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Camo uniform wear?

garandman

garandman

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I see service members flying on civilian aircraft all the time in camo uniforms rather than dress. This was verboten back in the day.

When I was in the Army you were allowed to wear BDU's while commuting directly to and from work, only, and most post commanders wouldn't even allow you to stop for gas.

I see folks around town in camos, but I assume they are all MA NG.
 
I think I read that the ACU uniform was authorized for wear out and about in the community.

-JR
 
Some of the rules have changed. IMO the Army over wears the ACU, but it is in a sense, is sort of a "business casual" for the Army. It's been that way for a long time now. I don't necessarily like it because to me it creates the "orderly room Ninja look"...but it's not going to change.
 
garandman said:
I see service members flying on civilian aircraft all the time in camo uniforms rather than dress. This was verboten back in the day.

When I was in the Army you were allowed to wear BDU's while commuting directly to and from work, only, and most post commanders wouldn't even allow you to stop for gas.

I see folks around town in camos, but I assume they are all MA NG.
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It's a kinder, gentler Army now. In regards to people in ACU's, in order to know if they are NG, you would have to know the Unit patch. There are MANY Active Duty soldiers in MA, that either work as recruiters, especially in Boston. Up in Concord there is an Active Duty Station for wounded soldiers, although we don't wear our ACUs around town down here. And then there is always AGR.

And when I fly, I prefer to fly in ghost mode. No ACU, no giveaway signs, unless it's overseas :/

There are also too many uniform changes to keep up with, like recently name tapes and basically anything that is not an American Flag, can be sewn on to the ACU/Multicam uniform? Which I think is a great idea, velcro has always sucked.
 
As far as I know it's only the Army that wears their camo out in town regularly. I know for a fact that the Navy is prohibited from wearing NWUs except during the workday, on base or making short stops for lunch or gas, etc. I believe the Marines and Air Force have similar restrictions but am not sure.
 
vellnueve said:
As far as I know it's only the Army that wears their camo out in town regularly. I know for a fact that the Navy is prohibited from wearing NWUs except during the workday, on base or making short stops for lunch or gas, etc. I believe the Marines and Air Force have similar restrictions but am not sure.
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I started the thread because I saw a USAF Brigadier with an 05 aide in camos on a commercial air flight.
 
if they are flying in ACUs (or equivalent) they are en route to or from the sand box.

the local post commander(s) set policies on the wear of the ACUs off post. when i was at Ft Drum, NY, we could not wear BDUs after 1900 (7:00pm for you military folks) unless we were on Staff Duty or Official Duty. the only authorized stops were for gas, groceries, lunch and appointments during the duty day (unless it was court [rofl] ).

as Tiger Splint pointed out, Massachusetts has a lot of Active Duty and Reserve Component soldiers ranging from Recruiters, AGRs, Natick Labs, and the Mass Guard also has the Military Technicians (GS employees) wear the ACU as well. lots of Armories / Units too.

the Army made the switch to wearing the class C (BDU/ACU) shortly after 9/11 to signify that we are a nation at war. prior to that, all the garrison units wore class Bs (recruiters, AMEDD, Pentagon, Honor Guard ect).
 
Pilgrim said:
...I'm old. I'll never understand the 'pajama' look.
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mark056 said:
Me neither...esp at a social event and not in the field
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Same here, and I was never even in the service. A big thank you to all who are or were. It just seems right, you know, a kind of formality, like getting a haircut before a wedding, or washing your car before going out on a date.
 
the only reason this is a problem is because the current ACUs dont blend in with anything.. if they were in multicam you wouldnt have seen them :eek:)

I was told that we had to wear our ACUs to and from the airport when I came home on leave from the sand. I occasionally will stop for a coffee, gas, or to pick up a couple groceries on the way home from drill. With gas at 3.66 a gallon, If I dont have to drive home, change and go back, I am doing it~! Plus to and from drill is almost half a tank of gas as it is.

I PERSONALLY miss the BDUs too.. I miss ironing, creasing, starching and all that went with the old BDUs. DO NOT miss polishing boots... but I do have entirely too many pairs of old black boots now relegated to snow removal.
 
