The US Army Uniform Thread....

[Paul in Qatar]

Some remarkably bad uniform ideas, some of which I have worn:

 

In the early post-war era units paraded with Class A Uniforms, helmets and webbing. Darn silly.

Anything having to do with wearing a helmet liner.

Wetting your helmet cover to shrink it and remove wrinkles before a parade.

Starched jungle fatigues. They turned white.

WAC boots (anyone remember those?)

WAC fatigues (with the pencil pocket on the arm.)

[Guest aevans]

Pinks and greens.

 

As soon as possible, preferably with a Sam Brown and in 100% wool. The cut and cloth of the existing class As together with "policeman" shoes is as I have said before a sartorial disaster of the first order. The blues just need their collars closed up. The cost of re-uniforming is not relevent, new ones have to be bought as the old one's wear out and new soldiers need the new ones anyway.

 

For a lot of guys, service uniforms don't wear out. If you're a grunt, you wear the trousers and shirts maybe ten times a year (if that often) and the blouse maybe two or three times. And almost all of this wear is for only a few hours at a time, for inspections and/or parades. One could easily go an entire 20 year career using the service uniform items issued in boot camp.

[History Buff]

Puttees are wrapped. Leggings, also known as gaiters, are a different animal.

Edited May 15, 2007 by History Buff

[FirstOfFoot]

One could easily go an entire 20 year career using the service uniform items issued in boot camp.

 

Nah. They shrink over time, you know. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

 

I should explain...

 

My recruit medical said 17 years old, 1.75m tall, 60kg (5'9" and 133lbs for y'all). By the time I hit Sandhurst, it was 22 years old, 1.80m tall, 67kg (5'11" and 147lbs). By my Recce course at age 25, I'd stopped growing upwards, and was 71kg.

With about 5% body fat, and a VO2max of 67, before you ask...

Edited May 15, 2007 by FirstOfFoot

[Jim Martin]

My last girlfriend was absolutely thrilled when she was poking through my closet and found my Dress Blues hanging up in a bag.

 

She was less thrilled when she discovered just how much they'd shrunk since I'd last had them tailored, around 10 years ago...

[Noble713]

How do these look? I just spent about 2 hours altering a 3d model of Grand Admiral Thrawn from Star Wars, it was the closest I could find to the style I wanted, in a file format I use....and already sitting on my hard drive so I didn't have to run around Das Internetz looking for it. The style is also similar to the Crimson Guard dress uniform from G.I. Joe

 

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q209/No...3/uniforms2.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q209/No...3/uniforms1.jpg

 

Keep in mind these are very rough versions so they are missing most of the essential Army bling, like rank, unit patches, service stripes, qualification badges, etc.... The fascist jackboots were shortened from their original knee-high length to a more reasonable calf length, but the pants are still a bit funky-lookin'. I widened the waist considerably; Thrawn's uniform cut wouldn't work with some of the stockier soldiers (and I don't mean fat, overweight bastards, I mean barrel-chested types).

[Paul in Qatar]

Great job! Now that being said ...

 

These uniforms do not address any of the problems with current uniforms. The still have too much fiddly stuff on them. With no pockets, alignment would be even more of a problem that it is now. Also we still have two mostly-identical uniforms. There is not enough simplification here.

 

On the other hand, extra credit for your artist effort.

[SCFalken]

 

?

 

Falken

Edited May 16, 2007 by SCFalken

[History Buff]

How do these look?

 

The one on the left looks like George Patton's "Flash Gordon" uniform.

[Rubberneck]

I work with the female in the first picture. Many laughs abound...

[Rubberneck]

One thing that does bother me is GO's and other officers who go up to Congress in ACU's. Wear the freaking Class A's like every other service.

[Rocky Davis]

One thing that does bother me is GO's and other officers who go up to Congress in ACU's. Wear the freaking Class A's like every other service.

