U.S. Military Recon Gloves

The original form of the "recon gloves" was called "Gloves, Shell, Leather." This WW II glove, developed in 1944, has an all leather black shell with five fingers, and a wrist strap. The recon gloves can be worn with or without matching olive drab wool liners called "Gloves, Insert, Wool" for the World War II issue. The black cloth adjusting strap, with cross bar buckle, across the back of the hand is the identifying feature.

Gloves, Shell, Leather and Gloves, Insert, Wool, the original Recon Gloves issued in World War II. Quartermaster General photo taken in Italy at the time originally issued to the U.S. Army, April 1944
"Gloves, Shell, Leather" and "Gloves, Insert, Wool", the original Recon Gloves issued in World War II. Quartermaster General photo taken in Italy at the time originally issued to the U.S. Army, April 1944.

Today in WW II: 6 Jul 1939 All remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed by the Nazis.  More ↓
6 Jul 1942 Anne Frank's Jewish family goes into hiding in an attic above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
6 Jul 1942 Flying Tigers in Burma and China integrated into the US Army Air Forces as the China Air Task Force with Gen. Claire Chennault commanding the new unit.
6 Jul 1943 US and Japanese naval forces fight the Battle of Kula Gulf off Kolombangara, in the New Georgia Islands group of the Solomon Islands.
Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.

Gloves, Shells, Cattlehide M-1949

Recon Gloves

"Gloves, Shells, Cattlehide (Black Leather) M-1949" , also called "Recon Gloves" or "D-3A Gloves", were issued from 1949 to 1985 under a series of stock numbers and NSNs.

These gloves were adapted from the "Gloves, Shell, Leather" of 1944 and were usually worn with the knit olive drab wool lining. Unit of issue was normally one set of shells and two sets of inserts.

Recon Glove Label

Labels for the Recon Gloves were either sewn in or stenciled in white on the inside of the wrist. The earlier versions were under standard MIL-G-822 which was replaced by NSN 8415-01-310-7337, the latter called "Gloves, Flexor, Light Duty".

Recon Glove Liners

The olive drab wool liners were a matching five finger glove, but light weight knit construction. They could be worn alone but had poor wearing quality without the leather outer shell. They were labeled with white stencil markings directly on the wool. A similar wool glove liner had open fingers so only the hand and lower fingers were covered, for more dexterity. The "fingerless" liners are called "Glove, Liner, Wool, Cold Weather". The liners were often worn alone as a lightweight alternative glove.

Gloves, Men's & Women's, Leather, Light Duty

This is the modern equivalent of the Recon Gloves, issued under NSNs 8415-01-310-7334 through 8415-01-310-7338 for differing sizes. Also called "Flexor Style".

There is a similar black leather glove issued under the name "Gloves, Men's and Women's, Intermediate Cold/Wet" which has a sewn in knit cuff. Specification MIL-G-44419. NSN 8415-01-319-5115 and similar.

Find More Information on the Internet

There are many fine websites that have additional information on this topic, too many to list here and too many to keep up with as they come and go. Use this Google web search form to get an up to date report of what's out there.

For good results, try entering this: army recon gloves or d-3a. Then click the Search button.