Since the beginning of the American Army in 1776, officers including Generals were required to furnish their own side arms and long arms. They purchased sets of flintlock pistols, single pistols, muskets, rifles and sabers as their duties required. Some officers wished to use standard government issued weapons and turn them back in when their service had expired or the weapon was no longer needed.

A select few officers and Generals carried no weapon on themselves going into battle and openly boasted about such daring. General Douglas McArthur was one such officer. Others purchased extravagant pistols to suit their taste and stature in the service. General George S. Patton, Jr. was such an officer. His ivory gripped Colt single action .45 is a legend.

Times change, as did warfare and the way wars were fought. By World War II, no longer did Generals sit on horses watching the battle progress. To be an effective and successful General they were required to move around and stay with the flow of the battle. Often the line between Allied and Axis forces was thin and at times obscure. All of this called for a change in the General’s “code of dress.” The practice of issuing pistols began in 1943, not that the Generals didn’t carry some sort of firearm prior to 1943. This marked the start of issuance of a standard pistol as a badge of rank to the General Officers. The pistol of issue was the Colt 1908 Hammerless .380 pocket pistol. The .380s were issued until exhaustion and then the .32 caliber pocket model was issued. Not all Generals carried the new issued .32 and .380 Colt automatics, but continued to carry the 1911 Colt .45 automatic pistol.

The General officers M15 pistol adopted in 1972 replaced the Colt 1903 and 1908 Pocket Hammerless pistols. It provided a weapon of greater stopping power and was more effective. Developed at Rock Island Arsenal from stock M1911 pistols, it was issued to Generals as a personal weapon. It is similar to the Colt Commander, but has internal differences. The finish on the guns was a deep blue on portions of the slide and frame. The exposed metal parts such as the safety and slide lock have a polished blue finish, while the top of the slide has a black matte type finish. The magazines were serial numbered to each gun, and a total of three were packaged to each gun. There were a total of 1,004 issued. The caliber is .45 ACP.

From 1982 to 1986 the standard M1911A-1 .45 automatic pistol was once again issued. The Beretta 9mm M-9 began to be issued August 1986 with serial number GO001. The M9s issued to Generals had no distinguishing marks or features other than the special serial number range. It is a short recoil, semi-automatic, single action/double action pistol. The finish is black steel with composition grips. As of 2009, it is still the weapon issued to Generals in both the Army and the Air Force.

Starting in 1972, the Colt M15 was adopted for standard issue to general officers. This created a corresponding need for a holster to accommodate it. The belt remained the same as before. This holster was used until 1981 when the supply of M15 pistols was exhausted.