 

I was appalled at the last military funeral I attended (about six months ago). Class A’s have ALWAYS been funeral uniform – even if it was 500 degrees in the shade (temperature-wise). Only about ½ of those in uniform that attended wore A’s (obviously, including me). The rest wore ACU’s – presumably because they had been temporarily released from duty (in the Motor Pool or whatever) to attend the funeral and were expected to get back to work post haste afterwards. The solution to this quandary is, and always has been simple – take your work uniform and your Class A’s to work when you report for duty. Give yourself 30 minutes to change into A’s before leaving for the funeral and give yourself the same before resuming normal work.

 

It ain’t rocket science, folks!

[BP]

I appreciate folks coming up with futuristic or new takes on uniforms, but let me tell you: sartorial tastes HAVE NOT gotten better over the years.

 

I'd much rather use a dapper Cary Grant as a model of how to dress, rather than any schlub actor of today. Therefore, pinks and greens. QED.

[Unreal John]

The one on the left looks like George Patton's "Flash Gordon" uniform.

 

Thought they called it and him "The Green Hornet."

[Ivanhoe]

One thing that does bother me is GO's and other officers who go up to Congress in ACU's. Wear the freaking Class A's like every other service.

 

Since I've lived in the shadow of Langley AFB the past 15 years or so, its amusing to see the vast army of paper pushers wearing cammies around town. Sorta like the epidemic of flight suits. For a brief moment I think there was a missive that they were supposed to wear their Class Bs off-base, even for a lunch run, but that didn't last. I'm guessing the guys out bending wrenches weren't allowed the time to change and change back, don't know what the hangup was with the office drones.

[SCFalken]

Since I've lived in the shadow of Langley AFB the past 15 years or so, its amusing to see the vast army of paper pushers wearing cammies around town. Sorta like the epidemic of flight suits. For a brief moment I think there was a missive that they were supposed to wear their Class Bs off-base, even for a lunch run, but that didn't last. I'm guessing the guys out bending wrenches weren't allowed the time to change and change back, don't know what the hangup was with the office drones.

 

 

Keesler AFB (Biloxi, MS), 1996. All the personnel of the 81st Medical Wing were wearing BDUs. Hospital staff.

 

 

 

Falken

[Noble713]

Great job! Now that being said ...

 

These uniforms do not address any of the problems with current uniforms. The still have too much fiddly stuff on them.

 

It's a fancy dress uniform, it's SUPPOSED to have fiddly stuff on it. Although the current uniform has some redundant features or just plain lame stuff. You only need ONE regimental crest, not three. Get rid of the driver/mechanic badges too.

 

Infantry cord or whatever funky stuff the armor/cav guys wear; combat and current unit patches on the shoulders; rank, service stripes and combat stripes on the sleeves; HALO/Pathfinder/ABN/AAS (only wear one); CIB/EIB/CAB/EFMB (again, one); Marksmanship badge (without those dangling bars for each weapon). That's all that's really needed besides the ribbon salad and any foreign awards. Oh, and those little quarter-sized things on the collar.

 

With no pockets, alignment would be even more of a problem that it is now.

Use the buttons on the right side of the chest to line up the nameplate and regimental crest, dress the stuff on the left off of the seams and the stuff on the right. *shrugs* I dunno, some meticulous disciplinarian can come up with how to do it.

 

Also we still have two mostly-identical uniforms. There is not enough simplification here.

 

I guess I forgot to mention that these were meant as different-colored versions of the same uniform. In other words, only a single one would be issued. I like the green one as I think a good deep green is acceptable as an "Army" color, much like our eventual Space Navy should wear a black uniform. The two-tone blue one was provided for people who might prefer a more classic (Civil War-ish) look but with the same cut as the green one. It's just for comparative purposes really.

Edited May 17, 2007 by Noble713

[SCFalken]

our eventual Space Navy

 

You mean Aerospace Force, of course...

 

 

 

Falken

[Paul in Qatar]

Heck with fiddily stuff. We are an Army at war. Let's at least act like it.

 

Hospital staff are soldiers. They ought to wear BDUs. Everyone ought to wear BDUs/DCUs as the default uniform.