GI glasses

The original version was designed for use with gas masks during World War II. It was wire-rimmed with cable temples and a "P3" lens shape. The design was a modification of the style used by the British military.{{cite book|url=http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/medicalsupply/chapter3.htm|title=Medical Supply in World War II|chapter=III Procurement of Problem Items - Spectacles|author=U.S. Army Medical Department, Office of Medical History|access-date=2013-04-16|archive-date=2013-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306071843/http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/medicalsupply/chapter3.htm|url-status=dead}}

After World War II, the material was switched from nickel alloy wire to cellulose acetate. Initially gray cellulose acetate was used, but this was discontinued in 1968, with remaining stocks issued until exhausted. The replacement frames used black cellulose acetate.

In the late 1970s, the lens shape was re-designed to the "S9". Black "S9" frames were released for a brief period,{{cite web|url=http://2ndrangers.org/cpg1419/displayimage.php?album=62&pos=57 |title=1980s Black only made for short time |access-date=2013-04-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130703160914/http://2ndrangers.org/cpg1419/displayimage.php?album=62&pos=57 |archive-date=2013-07-03 }} before brown cellulose acetate replaced the black. The brown cellulose acetate frames were discontinued in 2012, and a new smaller unisex lens shape, the "5A", was introduced, with a black frame. The modern "5A" shape was designed by Rochester Optical, who is the exclusive manufacturer of the R-5A frame.{{cite web| url=https://www.army.mil/article/73319/|title=Bye bye BCGs|access-date=2013-04-16}}

GI glasses are issued at government expense to new recruits at recruit training or Officer Candidate Schools in the United States military. When entering recruit training, service members may wear civilian glasses until government-issued ones are assigned, including but not limited to the BCG. Contact lenses are never permissible for these exercises. After recruit training, service members are permitted to wear Frame of Choice glasses which are conservative in design and color or contact lenses. The military offers annual replacements for those who qualify, and personnel may request the government issued glasses in addition to several varieties of more attractive eyewear, in clear and tinted lenses, as well as prescription gas mask inserts and inserts for government-funded eye protection ballistic eyewear.{{cite web|url=http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforcejoin/a/afbmt3_3.htm|work=About.com U.S. Military|title=Surviving Air Force Basic Training: Eye Examination and Glasses|author=Rod Powers|access-date=2007-02-11|archive-date=2007-02-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223053744/http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforcejoin/a/afbmt3_3.htm|url-status=dead}}

• Frame, Spectacle, Female Style, Cellulose Acetate, Gray
• Frame, Spectacle, Female Style, Cellulose Acetate, Black (slight cat-eye){{cite web|url=http://2ndrangers.org/cpg1419/displayimage.php?album=62&pid=7672#top_display_media |access-date=2014-12-16 |title=1960s-1970s Womens |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141216084342/http://2ndrangers.org/cpg1419/displayimage.php?album=62&pid=7672 |archive-date=2014-12-16 }}
• Frame, Spectacle, Female Style, Cellulose Acetate, Brown (slight bug-eye)

• Bausch & Lomb (B&L)
• Randolph Engineering
• ArtCraft
• Sellstrom
• Titmus
• USS ("Birth Control")
• Bushnell
• ROMCO

• [http://90thidpg.us/Research/Original/FourEyes/90thIDPG-FourEyes-23Mar.pdf Four Eyes: Eyeglasses and the WWII US GI]

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Category:United States military uniforms

Category:Glasses

Category:Military slang and jargon

Category:Military equipment introduced from 1940 to 1944