Army gets smart on ACUs
ROS, who remembers me from the battle we waged against Shinseki and his black beret more than ten years ago, sends a link from the Army Times which demonstrates that the Army is finally being smart about the beret, among other things. It seems the latest changes are a result of the new Sergeant Major of the Army, Raymond F. Chandler III, a leg tanker.
Anyway, it seems that SMA Chandler wants the standard headgear for the ACU uniform to be the patrol cap. Fricken Duh!
“The Soldiers didn’t like the fact that the beret was hot — it was not something that they wore the majority of the time,” he said. “And they didn’t like the fact it didn’t shade the sun and it took two hands to put on. And they didn’t like to carry two pieces of headgear to do different functions during the day.”
The change in the beret policy will save the Army about $6.5 million over the lifecycle of the ACU. New Soldiers had been issued two berets, now they will be issued one.
Another change would allow soldiers to sew on their name tags instead of attaching them with velcro. That never made sense tome anyway. Are you going to change your uniforms with someone else? Why would you need to change the name tags? Granted, you may have the opportunity to remove the name tags for certain operations, but how often? So often that having velcro would make it advantageous somehow?
Who would have thought that we’d get a sergeant major with some common sense. It’s particularly satisfying that he’s a tanker, like Shinseki, who I’m convinced brought the black beret in retaliation for the bar fights over the tankers’ black berets we had at Sheridan Kaserne, Augsburg, where Shinseki was stationed when 1/75th were there for REFORGER ’75. Four years later the Army Chief of Staff took away the tankers’ black beret (and the airborne’s maroon beret).
Category: Military issues
After more than a decade, I still harbor an intense desire to throatpunch that assclown.
My question is this, dear heart: Why sew on tapes OVER the hook and loop instead of removing it?
Imagine the restraint I exercised when I sat behind Shinseki at the House Small Business Committee hearing on why he bought the initial load of berets from China.
I can’t believe you didn’t thump the back of his head or cough ‘bullshit’ every time he spoke. I’m mildly disappointed. 🙂
You Army folks are just tooooo fashion conscious. And the acronyms… just for the uniforms.
At least I know what the
beanieberet is.“My question is this, dear heart: Why sew on tapes OVER the hook and loop instead of removing it?”
I would imagine because that’s the way the contract is written for the maker of the ACU…they come with the velcro. So it’s easier to sew it on top than change the contract…that would be my guess.
Additionally if I read correctly people would still have the option of using velcro and looking like a dirtbag.
Eliminating one beret saved 6.5 million dollars. If you can save 6.5 million on one beret how much could you save by economy of scale by standardizing utility uniforms across DOD?
I asking more along the lines of “why can’t you remove the velcro in order to sew on the tapes/patches?”
Using the logic of SGMs everywhere, if you did that you would appear to be different and we can’t have THAT.
That’s my guess. Personally, I would want to do it the way you suggest, but I’m a trouble making warrant officer.
I have a sneaking suspicion you’re right. It’s going to be a pain in the ass to sew through the velcro, not to mention the bulk.
SMA giveth, and the SMA substituteth away.
Awaiting GO defiance on the issue.
The AG in Minnesota got smart back in 2008 and told everyone to put away the beret. The Guard only wear them with Class A’s. Still sucks to be in the Reserves, though…
And all those boarded up sew shops just outside post (any post, take your pick) will prob start back up.
Coming from the era of BDU’s, the change over to the ACU has sucked. I hate just about everything when in comes to this uniform.
Let me count the ways….
1. Only thing they blend in with is gravel.
2. They only last (if I am lucky) 6 months.
3. They cost about $80 for a set
4. The ACU’s look like crap after about 3 washes (and thats even taking the precaution of using permanent press and all that crap).
5. The silly french hat that goes with them.
6. VELCRO (are you friggen kidding me?).
7. Very few tops are cut correctly, I feel like an old lady going over the racks at a department store to find the good set out of 20.
end of rant…carry on..
I had my name tape and US ARMY tape sewn on two sets of my ACUs for the field and I have had no issues with them. I’m just glad I can pay for embroidered badge and sewing and save some money instead of purchasing a metal badge.
Wearing ACUs in the Guard really makes me miss my Marine Corps cammies. Not just the MARPAT pattern (that’s a whole other thread) but the poor cut, baggy fit, sub standard quality and plethora of ridiculous velcro slabs. Six months after I went into the Guard I was still discovering absurdly superfluous pockets. Ankle pockets? Really? What admin warrior thought pen holders in the sleeve was a good idea? What is it, a lab coat? I cringe every time I put them on to be honest. Fortunately unless we’re wandering over to Fort Lewis for something we usually just ditch the beret in favor of the PC. Got a good laugh though, the first time I heard someone say “shave your beret”.
ACUs drove me nuts, I know that a highly starched pair of BDUs could be like wearing cardboard but DAMN you looked good. I HATED shining boots, but you know what, I think they looked better and you could tell which troop actually gave a shit about their uniforms.
