New, Retro Uniforms..
..for our Nautically Challenged Brothers and Sisters.
No surprise, this has been in the works for some time. Sharp looking uniforms, even if they do make me feel I’m watching ’12 O’Clock High’ reruns. I’ve heard mostly positive opinions on the change, so I thought I’d bring it before the harshest critics I can find.
The crew here at TAH. So what say you?
US Army’s new uniforms a throwback to classic WWII design
By Brittany De Lea
The U.S. Army is planning to roll out new uniforms, which look very similar to ones members have worn in the past.A spokesperson for the Army told FOX Business that the look – which was worn by soldiers in World War II and the Korean War – is “one of the most admired and recognizable” in the service’s history.
(U.S. Army Photo by Timothy M. Ahearn)“The reintroduction of this uniform is meant to inspire trust and confidence in our soldiers’ professionalism and readiness,” Heather J. Hagan told FOX Business.
Hagan told FOX Business, however, that the new uniform will have no additional cost for either the American taxpayer or enlisted soldiers. The higher quality uniforms are expected to last for a “longer service life” and the Army will be phasing them in over a longer period for costs to remain neutral.
While I was in the Navy we went through three or four major uniform changes, each a bigger PITA than the one before, which is why I was generally in a flight suit. Looks like the Army is doing this the right way.
The rest of the article may be viewed here: Fox Business
Category: Big Army, Code Pink, Historical
I think they look sharp and trendy. They may be retro, but retro stuff is trendy now.
Maybe they’ll provide bomber jackets with the fake fur collar, too, for the non-formal occasions when things are cold.
“with the fake fur collar”
Make it natural fur to help the trappers and piss off the left.
No fake fur collar, but we’ll be able to wear the leather A2 flight jacket (or Ike jacket) instead of the black windbreaker.
“They look pretty but can they fight?”
Kelly’s Heroes
Right actor, wrong movie: Donald Sutherland in “The Dirty Dozen”
Exactly. But my favorite part of Kelly’s Heroes was the exchange between Telly Savalas’s character (“Big Joe”) the Plt Sgt and his CO…
Big Joe: …There’s no booze, there’s no broads, there’s no action!
Captain Maitland: That’s another thing – don’t fool around with the women. Their husbands carry guns. And don’t forget, the penalty for looting is death.
Big Joe: Loot what? There’s nothing here to loot!
Is there not much more important things to devote time and limited funds to? Seems like a waste of time and talent. Uniform morale went to shit when they took the black beret’s away from the Rangers and authorized all to wear one. People have a lot of money invested in their uniforms and changing will create an unnecessary expense because of the pressure to wear the latest and the greatest.
I completely agree with you Club. All because of a SMA that just had to a solution to a non-problem. Just another example of wasteful spending and then requiring the troops to pay for the new uniforms themselves. If they really want to go retro, go to the Cavalry uniforms of the late 1800s. That would make a statement instead of the butt ugly “pinks and greens”.
I believe that the DA liars stated that the Rangers “Asked for the Tan Beret”. The clowns that took the Black Beret from the Rangers knew all the tricks of the trade.
John W
Shinsucki had a beret fetish from homesteading in Europe…
Shinsecki’s boss wanted us all to look like Monica.
If memory serves me (which it doesn’t lately), the statement from “Shincuscki” was: “you have 90 days to choose another color, I am giving the black beret to everyone else!” So yes, the Ranger Regiment chose the tan beret…since it was the only other option, and had some lineage.
I can easily believe that, Shinsucki was a 24K Clintonista!
He sure was.
They supposedly are having a bomber jacket. I’m glad I’ll be retired before this becomes a required uniform. Looks decent enough, but I’ve worn far too many uniforms in my 17+ years of service. The military as a whole is more focused on making social changes and being stylish than it is on actually fighting wars. Yeah, I’m in a highly cynical mood…
I like them. The Air Force really, really, really needs to update their dress uniforms. They should go with these in blue, which is essentially what the USAF wore until McPeak came along and took us all corporate.
I’d also like the Air Force to return to hash marks over the longevity service ribbon. Hash marks look so much sharper. We’ve got enough ribbons. Graduating basic you’ve already got at least a single row of ribbons. If you shoot expert and get honor grad, you’re 5/6th of the way to a full two rows before even really starting your service! Grandpa did 4 years in WWII from the landing at Tunisia all the way to the Rapido River and has a similar number of ribbons.
