M-1969 Summer Enlisted
Parade-Walking Out Uniform
(Out of Column)

 

 

Private of Motor Rifles (1980)

The Soldier is Wearing:

A parade-each day visor cap with a plastic visor with a red band indicating his branch of service.  Black bands were worn by armor and technical personnel.

The 1969 pattern tunic with red shoulder boards, collar tabs, and a branch of service patch is worn over the green shirt and tie.  This soldier is also wearing his 1st class enlisted qualification badge

Plain trousers of the same olive color and a pair of black shoes complete the uniform.  This depiction would be correct for the period of 1974 to 1993.

Sources Cited

 


Back to Soviet Army Uniforms
of the
Soviet Superpower
 

   

 

More about the uniform...

This uniform entered service as part of the 1969 uniform regulations.  Soldiers would wear this uniform when on leave and when on-base.  The 'out of column' designation simply denotes that shoes and trousers were to be worn instead of breeches and boots.  This was a common Soviet practice that gave a professional image that was not as formal as the 'in column' uniform.  In the early 1970's the uniform would undergo a minor change in that the shoulderboards would feature 'CA' letters on them, in contrast to the blank 1969 boards.

The army visor cap features a red or black band that denotes the branch of service of the wearer.  It matches the color of the collar tabs, shoulder boards, and branch of service patch on the tunic.  A black plastic band just above the visor and the 'star and wreath' badge were also used to indicate its enlisted status.

A tunic with four brass buttons and two pockets is worn over the army green shirt and tie.  Trousers of a matching color complete the uniform.

Ribbons and badges were authorized for wear with this uniform.

 

 

Service Chronology

The enlisted summer parade-walking out (out of column) uniform was a common sight in the latter half of the Cold War as it was worn by soldiers in ceremonies and on leave.  It replaced the M-1958 uniform and in doing so dispatched with the last of the old Soviet aesthetic.  The tunic and trousers were of the same color, with simplified branch of service colors, and the cut was also more modern.

It was worn throughout the seventies and eighties and even after the fall of the Soviet Union.  By the early 1990's the uniform was supposed to be replaced by a new Soviet pattern, but the administrative chaos and budgetary difficulties prevented it from seeing widespread service.  The design would later be used in the M-1994 Russian enlisted summer parade-walking out (out of column) uniforms which ultimately replaced the venerable M-1969 pattern.

This Uniform Replaced... M-1969 Enlisted Summer Parade-Walking Out Uniform This Uniform was Replaced by...
1958 Enlisted Summer Parade-Eachday Uniform (out of column)
1994 Enlisted Summer Parade-Walking Out Uniform
 

 

Sources Cited

(1) Prilutskaya, N. V. and N. L. Kortunova, Военная Одежда Вооруженных Сил СССР И России (1917-1990)[Military clothing of the Armed Forces of the USSR and Russia (1917-1990)], Moscow: Military Publishing, 1999.

(2) Правила Ношения Военной Формы Одежды [Regulations on Wearing Military Uniforms], Moscow: USSR Ministry of Defense, 1989.

(3) Правила Ношения Военной Формы Одежды [Regulations on Wearing Military Uniforms], Moscow: USSR Ministry of Defense, 1973.

(4) Правила Ношения военной формы одежды военнослужащими советской армии и военно-морского флота (на мириое время)[Rules of wearing military uniforms by the servicemen of the Soviet army and navy (in peacetime)], Moscow: USSR Ministry of Defense, 1958.

(5) Zaloga, Steven J., Inside the Soviet Army Today, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1987.
 


Last Updated 3 January 2019 by Ryan Stavka