Standard-issue Navy uniforms are highly flammable, report shows

This is INSANE! Fire is one of the greatest concerns on a ship or sub in wartime. They have wasted incredible amounts of money over this and endangered our sailors. Do yo think anyone will be punished? I doubt it.

 

"sailors wanted a uniform that was comfortable, that didn't require maintenance and would stand up under a lot of washing, and one of the ways to get that is a nylon-cotton blend.” Kirby said there was no requirement for a fire-resistant uniform in a working environment."


So you want to punish the sailors who wanted a comfortable uniform?!?!?!?!?

 

Not really. Synthetic blends are cheaper to maintain and they have been using them for years. Why are you shocked by this story Don? It's pretty common knowledge that those uniforms are made out of synthetic materials and it is common knowledge for people with a high school degree nylon isn't the best material in a fire. Take a break from creating threads and learn a little about science and the world around you. It will reduce the number of times you are shocked during the course of the day.

 

That's called an excuse.

 

Wearing Corfam shoes (shiny synthetic) on ships was prohibited after the USS Stark event.... they melted into wearers' feet.

They became popular because "sailors wanted" a shoe that always had a "spit shined" appearance...

and here we have the Navy (Big Fed) forgetting history and lessons learned once again.

 

How about Army/Marine science?

 

Exactly, they should be looking towards a possible conflict with China, not trying to look snappy.

 

Are they made in China?

 

Corfam is 100% HEAVY synthetic where as these uniforms are synthetic BLEND and lighter. I don't think anyone is forgetting anything. Most of us with a brain and a high school diploma have known for decades plastics melts. Really how is this surprising news to anyone?

 

Dungarees are flame resistant.

Theyre talking about working uniforms for offices like the pentagon.

Not the same thing at all.

No one on a ship wears freaking corfams, maybe for inspections but thats it.

 

Yeah I don't know where stuff is worn but I'm pretty sure a threat assessment is done before issuing uniforms and appropriate attire is assigned. We've been through two of our longest wars in our history and I haven't heard one news report of a single sailor getting singed because they wore a cotton/nylon blend on a war ship. So the logical conclusion is they either don't wear them in war zones or they are not enough of a threat they would choose another more difficult to maintain uncomfortable material.

 

Navy Whites are polyester, they do melt, but the only times theyre worn on a ship is for Sea and Achor detail, and certain liberty ports.

The standard uniform on a US Navy ship is either Dungarees, or coveralls. both are flame retardant.

When a fire breaks out on a ship, firefighting crews all wear standard fire department fire fighting gear, with an OBA.

Anyone with a Surface Warfare pin knows this

 

Makes sense to me.

I've had occasion to look at some items in Army Navy surplus stores and I was often puzzled by some of the synthetic blend stuff, but since I hadn't heard mass stories about sailors being melted to deck plating I assumed the Navy knew what they were doing.

 

Of course they know what theyre doing.

Every sailor has no less than 5 distinctly different uniforms.

 

Has anyone in the history of PF been outraged more over total non-issues? I guarantee if they provided them with highly flame resistant, but uncomfortable clothes, the folks in the Navy would complain (given that they specifically asked for a uniform that was comfortable and didn't require maintenance). Then old Don would come on here expressing more faux outrage about how Obama was treating the Navy poorly by making them wear hot, uncomfortable clothes that required frequent ironing. And, of course, someone would have to be punished over such a clear and total outrage. Then he would point out that not a single member of the Navy was burned to death because of his clothes in the last 10 years, so Obama was clearly making them wear fire suits because he hates the Navy and the U.S.

Having Don around is like having a pampered 5-year girl around. The whining and faux outrage just never ends.

 

When you used private contactors in Iraq, didn't they like go on rampaging murder sprees and stuff?

 

Apparently you aren't aware of the newish Navy digital uniform.

 

Yeah, I wasnt.

That uniform is pretty stupid on many levels.

Is it designed to hide sailors who get knocked over the side of the ship or what?

 

You should go read how the Army wasted a few billion on those ACU that they will not start to be phasing out.

 

How many US Naval warships have caught fire in the last 10 years? How many have been hit by a cruise missile or torpedo?

 

(I developed a "school" and the curriculum to teach, test and qualify enlisteds and JOs for their pin on the USS Elmer Montgomery....got a Navy Achievement Medal for it )

 

It looks more like an urban digital. Maybe it is to hide if the ship comes under close attack or is boarded. I remember when they used to camouflage entire ships.

 

as a condition of contract?

 

Mistakes happen but the article and the OP don't present any evidence that that is what happened here. That's what my issue is. The press puts out sensational headlines to "sell papers." It is up to the reader to use common sense and common knowledge to determine if what they are being told is credible. Don failed in that task as other more knowledgeable people have illustrated.

Anybody that has been in an Army Navy surplus store knows that various Navy garments have been made from Nylon blends. I don't know why this is news to Don. It is common knowledge. And what happens to plastic when it comes in contact with an open flame is pretty common knowledge as well. And as others have posted it is pretty common knowledge that there have not been mass incidents of sailors being melted to deck plating. So I am not sure why Don lost his marbles and got hysterical.

 

I WEAR nylon shirts that are flame-retardant every day in the summer! Try again!