General Officer service pistols

[Shooter5]

Does anyone have a complete set of the issue General Officer service pistols? IIRC, it would be the Colt 1903, M15 and the GO M9's.

http://www.army.mil/article/6938/General_officer_pistol_program_has_rich_history/

[kwill]

Yes, but you should also include the 1908, the S&W Model 39 and perhaps the S&W Model 15. These latter two were USAF issue in the 1960s and 1970s.

[Johnny P]

Some standard Model 1911A1 pistols were issued to General Officers, along with the matching rigs.

[Shooter5]

Ah…missing some info then from that article.

[Mike Josephic]

I have a General Officers .380 Colt issued in early 1945 fully documented. However, I do not have the belt, buckle or
magazine pouch. Any idea as to the best place to find these. I tried one guy on GB who sent me a repro made
in Thailand, which I returned. Any ideas? Thanks.

[DMS42]

When I was in the Air National Guard 3 of the Brig. General Wing Commanders bought "General Officer" pistols from the Air Force. They all received Match Grade M1911A1 pistols. According to the stock numbers they were Hardball guns. Two had me check out the pistols and go to the range with them when they first shot them. I was surprised when the first one showed up as I had expected some other type pistol, but then the General explained that it was the only type offered at that time by the Air Force.

Maybe the AF had a surplus of Match Grade .45's.

[Shooter5]

When I was in the Air National Guard 3 of the Brig. General Wing Commanders bought "General Officer" pistols from the Air Force. They all received Match Grade M1911A1 pistols. According to the stock numbers they were Hardball guns. Two had me check out the pistols and go to the range with them when they first shot them. I was surprised when the first one showed up as I had expected some other type pistol, but then the General explained that it was the only type offered at that time by the Air Force.

Maybe the AF had a surplus of Match Grade .45's.

Approximately what years were those? It appears the GO M9 took over by the mid 1980s. BTW, my grandfather served aboard DMS-24, by coincidence of inversion for DMS42.

[DMS42]

The 3 that I knew of would have been in the 1985 to about 1992 time frame. Sometime in the early 90's our Wing Commander's rank went from Brig. General to Col.

What is a DMS-24?

DMS42 is my initials and year of birth.

[Shooter5]

It's amazing how the 1911 kept/keeps turning up after having been supposedly dropped from service!
DMS = Destroyer Mine Sweepers; they were World War 2 era destroyer ships converted to clear ocean laid mines around Japan in preparation for the 1945 invasion and were primarily used for the Battle of Okinawa and then later post-war cleanup.

DD-461/DMS-24 was the USS Forrest and DD-635/DMS-42 was the USS Earle.

[kwill]

That article is woefully out of date. The Army program isn't even administered by RIA anymore.

[Charlie Flick]

Beautiful guns and a great pic, Kevin.

Charlie

[Shooter5]

Wow! Nice collection! For that matter, when did this program begin? What models/how were they acquired before WW2? Did GO's purchase their own pistols like British army officers? How about the US Civil War?

[Johnny P]

The practice of issuing a designated handgun to a general officer did not begin until WWII. Some say 1943, some say 1944.