U.S. Army considers new uniforms

[Lone_Ranger]

Surely after passing basic, there's no need for a soldier to hang around a training unit, so they won't be mistaken for a recruit?

Well....

In the Air Force, basic is separate from technical training. You finish basic training, and then go to another training unit where you get your "specialty" training. Some of the aircraft maintenance schools are quite long. You could be in school for almost a year before being assigned to a working unit.

Then again, if your assigned to one of those schools, by default you've graduated from basic.

I was Army Nat Guard. I have a ribbon for going to Primary Leadership Development, which is the NCO Academy. Sort of redundant since you have to have PLDC to make (E-5) Sergeant. Do you really need the ribbon too? The three stripes alone would indicate that you had PLDC. It looks cool though. I guess if you ever lost your stripes it would serve as an indicator that you screwed up. Or if you ever made officer rank, it would indicate that you were an NCO at one time, too.

 

[Harp]

...The M4 is a good weapon and the current generation of optics and attachments have made it better. I would venture that plenty of SOCOM bubbas would agree.... We should be discussing the pros/cons of the Springfield vs the M1 Garand and the M1 Carbine.

Heckler/Koch's #416 is a gem-of-a-gun.
...and the M1 Garand Rifle hands down for standard grunt service.

...but nothin' beats khakis n' spit shined jump boots.

 

[cookie]

The only problem with Marine Corps Dress and Service uniforms is they are cut trim and slim, but still have the huge armholes you see on modern suit jackets. That exacerbates the problem of mobility. If they cut the armholes right, I'll betcha we'd wear them more often. I know I would've; the dang things had style like nothing else. I just couldn't stand the fit.

The huge bellows pockets are amazing...when do the Marines wear the whites?

 

[Otium]

This one is very interesting. I´d like to know when was the last time anyone used the cloak. It looks good, but it´s a bit (about 100 years) outdated.

The rest of the pictures - those are actual uniforms, aren´t they? They´re perfectly fine, but the ones (from the links above) are... Well, there was a time when the pretty uniform was one of the reasons for joining the army...

The cloak is still authorized for both USMC and USN mess dress uniforms, but as an optional piece rather than required. As far as I can find only the Marine Shop in Quantico still sells them new. They don't carry any stock and only make it when you order it. Runs about $600 but I'm still very seriously considering it before they stop making it entirely.

 

[Dr Doran]

Ladies, gents, this is extremely interesting to a person as ignorant about military uniforms as myself. I have learned a great deal from reading this thread. Thank you.

 

[Widebrim]

Marine Corps has shooting badges which predate WW2.

True, but they came from the U.S. Army, which changed them for the present ones in the 1930s.

 

[marineabilly]

There has always been "freindly" competition between the Army and Marines over the years in the form of who has the better weaponry, equipement, uniforms, etc. The Army will always have a leg up on us as they have more money for that type of stuff. It's no secret that the Marines are still using Vietnam war-era equipment, but we are known for making do with what we have where we're at. We've been hooking and jabbing since 1775 with as little as we need.

The Marines were the first to break away from the old cammie pattern uniform with the digital pattern and if you look around now, all the services have digital patterns - the Army being the first to follow our lead.

Bottom line? Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard... regardless of weapons or uniforms, we are all one team serving one purpose. Semper Fidelis brothers and sisters of fellow services. Ooh Rah!!

 

[David Conwill]

Bottom line? Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard... regardless of weapons or uniforms, we are all one team serving one purpose. Semper Fidelis brothers and sisters of fellow services. Ooh Rah!!

Now there's the spirit! I wish I heard more of that.

-Dave

 

[WH1]

The huge bellows pockets are amazing...when do the Marines wear the whites?

The White uniforms were discontinued several years ago. We do wear white trousers with the dress blues during the summer months, SNCOs and officers.

 

[Diamondback]

Is there any real need for a ribbon for passing basic? Surely basic training is a necessary part of a job, whose only real reward should be a pat on the back and the right to join your unit? It just seems to similar to those "it's the taking part that counts" awards in primary school

Napoleon once said, "Give me enough medals and I'll win you any war." Basically, it's all about the morale--we all need that "attaboy/attagirl" *nods to Paisley* and pat on the head every now and then... and folks who are likely to be shot at especially.

I'm in for dittos on Fletch's commentary on Page 1--although were I the brass, I'd make his proposed Army Green & Khaki the standard, but authorize the "Heritage" all-khaki as an "Alternate Standard" for soldiers to wear as they choose when not deployed into the field.