I also like how these new pinks and greens, as opposed to the dress blue (which I think are remaining in use and unchanged), is they are back to sewing unit patches on the sleeves. The Army’s got too much going on with all the metal identifying devices on their dress uniforms.
You can dress them up, but you can’t take some of them anywhere!
(Go Army Beat Navy!)
*sigh*
Remember when you were gone? Are you sure you didn’t leave something there?
Better go back and check. Take your time.
*grin*
giggle snort & tee hee. Only thing I’m missing is my sanity and it was lost long ago. You best be glad AnotherPat (RTR) is busy doing the Mother’s Day Thing or we’d be double teaming your happy ass. (hats up and skates)
ps unlike Mick I don’t hate your Naval Aviator Self. I was concerned someone had pulled the yellow and black handle on TAH. We do need a pay to the order of and snail mail address so we can help keep the staff in cheap cigars and rot gut whiskey.
Umm, Mick doesn’t hate me (usually) and I’m not a Naval Aviator. I was Aeronautically Designated and Naval Aircrew, but Aviator is reserved for pilots.
Another oddball Navy-ism we use to baffle our (aero)nautically challenged brethren.
As for the rest, I’m sure Management will get snail-mail and the like done as soon an they can.
My bad bro, Guess Mick only hates you (his words from the MCPON Thread on sea stories) when you annoy him with Top Gun Naval Aviator bits. When it comes to Naval Aviators like that, well I hate them too.
I guess I should show my edumukashun by using the better, more inclusive term of Naval Aviation. Lubs me some Naval Aviation. They takes off from mobile airfields, with flying Artillery Platforms, and they are protected by floating Artillery.
We won’t talk about the fact that it was an Army Air Corps Aviator (Billy Mitchell) that proved you could aviate from a portable airfield or that another Army Air Corps Colonel (J. Doolittle) proved a bomber could do the same.
No worries, 5th/77th FA. Methinks that you misread the intent of my posts over at the MCPON thread.
I don’t “hate” AW1Ed. Not at all.
We just always engage in some good-natured banter from our Naval Aviation brotherhood whenever TOP GUN gets brought up around here. Nothing more than that, and nothing more than what you’d routinely hear in any Navy or Marine Corps squadron Ready Room.
It’s all good.
Yeah Bro I copy all that and knew that the ragging was on going. Hell, if we don’t pick on him, who is? I can honestly brag that I have never watched Top Gun. Can also honestly brag that I’ve never had any use at all for TC. Some of my best friends and relatives were swabbies. I forgive them for their transgressions…..GO ARMY BEAT NAVY! (Love your BOOOOOOOOM SHAAAAAAAAAAAACKS)
ps…dahell is AnotherPatand 2/17 Air Cav? Miss them both.
Sharpest uniform ever for the US Army. Not sure that adding the 50-mission crush to what everyone wears is such a good idea. Oh, well. Guess that’s like having everyone wear a beret.
Depends. Fifty-mission crush (a la COL Hogan on Hogan’s Heroes) is properly done by taking out the wire stiffener and letting the cap eagle support the front of the cap. Putting a sharp crease in the stiffener (like today’s models did) is lame and just dorky looking. Either take out the stiffer or gradually bend/crush the stiffener like you’re working the bill of a baseball cap.
The bus driver cover looks stupid on the females. Sorta “East German” in a bitchy kind of way.
Ditto.
Double-ditto!
The first thing I thought when I saw the above photo was Hogan’s Heroes. I think his (Bob Crane’s) was a little more worn and curled though!
I like the bus driver hats though, it made me feel like…I was driving the bus!
Had one. Never wore it on AD. Glider patch on the C-cap for me until I wore the green beanie. The wymens would look much better in the WWll style C-cap. The bus driver looks rediculous on a small female head, plus it was designed for a short male hair cut.
When I was a kid(1950s) my dad still wore his Pinks and greens. To me the will always epitomize ARMY. Best, Pinks and Greens. Worst, Ike Jacket! And of course Dress Blues for dress up. I was amazed when blues became an every day uniform, sorta spoiled the ‘special’ about them.
