G - 1 military flight jacket The " G - 1 " military flight jacket is the commonly accepted name for the fur - lined - collar World War II - era flight jacket of the United States Navy , Marine Corps , and Coast Guard . A similar jacket used by the United States Army Air Corps / United States Army Air Forces was usually called the A - 2 jacket ) . Usage . The G - 1 remains a current uniform - issue item in naval aviation for officer and enlisted aviation personnel on flying status in the U . S . Navy , U . S . Marine Corps and U . S . Coast Guard ( " i . e . , " Naval Aviator , Naval Flight Officer , Naval Flight Surgeon , Naval Aircrewman , etc . ) and is arguably best known as the leather flight jacket worn by Tom Cruise in the film " Top Gun " . Development . More technically , the jacket may be considered the U . S . Military flight jacket developed in 1947 and used in the Korean War , since the term " G - 1 " was not used as a label for this fur - collared military - issued jacket until after World War II . However , the term " G - 1 " has come to be used for this style of naval leather flight jacket . Prior to the end of World War II , and starting in 1940 when it was officially named by the U . S . Navy , the jacket had the military spec number of M - 422 . Operational use . This jacket was brought to use by the U . S . Navy in the 1930s , and standardized by the Navy in 1940 as the M - 422A . In 1943 this jacket , named by the Army Air Forces and the Navy as the ANJ - 3 ( Army Navy Jacket 3 ) , replaced the iconic Army Air Forces A - 2 jacket , the most famous of U . S . Military jackets , hence the name of ANJ - 3 ( vs . A - 2 ) . The M - 422A replacement of the loved and famous A - 2 was , however , in the form of a non - fur - collared version of the " G - 1 " , currently referred to for obvious reasons as the G - 2 . In 1988 , the U . S . Air Force reinstated the A - 2 jacket for all USAF flight crew personnel . For a very brief period from 1979 until early 1981 , issuance of the G - 1 to new USN , USMC , and USCG flight crew personnel ( " i . e . , " officer flight students and newly designated enlisted Naval Aircrewman ) was discontinued as a budgetary economy action , with those personnel being issued summer weight green Nomex flight jackets identical to those issued to their U . S . Air Force counterparts . Replacement of worn - out G - 1 jackets for extant Naval Aviation personnel was also discontinued during this period . This action was reversed by Secretary of the Navy action in early 1981 , and those USN , USMC , and USCG flight - crew personnel who had not received G - 1 jackets were issued one retroactively . Modifications to USN , USMC , and USCG uniform regulations in the 1990s reduced the type and number of permissible insignia on the G - 1 , but concurrently permitted wear of the G - 1 jacket off base with service uniforms . Commercial exploitation . Commercial versions of the jacket have been available on the consumer market . Official military suppliers which also sold similar spec jackets to the public include Cockpit USA , Cooper Sportswear , Orchard M / C , Brill Bros , Schott , and Excelled . After the success of " Top Gun , " shopping - mall leather stores carried a variety of G - 1 variants , with such features as removable fur collars and sewn - on patches , including the ever - popular Gulf of Sidra Yacht Club patch . As of 2010 Orchard M / C was still selling 1986 MIL - labeled jackets to the general public . These are new production and come in goatskin and cowhide varieties stamped USN , USCG , or USMC . Premium jackets are offered by many companies , including Lost Worlds , Gibson and Barnes , and Eastman . Specifiations . The military specifications under which the naval flight jackets were made , in the order of latest to earliest , are The first Navy designation of " G - 1 " came under the 55J14 specification . The earlier jackets were constructed of goatskin and had a real mouton collar . Current model issue jackets ( although there are exceptions ) are constructed of cowhide and have a synthetic collar . Manufacturers . The makers of the Navy ' s jackets of the above specifications , in rough chronological order from the current supplier to pre - WWII include Menthor Jackets Peru