My *least* favorite memory of the Beret was the 25th ID chain of Command swap-a-roo, you could tell who had been in out chain of command, because there was a line on our foreheads above which was white, below which was burned. Sexy.
where’s that Predator Cammo I kept reading about?
@ #12- Rob, I actually like the ACU’s. But I also didn’t have to spend $80 on a set. In fact, I got off of active duty just as they were starting to transition to the ACU so I never had the pleasure of wearing them. But when I was called up off of IRR to deploy, they issued me….and I am not even joking….8 sets of ACU’s, 3 or 4 pairs of boots, and 2 berets. All of this for only 1 year of service. Seemed like such a waste of money to me.
The newest trend is starching one’s ACU, and getting a pre-formed beret. Getting to feel like the pre-911 Army again. Next we’ll be chaptering folks for failing to get promoted.
Kiwi must be bloody pissed we went to suede boots.
See there needs to be a separate garrison uniform to make all those bored SGMs happy.
“Four years later the Army Chief of Staff took away the tankers’ black beret (and the airborne’s maroon beret).”
That would be Army Chief of Staff Gen. Bernard W. Rogers, a career staff weenie IIRC. I was with the 101st then, he took away our navy blue AA berets the Cav’s Stetsons, some weird electric green ones the MP’s were wearing, the camo ones some unit in Alaska was wearing, as well as the black flashless ones the tankers wore, and the black Ranger and maroon Airborne ones, too. The SF green ones were safe only because of JFK’s presidential order. The Rangers and ABN threw a fit and got theirs back in short order, I think everyone else went ahead and wore theirs afterwards when Important People weren’t in the area. I know I wore mine for one day at JOTC in Panama, but then I was young and stupid as well as stubborn in those days.
I have no idea how bad the ACU’s are, but they couldn’t be any worse than the permanent press OG-107’s we wore in the late 70s, that were thin, held in heat during the summer but didn’t in the winter, would tear at the drop of a hat, lasted about ten washes, but looked like crap after the second, and were expensive on a PFC’s salary to replace (though I don’t recall how much they were). We went into those from the really great OD jungle fatigues (the kind with the slant upper pockets and covered buttons), and the scout platoons still had their ERDL-pattern jungles, which along with the Bata jungle books and narrow brim boonie hats in my mind were the greatest combat uniforms the Army ever came up with. I really didn’t even mind the older, thicker 107’s that you had to send to the base laundry to get starched, those and a nicely shinned up pair of Cochran jump boot made for a really strac look. The baseball caps, though, didn’t.
Hey, I found the black beret useful for lots of things.
1.) Checking the oil on vehicles
2.) Wiping nose after kissing sergeant major’s ass
3.) wiping up the spilled beer we were not allowed to have under General Order #1 on deployments
4.) Wiping ass
I get Berets for elite units because they actually care how to wear the damn things (and will often beat the shit out of folks who do not wear it correctly) but not EVERYBODY.
#19, I had no idea there were so many berets “unofficial” or otherwise.
I know this is sexist, but Females absolutely drive me nuts, with all the “styles” they wear the beret. I’ve seen perhaps 3 females that wear it close to “correctly” when I was in an FSB I used to grind my teeth because it was so annoying.
Heard a rumor that the Velco was going to be replaced with buttons. No “screech” noise when you open your pockets and no sand & dirt gumming the velco up and making it useless.
The son has not comfirmed the rumor as of yet.
Being a Marine, I have no dog in the beret fight, but we ain’t the Europeans. Do away with all but the Green and (now) sand berets for the truly elite troopers, and use a cover that has some viable function to it.
I’m with USMC Steve on this, just don’t have a dog in this fight. Could never see why the Army would do the Black Beret thing unless some pogue General somewhere was so enamored with the European model or wanted to make everyone feel elite. I can understand SF, Rangers and Airborne, it’s like the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor for us Marines. You earned it with blood, sweat, and tears it wasn’t given.
I also liked the jungle utilities we wore in Viet Nam, light weight, dried out fast and you couldn’t tear that ripstop. When I went back in 69 we were issued new jungles in camo.
Just as an aside, I stil wear my sateen utility cover when working outside, comfortable, soft and absorbs and draws sweat better than any ballcap or bandana.
Kennedy’s executive order should be amended to, add the Rangers and Paratroopers, so this doesn’t occur again. Return the beret to the “Holy Trinity”.
Why the army used velcro, God knows. Totally impractical. The Army had studies going all the way back to Vietnam rejecting velcro as a fastner.
The ACU or what ever uniform the USA chooes to fight in should be as sterile as possible. The enemy hardly cares about your CIB and other assorted niceties. Name plate, service, current unit patch and rank should be the only thing worn on the uniform you intend to fight in. Save everything else for the blues. Dress to impress others, not the enemy.