Been away on business for a week - thank for all the replies, especially the generous offer of a loan from MDinana.

Inspected the one from ebay last night - it is genuine "new old stock" as stated - the seam sealer is dried up and flaking off, so it needs to be re-sealed. The price was right, so I'm happy.

Re poncho vs rainsuit:

As a matter of fact, that's exaclty what he'll be doing, standing around in formation practicing hurry-up-and-wait. Jackets are fine but they don't do anything for your lower body and pants are hassle to quickly don and doff when you're on the move.

Camo is the worst choice for survival, but he's going to be on an Airforce base, not it the woods. Ironically, CAP regs require a certified ANSI class II safety vest for "ground team activities" which begs the question: Wear the vest under your field gear and defeat the purpose of the vest or over your field gear and make access a pain? Third option is to find the holy grail: a gear vest the actually meets the ANSI standard.