for years i assumed (and was often told) that these acronyms were properly expanded to "army time piece" and "general service time piece," respectively. after doing some research this weekend, it turns out that the letters probably stand for "army trade pattern" and "general service trade pattern." the point being that these watches were civilian styles (trade patterns) that had been tested, accepted for military use, and issued. in other words, they were not built initially ti milspec. the MOD specs are replete with provisions allowing the acceptance of "various trade patterns for issue." i would be happy to post more on specific sources if people are interested.
Posted on Sep 24, 2001, 2:21 PM from IP address 205.229.150.18