches include types of aircraft flown, milestones in carrier landings or total flying hours, and deployments or cruises carried out on certain ships.

For a very brief period from 1979 until early 1981, issuance of the G-1 to new USN, USMC, and USCG flight crew personnel (i.e., officer flight students and newly designated enlisted Naval Aircrewman) was discontinued as a budgetary economy action, with those personnel being issued summer weight green Nomex flight jackets identical to those issued to their U.S. Air Force counterparts. Replacement of worn-out G-1 jackets for extant Naval Aviation personnel was also discontinued during this period. This action was reversed by Secretary of the Navy action in early 1981, and those USN, USMC, and USCG flight-crew personnel who had not received G-1 jackets were issued one retroactively.

Modifications to USN, USMC, and USCG uniform regulations in the 1990s reduced the type and number of permissible insignia on the G-1, but concurrently permitted wear of the G-1 jacket off base with service uniforms.

Commercial versions of the jacket have been available on the consumer market. Official military suppliers which also sold similar spec jackets to the public include Cockpit USA, Cooper Sportswear, Orchard M/C, Brill Bros, Schott, and Excelled. After the success of the 1986 film Top Gun, shopping-mall leather stores carried a variety of G-1 variants. These are new production and come in goatskin and cowhide varieties stamped USN, USCG, or USMC. Jackets are offered by many companies for the civilian market, including US Authentic Mfg. Co., Lost Worlds, Gibson and Barnes, Eastman, US Wings and Bill Kelso Mfg.

The military specifications under which the naval flight jackets were made, in the order of latest to earliest, are

• MIL-J-7823E (AS) 1971
• MIL-J-7823D (WP) 1966
• MIL-J-7823C (WEP) 1962
• MIL-J-7823B (WEP) 1960
• MIL-J-7823A (AER) 1959
• MIL-J-7823 (AER) 1950
• 55-J-14 (AER) 1947
• AN-J3A 1943
• AN 6552 1943
• M-422A 1941
• M-422 1940
• A-2 1940

The first Navy designation of "G-1" came under the 55-J-14 specification.

The earlier jackets were constructed of goatskin and had a real mouton collar. Current model issue jackets (although there are exceptions) are constructed of cowhide and have a synthetic collar.

The makers of the Navy's jackets of the above specifications, in rough chronological order from the current supplier to pre-WWII include

• Excelled Sheepskin & Leather Coat Co., Current
• Pharr Brand Name Apparel (2004-current supplier)
• Excelled Sheepskin & Leather Coat Co., 1999–2004
• Schott Bros., 1998
• Cooper Sportswear Mfg. Co., 1989–1996
• Brill Bros., 1968–1987
• Orchard M/C Dist., 1986
• Ferguson of Oklahoma, 1976
• Imperial Leather & Sportswear, 1976
• Imperial Fashions, 1974
• The Martin Lane, Co., 1968–1969
• Gregory Sportswear, 1967
• Irvin B. Foster Sportswear Co., 1962–1963
• Star Sportswear Mfg. Corp., 1964–1967
• Irvin B. Foster & Sons Sportswear Co., 1961
• Ralph Edwards Sportswear, 1961–1964
• Breier of Amsterdam, 1960
• California Sportswear Company, 1960
• Cagleco Sportswear, 1957
• J.A. Dubow Sporting Goods Corp.
• Werber Sportswear
• A. Pritzker & Sons
• Aviators Clothing Co.
• B.-G.
• Star Sportswear Mfg. Co., Lynn, Mass.
• Burjac Sportswear
• L.W. Foster Sportswear Co.
• Arnoff Mfg. Company
• American Sportswear Co.
• Bogen & Tenenbaum
• Edmund T. Church Co.
• Fried, Osterman Co.
• Gordon & Ferguson Co.
• H. & L. Block
• Willis and Geiger
• Monarch Mfg. Company
• Mentor Jackets, Peru
• US Wings, Hudson Ohio
• Leathercraft Sportswear, Elizabeth, New Jersey
• Flying Equipment Co., Chicago, Ill.

• Flight jacket
• A-2 jacket
• MA-1 bomber jacket
• MA-2 bomber jacket