The Misterious BIG MAC Uniform

[Proud Kraut]

I posted this in another forum some years ago but I think it would fit here as well.

 

Going through a box of pictures at the German Artillery Society's archive I found this picture some years ago:

 

Bundeswehr Marine (Navy) or Luftwaffe (AirForce) flight suits were my first thoughts...next picture...STOP! Both soldiers on the picture are wearing OD army rank and national insignia on a white coverall and the Obergefreiter (PFC) on the left seems to have a red artillery beret in his hip pocket. That was well worth a second look. Obviously these guys seem to analyze aerial photos. Could it be early Drohnen (UAV) personnel at work, ....in white coveralls?????
One week later I called a senior NCO I knew and asked him about white coveralls in use by early Bundeswehr UAV personnel. He told me that these coveralls were worn from 1981 – 1983, when the Drohnen Lehrbatterie (UAV training battery) was performing hot climate trials with a new UAV in Yuma, Arizona. And he rembered, how they were called by the members of the battery: "Big Mac" uniforms.

My first thought was that he was kidding me then he told me more about these trials. The battery was sent to Yuma with standard OD field uniforms in 1981. Sandy-colored dress uniforms were issued as well but these were unpractical for the daily work of course. In a local "JCPenney" store white coveralls were found and converted to “uniforms”. To give that coveralls an "uniform look" national insignia, rank insignia, name tapes and local made pocket patches were sewn on. The battery commander decided to launch a request for approval. Actually the German Liasion Staff in Washington approved the "uniform" for local wear during these trials. As far as the NCO remembered each soldier bought/received 2-3 of these coveralls.

 

Finally the Artillery Society's received one coverall for it´s exhibition. Additionally I had the chance to exploit the battery's chronicle with dozens of pictures of these uniforms in use. Still today reunions of the former members of this unit were called "Big Mac Meetings".

 

So are we talking about uniforms? IMHO yes, these coveralls meet all required criteria. They were worn by an entire unit, they were approved (for local wear) by a higher HQ and regulations were made for the wear of these uniforms. Now let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

 

[Proud Kraut]

Pictures of the BIG MAC uniforms in use:

 

 

 

And some very rare early insignia of this unit:

 

[edstorey]

Pretty interesting as that early drone was the Canadian Canadair CL-89.

[mikie]

Nice bit of history! But now I'm hungry.

[SARGE]

A perfect example of why you should never say "never" when someone shows you a uniform that you have never seen before. Soldiers will always find some tricky way of skirting regulations.

[Proud Kraut]

Pretty interesting as that early drone was the Canadian Canadair CL-89.

Right, this Drone was the forerunner of the CL 289 which was introduced 1990 and used by the Bundeswehr until 2009.