In those days Pop also wore TWT tropical worsted and those damn khakis. I wore them in the sixties and I always looked like an unmade bed after ten minutes. Khaki shorts with knee socks worked if you had the legs.
Roger on that, Roger…
Only folks who could look decent in khakis for longer than ten minutes were those who don’t sweat and those who worked in air-conditioned offices and there weren’t many of either in the 60’s.
You’re also right about TW’s: they were the way to go for summer dress uniform. Much sharper and more comfortable than khakis, although considerably more expensive, so most enlisted, even NCO’s, didn’t buy them. They looked really good with bloused jump boots.
Ah, TW’s. Now that was a uniform. With Cochrans. Starch breaking khakis not so much. Geeze out.
Yeah, bring the Pinks and Greens back and DITCH the Black Beret, during my AD Days the Black Beret was RANGERS ONLY and IMHO it needs to go back to that!
But a tan beanie is so much more comfortable in the hot sun. Get rid of the black, altogether, stop telling Joe Snuffy he’s anything more than a standard soldier (which should mean something, in itself), and let the Rangers channel their inner-SAS.
Why?
We’re ‘sposed to look like this (which everybody actually wanted instead of the Beret and ASU):
https://youtu.be/rvwsdDRyXPw?t=294
Another unnecessary waste of cash to be replaced in 5 years when no one remembers the marvel movies.
This is what happens when warfighting is no longer the primary concern in the pentagram…err….pentagon.
Like the russians are going to see this uniform and say “oh my god! how can we fight against this ever changing uniform army?”
FWIW: the Pentagon’s military newspaper is indeed named “The Pentagram”.
Interpret that as you see fit. (smile)
The white stripes are bland.
Rank should stick out.
They’re yellow/gold like the old days… color of the pictures sucks.
My dads jacket has a movie schedule and ticket stub in the pocket from Fort Sherman Panama 195?.
Another uniform boondoggle. Yeah, it looks good (except for the stupid bus driver hat…. geez, standardize on the c*ntcap and LEAVE IT.) Fatigues or coveralls for garrison, if you actually have a combat zone where a camo is needed, issue locally to the folks WORKING there. I was in a paltry 9 years and saw khakis go to permanent press to Class A slacks with short/long sleeve shirts and or sweaters. Starchies went to permanent press to BDUs… all in less than a decade. Damn near had to buy new uniforms every time I PCS’ed… and I did that 9 times.
Yeah, I remember that. And it didn’t stop there. It was nearly as bad in the period from 1986-1997.
circa 1986 – new BDUs (hot weather)
mid 1990s – new raincoat (with shoulder loops, otherwise identical)
mid 1990s – intro of short black jacket (optional, thankfully, and actually worthwhile IMO)
1997 – new greens in damn near the exact shade as previous, but you could tell the two apart if mixed, but otherwise identical
And the period from 1997 forward hasn’t been much if any better. We’ve had the new PT uniforms (twice as I recall), the ACU and OCP (AKA “BDU Mark II” – it’s damn near a smaller version of the old BDU pattern with some brown added), the ASU, and now this. Plus changes to issue underewar and footwear.
The Army does many things well. But I’d be hard pressed to figure out what it does better than waste money by screwing around with perfectly workable uniform designs every 3 or 4 yeas. I’m seriously wondering if uniform makes haven’t bribed a bunch of people over the past 30 years or so.
I would like to see the Navy bring back the uniforms from the era of Commodore Matthew Perry with a USS Constitution style collar (minus the European style epaulettes, just keep the regular shoulder boards. Chiefs can forgo the gold piping in the middle of the collar) for officers and chiefs rather than the current dress blues because to me the current ones look too much like a regular double breasted suit (I have the same problem with the Air Force). Basically something similar to the dress whites but blue with gold piping. Maybe keep the current dress blues as a service uniform like the Marines with their Service Alphas. The crackerjacks can stay as they are.
Remind me of this for some reason:
Patton: [speaking to Bradley] You know, I think those stars would better on a green shirt. Did I ever tell you about the time I designed a uniform for tank crewmen? It was, uh, green leather, had red stripes, and sort of, uh, a row of brass buttons down across here, and topped off by a gold football helmet.
