- Messages
- 6,464
- Location
- South of Nashville
A reefer is what the Navy calls a peacoat that officers and chiefs wear. It is the exact same coat that enlisted men wear, except for officers there are epaulets for attaching shoulder rank. The chiefs wear their rank on the sleeves of their peacaots, just as do the enlisted ranks. Both officers and chiefs wear gold eagle buttons instead of the black fouled anchor buttons. Seldom are pea coats still worn by officers and chiefs anymore; almost all now wear a bridge coat, so this is perhaps a moot topic. It is possible that Chiefs still call their pea coats just that, and only the officer pea coats are call reefers. I just can't remember. I do know both officers and chiefs wear gold buttons.
Bridgecoats are a different type coat. More of a conventional overcoat. They are longer--past the knees--and made of a lighter weight wool. As in reefers, officers wear their rank on their shoulders. A chief wears no rank on the sleeves, or anywhere else, on his bridgecoat.
As this is a confusing subject, because of change of practice over the past 60 or 70 years, I researched the current Naval clothing regulations, as well as had several conversations with a Navy Captain (0-6), a Navy Lt. Commander (0-4) and a Command Master Chief (E-9). This research was done several years ago, but I believe it to still be current as I reviewed the regulations again about 2 years ago.
Edit Note: In the current regulations, a Bridgecoat is now called an Overcoat, Blue, while a Reefer remains a Reefer.
Last edited:
