Making a 21st Century US Military Uniform Every Branch Can Wear Read Newsmax: Making a 21st Century

Discussion in 'Warfare / Military' started by Toefoot, Aug 22, 2018.

  1. Toefoot

    Toefoot Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Link: https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/us-military-uniforms-battlefield/2018/08/22/id/878132/


    Snip:
    But over the course of the past 70 years, the Pentagon has built up quite the sartorial stockpile, with various uniforms for base and battlefield, ships and planes, working and working out, and pretty much everywhere in between.

    Now, this sprawling empire of martial clothing is getting taken in a bit.



    Why is it that every 5 years or so we get different uniforms? Pentagon need to get their **** together. Inventing problems, issuing us crap just to recall it and then reissue crap again. It gets old, in the course of my 23 years 5 different standards applied.

    Is it that hard to figure out? Now they want joint uniforms? What they hell is going on?
     
  2. APACHERAT

    APACHERAT Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    This is actually a Bloomberg article authored by Justina Vasquez who was a military brat but never served. And she's a female.
    Ms. Vasquez claimed that USAF airmen wore utilities. No they don't only U.S. Marines wore utilities while soldiers and airmen wore fatigues.

    The military is all about customs and traditions. It's about esprit de corps.

    Having all branches wearing the same uniform is social engineering.

    The infamous Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara pushed social engineering on the military trying to save money.

    All branches of the military were forced to adopt the Army's OD sateen fatigues and the Marine Corps was forced to shitcan the most comfortable uniform to go into combat wearing the sage green Marine Corps herringbone utilities.

    All branches of the military were forced to adopt the U.S. Navy's black leather oxford as their dress shoe.

    Then McNamara went lunatic and forced all branches of the government to adopt the M-16 rifle that is chambered for a varmint cartridge.

    Admiral Zumwalt went social engineering in the early 70's taking away the Navy's bell bottoms and dixie cup cover and both the CPO's and enlisted sailors protested, they are sailors and wanted to hold on to sailor traditions.


    One problem with the herringbone utilities and sateen fatigues, they may have been comfortable, 100% cotton and they breathed so the sweat evaporated helping to keep you cool, in combat they easily toare and got ripped up and in a wet and humid environment they rotted quickly.

    So along came the ripstop jungle fatigue, loose fitting and they didn't rip or rot but they also didn't breath and you couldn't wear underwear and had to go commando or you developed a rash.

    Each branch of the service should have its own unique uniforms.

    The U.S.military should do it the way it was done during WW ll, let the enlisted decide what kind of uniform and boots to wear in combat not the military brass and especially not civilians inside the Pentagon or in Congress.
     
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  3. Toefoot

    Toefoot Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I agree, when the Army took away the baseball Cap cover and went to Beret it made no sense unless you served SF or Airborne. Why have REMF switch and wear something they knew nothing about let alone earned?


     
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  4. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

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    Yeah I don't want universal military uniforms throughout the branches. I believe in a certain level of esprit de corps that comes with each branch looking different. I believe it's healthy for the Army to look different than the Navy and vice versa. It gives a sense of personal pride.

    The Army has already pulled this sort of thing and I don't think it was a good choice even though I understand why they did it. Tankers used to wear coveralls and were allowed to wear them as their duty uniform. Army said no more because they looked "different" than everyone else. Same with aviators. No more pickle suit, now we wear flight suits that look similar to the normal OCP uniform everyone else wears.

    I get why a Commander made that call, as a Tanker years ago I did hold my head up higher when i walked around the PX in my coveralls and Tanker boots specifically looking different than everybody else. I felt "special", and admittedly a bit more cocky. Same as a pilot. But it's a double edged sword because when you feel special you act special but when you act special you sometimes act disrespectful when you know that you are "different" than everyone around you.

    I enjoy the rivalry between the different branches and even the different units within branches. I enjoy the arrogant and smiling stares I get from the Marines when I visit a Camp as I watch them puff their chests out a little more when they see this punk ass Army dude walking by. I don't want to look like them, I want them to be arrogant and know that I'm a Soldier and not a Marine and make fun of me for it to each other. It's good for them.

    We're supposed to all talk trash about each other, it's what makes us feel part of something special by being in our respective branches. The smaller of a group you feel a part of the more special you feel about being in said group. We're supposed to all laugh and say it's cute whenever we see a bus of Airmen show up at our base for a training exercise laughing that the Air Force finally decided to actually do something besides fly the real military out to fight wars. We're supposed to laugh at the Marines walking in lock step like dorks trying to show off on an Army base like they are more disciplined than us. And we're supposed to listen to the Air Force woman in the chow line tell us that she became an Airman and not a Soldier because she actually graduated high school and can read.

    Naw they can keep that make us all look the same crap. I really hope they don't do that.
     
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  5. DentalFloss

    DentalFloss Well-Known Member

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    The USMC will NEVER put up with this, at least not on dress unis. BDUs, fatigues, whatever you wanna call them, maybe. But not dress unis. And I was not a Marine. I was Army, and do not like the "new" (which are about 10 years old at this point) dress unis. Go back to the Greens.
     
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  6. APACHERAT

    APACHERAT Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It use to be you had to earn the right to wear the beret.

    My understanding issuing the beret to everyone was a PR gimmick thinking young people would join the Army and wear a beret thinking they were big sh!t like Special Forces (Green Berets), Ranger or a paratrooper and not having to earn the right to wear the beret.

    The baseball cap was adopted in 1962 < https://olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_clothing_cap_field_hotweather.php > replacing two hats, the standard issued M-1951 field hat and the really cool Ridgeway hat. < https://olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_clothing_m1951_cap_ridgeway.php >

    Everyone was issued the M-1951 field hat in basic but just about all soldiers went to the PX and bought the Ridgeway hat.

    [​IMG]
    Elvis Presley probably in basic wearing the M-1951 field hat.

    [​IMG]
    Presley wearing the Ridgeway hat.
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2018
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  7. Questerr

    Questerr Banned

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    Keep the dress uniforms differentiated by branch, but go to a single universal combat uniform/duty uniform for everyone not in a specialized field (vehicle or aircrew, medical personnel, etc).

    Either in multicam, or go to the MARPAT woodland/desert mix.
     
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  8. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

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    I actually like the ASU's. They are molded after the uniforms of the Union Army during the Civil War which I think is pretty cool as a history buff. I liked the greens too though but I didn't mind changing them.

    What I do mind is having to buy my own damn uniforms every time the Army decides to change them every few years. We need to just pick one and leave it be. Me having a closet full of everything from BDU's to ACU's to Multicam to OCP is ridiculous.

    Hell just the other day I was told that I have to have new boots by the beginning of the fiscal year. Boots that they don't issue us that I have to come out of pocket for even though I have like 10 pairs of brand new boots that automatically become "the wrong color" come October 1st.
     
  9. Mushroom

    Mushroom Well-Known Member

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    I myself am a believer that for a service uniform, there should "be only 1". Or at most 2, since the Navy for decades used their own uniform for ships. And it was cheaper and lasted less time, which worked well considering the environment in which they served.

    I myself never understood the idea of each branch having their own service uniform. The stupid blue cammo for the Navy, the tiger stripe for the Air Force, then the Marines and Army each having their own brand of digital. We need to return to the idea of the 1980's, where we all used the same one.

    And that is starting to happen now. I was at the Clothing & Sales at an Air Force base a few weeks ago, and they have dumped the stupid tiger stripe design. They are using the same OCP uniform that the Army uses.

    And the Navy has adopted a variant of the MARPAT, so at least now we are down to having to provide only 2 different service uniforms.

    Myself, I like the new OCP. It is certainly a lot better than the ACU pattern that is being phased out. And hopefully with the Air Force using it also, the prices will start to drop a bit.
     
  10. LogNDog

    LogNDog Well-Known Member

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    You can thank a Democrat for that. He was later fired as the Secretary of the VA. He had the "everyone deserves a trophy" mentality.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Shinseki
     
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2018

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