How did the Nato strap get its name? - GQ.COM (UK)

Another one on the history of the Nato watch strap.

How did the Nato strap get its name? - GQ.COM (UK)

It got its name because it had a Nato stock number (NSN)...

Members of the military refer to them as G10s after its requisition form's reference number but the better-known moniker came about because it has a Nato stock number (NSN) on the strap. The original spec was a strap 280mm long, 20mm wide (now 18mm - and in case you're wondering all Nato armies use the metric system, even the Americans) and 12 heat-sealed adjustment holes plus chrome-plated brass fittings.

 It was originally designed so that it could to be worn over or under clothing such as a flight suit or wetsuit and to keep the buckle away from the underside of the wrist, supposedly to prevent it catching on clothing - or weapons. The fact that the strap goes under the case also means that if one spring bar breaks the watch will still be attached to the wrist.

However I saw watch straps here in Russia similar to the Nato straps decades ago... even older than that, on historical watch pieces and in photos. 

NYT: Watches Win NATO Support

A New York Times article

Watches Win NATO Support

Not necessarily about what you think first... it's about the Nato strap and on how it is becoming more popular.

Also goes into history of said strap.

The watch strap is a type many call a NATO. Whether it is in fact a NATO is a subject of considerable online debate, like most everything to do with the world of fine watches and Bond.

Named for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, though likely created for the British armed forces, a NATO is classically a length of plain woven nylon with two stainless steel loops and a metal buckle. Like Bond or Galore, it is tough, resilient and hard to kill.

And it is a certifiable trend. At least it was during the huge Baselworld watch fair held in Switzerland in the spring, when large numbers of watchmakers showed their costly wares on NATO straps, and before then on the wrists of Billyburg hipsters, still the most reliable early adopters when it comes to matters of style.

Watch purists hate them. NATO straps “don’t belong on any watch that costs more than the strap,” sniffed one professed online arbiter known as the Watch Snob. For that matter, he added, they have no business supporting any timepiece to which “a leather strap can be attached.”