# USMC uniform question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 11, 2022, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645 "2022-04-11T04:53:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/1 "2022-04-11T04:53:50Z")
Yesterday, my wife and I were watching _Blue Bloods_, season 12 episode 18 (_Long Lost_). Very soon into the episode, one of the characters is a United States Marine captain in uniform visiting Commissioner Reagan in the commissioner’s office. The captain was wearing a belt with a strap going from the belt over the shoulder (I think it was the right shoulder). I don’t recall ever seeing that in a Marine uniform. Is that correct or just a bit of TV costuming? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/2 "2022-04-11T05:13:26Z")
Like the strap on the Marine in the foreground of this photo? [![](https://s7d6.scene7.com/is/image/marines/officer-marine-mameluke-sword-5?wid=1100&hei=734&dpr=off) ](https://s7d6.scene7.com/is/image/marines/officer-marine-mameluke-sword-5?wid=1100&hei=734&dpr=off) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/3 "2022-04-11T05:16:55Z")
That’s it! Thanks. I really don’t remember seeing that before. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/4 "2022-04-11T05:18:13Z")
Disclaimer: I am not a Marine, nor did I ever serve in the military. I’m just digging around on Google. The strap appears to be part of a “Sam Browne belt,” which is part of dress uniforms for officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. > **[Sam Browne belt | United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Browne_belt#United_States)** > > During World War I, the Sam Browne Belt was approved by General Pershing, commander of the AEF, for wear by American officers as a rank distinction. However, the Army as a whole did not immediately approve its use. MPs were positioned at stateside docks and confiscated them from returning officers. The United States Army mandated the Sam Browne belt for overseas soldiers in 1918 under the name "Liberty belt" and for all service members in 1921, this time under the internationally During World Wa... ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/5 "2022-04-11T05:23:14Z")
Some states State Troopers wear those as well. I always thought it was a form of keeper to secure the duty belt. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/6 "2022-04-11T05:34:54Z")
Canadian Mounties wear Sam Browne belts too, only they do so from the left shoulder to the right hip. But that’s just when they are in dress uniforms; for everyday policing, they look like any other police officer. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/7 "2022-04-11T08:00:30Z")
In case it’s not obvious, the purpose of it is to support the weight of a sword and a pistol. Around 1852, Sam was a young Indian Army officer. What he designed could be called the U.K.’s very first “Integrated System” of accoutrements as, once assembled, it was put on like a waistcoat. During the Indian Mutiny, in 1858 Sam won the Victoria Cross, in an action that cost him his left arm, virtually severed at the shoulder by a mutineer’s _tulwar_. With no left arm, he was unable to Carry Swords, when walking and must have given some thanks for his foresight in having invented – years before his loss- the belt that carries his name today. [http://www.karkeeweb.com/patterns/officers/sam\_browne/sam\_browne\_intro.html](http://www.karkeeweb.com/patterns/officers/sam_browne/sam_browne_intro.html) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/8 "2022-04-11T08:56:22Z")
Follow on question: So, when should the officer wear the Sam Browne belt? In the episode, he wasn’t wearing a scabbard with sword. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/9 "2022-04-11T10:51:14Z")
From what I read, it seems to be an individual choice. Subject to permissions of course. My father, who was an Army officer after WW2 considered them a bit passé unless you were actually wearing a sword on parade. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/10 "2022-04-11T12:47:39Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Canadian Mounties wear Sam Browne belts too, only they do so from the left shoulder to the right hip. But that’s just when they are in dress uniforms; for everyday policing, they look like any other police officer. I think officers wear it on the right shoulder to left hip. The reason is that non-officers carry a pistol, so want the support on the right hip, where the holster is. Officers in dress uniform wear a sword, so the support is needed on the left hip. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/11 "2022-04-11T12:56:04Z")
Since the OP’s question has been answered, I’ll comment. I watched that episode, too, and I was sweating it-- bracing myself for one or the other of the men to salute (inappropriately!). I think a lot of inappropriate saluting goes on in the show. (The show irritates the hell out of me but I still watch it every week. Go figure.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/12 "2022-04-11T15:00:13Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The reason is that non-officers carry a pistol, so want the support on the right hip, where the holster is. I’m left handed, so I would want the holster on my left hip. Would that screw up all the dress codes? Would I face discipline? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/13 "2022-04-11T17:09:21Z")
No idea! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usmc-uniform-question/962645/14 "2022-04-16T22:33:43Z")
It would provide a very convenient place to be grabbed by an opponent during hand-to-hand combat.