----------------
Now playing: John Williams - The Miracle Of The Ark
via FoxyTunes

 

[marineabilly]

The White uniforms were discontinued several years ago. We do wear white trousers with the dress blues during the summer months, SNCOs and officers.

...unless you're a recruiter. Some Marine recruiters wear their white trousers and blues jacket no matter what time of year to attract attention. It worked and it looked good, although, I always opted for the traditional blue trousers.

 

[Hugh Beaumont]

When I was in the Air Force 20 years ago, we couldn't wear fatigues or BDUs off base except just to make a quick stop at a 7-11, for instance. And shortly before, even that wasn't allowed. I don't think the current preference for camoflage has anything to do with being "purposeful" or comfortable, it's just part of the current casual (or slob) culture.

I remember that too. I was in the Army at Bragg 20 years ago and we were NOT allowed to wear our BDU's off post, unless it was for lunch, or making a quick stop before heading home if you lived off-post.

Our Class A's were and are ugly. Luckily we were able to wear beret's and jumpboots with ours to salvage any respect from them.

I would love for the Army to go back to a more traditional WWII style uniform. What's wrong with a little romanticizing??

 

[Harp]

... I was in the Army at Bragg 20 years ago and we were NOT allowed to wear our BDU's off post, unless it was for lunch, or making a quick stop before heading home if you lived off-post.

Tigerstripes-in-town and leg MPs with the wrong attitude....

 

[Lone_Ranger]

I remember that too. I was in the Army at Bragg 20 years ago and we were NOT allowed to wear our BDU's off post, unless it was for lunch, or making a quick stop before heading home if you lived off-post.

Our Class A's were and are ugly. Luckily we were able to wear beret's and jumpboots with ours to salvage any respect from them.

I would love for the Army to go back to a more traditional WWII style uniform. What's wrong with a little romanticizing??

There's something to say for tradition. The Marines look good because they've mostly stayed true to their tradition, making very little change to their original uniforms. (At least the dress uniforms, field uniforms will change as form follows function)

 

[Paisley]

I thought of another instance where the Air Force basic training ribbon isn't worn: by someone who joined the Air Force from another branch of the military.

 

[mikwat]

Not all branches hand out ribbons like the Air Force does. I spent 5 months in Iraq and the Navy has yet to allow me to wear the Iraq Campaign medal. The reason they gave me was because starting on day 31 I went to a Hospital in Kuwait for two months. They say it now counts an nonconsecutive duty, so I need a total of 60 days. And you might be refering to the National Defence Ribbon, you pretty much get it for being in the military.

On a side note, the Navy uniforms have remained virtually unchanged since world war one. I for one would love to see a zipper on my Crackerjacks, just because the bathroom always calls when they're on. With that said, I understand why the army wears utilites around all the time, it just looks lousy.

 

[p51]

It doesn't matter what the Class A's look like, does it? All I ever see Army folks wearing are fatigues.

Exactly. In my time in the Army, I only wore my Class As for my commissioning ceremony, my DA photo for the Captain's board, for the three death notifications I made to widows who hadn't yet known they were widows (God, how I hate that duty) and THAT'S IT. I wore BDUs all the other times. For formal events we wore dress blues, which every officer was obliged to have.
Heck, it's all going to tan anyway, bring back the WW2 tan Class As. Problem solved!
But as far as I know, the plan is still to go to Blues for everyone. I resigned in 2006 so I'm no longer in the loop.

 

[Harp]

Exactly. In my time in the Army, I only wore my Class As ...for the three death notifications I made to widows who hadn't yet known they were widows (God, how I hate that duty)....

I caught casket escort and funeral detail which require Class A,
but thankfully never had to inform next-of-kin.
Outside of several other ceremonial functions and formal discharge
process I seldom wore Class A and traveled in civies.

 

[Hugh Beaumont]

I used to wear my Class A's home on leave.

 

[marineabilly]

Depending on what your Higher Headquarters directs, pretty much all services require you to wear your utilities while traveling home on leave from Iraq. I wore my desert digitals home from Iraq this past summer and although it was comfortable on the flight and with all the hurry up and waiting going on, it would’ve been nice to wear “civies” or other form of service uniform – Service “C’s,” perhaps? Some Soldier’s got to change into their civies upon arrival in Kuwait. We had a very warm welcome home from the kind folks at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport, though, so it was definitely nice to be in uniform then… Bottom line, with the worlds current events, utilities will be the norm for all services.

I would love for the Marines to bring back the short “Ike” jacket – now this was a SHARP uniform…