Wrull THE 1ST MARINE DWISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM           145


flage utility uniform were acceptable substitutes for missing desert items. All
combinations proved possible, but there occurred no simultaneous wearing of
desert jackets with green utility trousers or desert trousers with the green utility
jacket. The mixing of green and desert items remained limited to caps and hats,
the wearing of black, jungle, or tan boots, and occasionally the green camou-
flage field jacket. In addition, maintenance personnel frequently wore the issue
green overalls. Tracked vehicle personnel wore fire-retardant "nomex'1 suits.
   During the ground offensive all forward deployed I MEF personnel put on
the mission-oriented protective posture (MOPP) jacket and trousers as well as
chemical protective boots of various styles. In the 1st Marine Division, the flak
jacket generally went over the MOPP jacket. The feeling in the division was
that while everyone was vulnerable to chemical attack at all times, the flak vest
frequently needed to be removed. In contrast, General Keys, commanding the
2d Marine Division, directed that the MOPP jacket be worn over the flak vest.
He felt that if contamination occurred, the flak jacket would not then require
cleaning or replacement. After the first 24 hours of the ground offensive,
General Keys saw that the chemical threat in the division's zone was sufficiently
remote that he had the 2d Marine Division cease wearing MOPP suits. General
Myatt saw the situation differently and the 1st Marine Division continued using
MOPP suits throughout the ground offensive. The MOPP suit, and the manner
in which Marines wore the suit, became a manner of identifying to which
division a Marine belonged.
   The practice of personalizing equipment and clothing differed from unit to
unit. Though largely confined to the division's artillery battalions, in those units,
graffiti appeared on the covers of flak vests and helmets. Graffiti took the form
of calendars, names of girlfriends, pithy comments, religious symbols, cartoon
characters, and the 1st Marine Division's World War II patch in outline. In one
instance the blue patch with its red number "1" appeared on the well-worn
pocket of a flak jacket cover. Otherwise, marking clothing and equipment
seldom went beyond that allowed by Marine Corps Uniform Regulations MCO
Pi 020.34 which specified ink stamping the owner's name in certain incon-
spicuous  locations. Some  individuals, however, followed     the practice of
stenciling their names in one-inch-high letters across the back of utility jackets
and flak vests.
   A few units adopted organizational symbols for the uniform. Marines in
Task Force Papa Bear stenciled the task force's paw print symbol on the back
of flak vest covers as well as on the sides of vehicles. The 3d Battalion, 3d
Marines, was distinctive in its use of camouflage netting on all helmets.
   Marines used three types of boots in Saudi Arabia. During the extreme hot
weather the jungle boot surpassed the all-leather black boot in comfort and it
became the only boot available through unit supply. The boot proved generally
adequate, eyelets located on the lower portion trapped sand, and it did not keep
the foot particularly warm during the winter months. General Boomer recog-
nized the boot's shortcomings and in December 1990 the MEF G-4, Colonel
Raymond A. List, announced that the tan desert boot would be available by
January 1991. The desert boot was essentially the same as the jungle boot, but