OG-107 Utilities Shirt
Origin Story
There are three types of the OG-107 Cotton Sateen Utility Uniform, pants & shirt but we’ll only talk about the shirt today. The uniform was the standard for US home use and overseas use at the beginning of the Vietnam War. It was so named for its Olive Green colour drab shade 107 with all 3 shirt types sharing several design features. They were made out of an 8.5 oz cotton sateen. The shirt was meant to be worn tucked in and consisted of a button front and two simple patch pockets on the upper chest that were closed with a buttoned flap.
The OG-107 uniform was first introduced 1952 until it was finally phased out in 1987.
Type I - 1952-1963
The First Model OG-107’s were issued in 1952 & were unchanged through their 10 year run. The shirt featured a sleeve with no cuff or buttons, it was a straight sleeve with a simple hem at the cuff. The shirt's two chest pockets and the pants rear two pockets had a rectangular pocket flap that buttoned. The buttons were the old "dished" style and most of the 50's production are a dark brown color while the majority of 60's production are dark green. The shirt were also sized in groups such as Small, Medium, Large, etc. The Type I OG-107 was replaced in April of 1963 when specs came out for the second model, this is by far the most common pattern seen in Vietnam in the early to mid 1960's as a result of the long production time.
Type II - 1963-1964
The Second Model OG-107's were produced & issued in April 1963 & had only a slight variation from the Type I. The change is only the alteration of the pocket flaps on the shirt. The corners of the pocket flaps were cut diagonally on an angle so that they no longer looked rectangular. As these Type II shirt were only produced for a limited period before the Type II was issued these are rare so if you see an OG-107 with angled pockets buy it!
Type III - 1964-1989
The Type IIl OG-107 is the most common version therefore the one that most people are most familiar with, the Type III can be split into 2 categories based on time of manufacture and materials used. The overall Type III was specified & produced in 1964 but due to distribution time & during conflict they were not really seen until 1966. The Type IIIl maintained all of the key features such as the pockets, but this time they changed the 2 shirt chest pockets to a pointed pocket flap. The shirt also gained a button cuff at the wrist. The buttons were changed to a plastic button & adopted real sizing so rather than small, medium & large you had the luxury of neck size and sleeve length 16.5" x 34”
The second category of this Type-III as mentioned above came in to use in the middle to late 1970’s. This second category of the Type III was created when the material was switched from 100% cotton to a 50/50 blend of Poly / Cotton known as Dura-Press & became the OG-507, these shirts can often be identified through a yellow tag in the shirt.
The OG-107s began being phased out in Vietnam in 1967, being replaced with the Tropical Combat Uniform - Jungle Fatigues but thats’s another edit..
After being phased out in Vietnam the OG-107 & OG-507 was still worn by US soldiers during the Cold War-era & on patrol duties.