[laughs]
Patton: The Army rejected it, of course. Goddamn, it was beautiful.
The USMC had a few changes during my time but nothing like what they put the Army through.
Instead of worrying about uniforms the Armed Services need to focus on unfucking the policies that take them away from warfighting and continue to purge the Clintonistas and Obamites from the ranks
Uniform design is far less controversial than realistic and effective training of our armed forces to kill the enemy and smash their stuff.
That realistic and effective training also requires a focus on reality that really screws up the pet fantasies of idiots.
Wont be long before the kepi is authorized for wear with ACU.
ASU would be better. Will get a kepi on our staff ride to Gettysburg… finding large branch brass for the top will be the challenge.
They are available from the suttlers at any Civil War reenactment. But for infantry you will have to wear the French horn instead of crossed rifles.
I’m an Air Defender… coastal artillery didn’t even exist back then.
Coastal artillery existed, it just wasn’t a separate branch, so you can proudly wear the crossed cannons on your kepi. Hell, 80% of the Civil War reenactors I encountered never even served in our military and they are wearing kepis with branch insignia.
IMO the only reason this is happening is because the Army refuses to admit what an abomination the ASU (current blues) are. Just a horrible, silly looking uniform. In class A (with jacket) the soldier looks like a door man at a fancy hotel and in class b (no jacket, white shirt) he looks like a mall cop.
There was nothing “wrong” with the old dress green uniform that served the Army from before the Vietnam war well into the GWOT era. But to go back to the greens would be to admit they were wrong about switching to the blues, so they came up with this.
I don’t hate it (except for the 50-mission-crush cap which looks marginal on males and silly on females.) A simpler, easier, and CHEAPER solution (Army, are you listening?) would be to go back to the WWII style “side cap” or “overseas cap” with the soft sides and the pleat in the center. Watch an episode of “Band of Brothers” and you can see what a good looking uniform that is.
In fact, as a paratrooper, I’d even be OK with ditching my maroon beret in favor of a WWII style overseas cap with the “glider patch” on the side, and of course worn with highly polished jump boots. Unlike the maroon beret (which we borrowed from the British and which THEY borrowed from the French), the overseas cap and jump boots is a 100% AMERICAN look.
BTW the Army has been circulating photos for what, 18 months now? In the photo above, the guy on the left used to be an E-7. Did he do something to get busted down to E-6 or are these professional models and not soldiers? 😉
Edit: Should say the guy on the RIGHT, not left.
I don’t understand why you say they are an abomination. They are the same as the dress blues worn for over 50 years by NCO’s and officers. I was married in mine. They look sharp for formal occasions, but I agree they should not replace a Class “A” uniform for general duty. I think the Army will keep the Blues for dress; I can’t see the Old Guard wearing the Pinks and Greens for Funerals and at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
I voted for this back in the 90s when the ASUs won…I suspect that GEN Casey over-ruled the results, since EVERYONE I asked voted for the Pink/Greens. I’d bet the fact that a large number of GOs at the time were morbidly obese and likely couldn’t pull off the look might have played a part in the decision. I’m pissed I’m retired and can’t wear it now; I might still get a set to be buried in, though…
Those covers (combination caps for Navy types) look like the ones worn by the cops in Tijuana when I lived down there. Rather Banana Republic Generalismo style.
Will transgender Soldiers be offered the opportunity to emphasize the Pinks over the Greens in a boldly fierce fashion ensemble option?
As long as I get to keep my Engineer buttons on the coat, I’m good.
Yet another reason why I peacefully sleep, worriless and happy, beneath my snuggly warm DD-214 blanket each night.
I love this uniform! Wish we had it when I was active duty. Hate the peaked cap for women; as someone upthread alluded to, it makes them look like SS-bitch-guards. But maybe that’s not a bad thing.
Downside: Our current stockpile of rolly-polly soldiers will look ridiculous with that belt buckled, emphasizing their ponderous guts.
Upside: Maye our stockpile of rolly-pollies will be encouraged to lose weight.
Don’t look now, but the “brown-shoe days” are back!
I wonder if Corfam will start making the low quarters in brown so there will be no spit shining. Will we be seeing airborne and SF troopers in the new uniform sporting brown Corcorans? Only time will tell.