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While I am also old school pressed BDU's and spit shined boots. (mechs I worked with hated me) but I wasn't into looking like a rag bag. When I flew overseas I had to wear my class A's. Times have changed.[laugh]
 
About 5-6 years ago Army policy changed. Soldiers flying in CONUS between duty stations, including to and from schools (and for reservists traveling to annual training events) wear the Army Combat Uniform when traveling in groups. Individuals (except for initial trainees) have discretion.

The only prohibition concerning Class C uniforms is that Soldiers may NOT wear them on airplanes arriving in a foreign country. When we sent Soldiers home from overseas for emergency leave, they often flew on commercial carriers. They were always required to wear civilian clothes, even if they had to buy them at the base exchange. Those flights landed in various cities in Europe.

As mentioned above, the policy change was made in order to promote more public appreciation for and awareness of Soldiers. I will tell you that I have NEVER traveled in uniform in the last 10 years without having at least one fellow traveler expressing gratitude for our service. Often, we get many multiples of "Thank yous."

As the Army is in the process of changing from the green Class A uniforms to the blue dress uniform, we have had a long period where newly trained Soldiers arrive at our reserve unit without ANY dress uniform... the supply of the green uniforms has been depleted, but the blue uniforms were not yet readily available. Over the past 6 months, new reserve Soldiers have started receiving the blues.
 
When my kids see someone wearing cammies out in town they tell me "hey dad look, he's nasty". THey say that because I am a Marine and wearing cammies out in town was NOT authorized. You have a dress uniform in your locker so wear it. Look the best you can when you are engaged with civilians. The worse is when I watch a TV program and there is military personal on a stage for the national anthem and they are wearing nasty cammies that loos like they pulled them from the bottom of their C bag. I mean come on now, you know you are on national TV so why not take the time to look good. You will not catch a Marine out in town, on a plane or in a store wearing his cammies. If you do then report him to me and I will square him away!
 
After warring DCU's in the desert and BDU's as an MP in garrison I despise the ACU.

The Army overwears the ACU's because they never should have been worn by any soldier in the first place. While I'm old school and didn't mind the upkeep of the old boots and BDU, this pastacio ice cream colored nonsense should have been DXed in tryouts. So eager to imitate the Marine Corps, they screwed the pooch and rushed a crappy camo pattern and overall design.

I knew it was gonna be a crap uniform idea when troops started getting alpha charlies for unkempt cargo pockets due to the crap contractor vecro that crapped out after 3 washes.

Hopefully they go full on multicam and get rid of that abortion of a uniform.
 
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vellnueve said:
As far as I know it's only the Army that wears their camo out in town regularly. I know for a fact that the Navy is prohibited from wearing NWUs except during the workday, on base or making short stops for lunch or gas, etc. I believe the Marines and Air Force have similar restrictions but am not sure.
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The Air Force is the same as the Army. They wear their cheesy camo everywhere.

At lest the Sea Services have maintained some sense of decorum.

The least formal uniform I ever wore on travel was Summer Khaki. Most often either Summer White or Service Dress Blue.

I really dig the new Service Dress Khaki with garrison cap. Sharp as hell.
 
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Jose said:
The Air Force is the same as the Army. They wear their cheesy camo everywhere.

At lest the Sea Services have maintained some sense of decorum.

The least formal uniform I ever wore on travel was Summer Khaki. Most often either Summer White or Service Dress Blue.

I really dig the new Service Dress Khaki with garrison cap. Sharp as hell.
Click to expand...

Too bad the Navy rats wear the blue "lost in the water" fatigues everywhere. [smile]

Unless you're overseas (GUAM) then you still have BDU's.
 
OfficerObie59 said:
After warring DCU's in the desert and BDU's as an MP in garrison I despise the ACU.

The Army overwears the ACU's because they never should have been worn by any soldier in the first place. While I'm old school and didn't mind the upkeep of the old boots and BDU, this pastacio ice cream colored nonsense should have been DXed in tryouts. So eager to imitate the Marine Corps, they screwed the pooch and rushed a crappy camo pattern and overall design.

I knew it was gonna be a crap uniform idea when troops started getting alpha charlies for unkempt cargo pockets due to the crap contractor vecro that crapped out after 3 washes.

Hopefully they go full on multicam and get rid of that abortion of a uniform.
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+1

the whole reasoning behind the ACUs was to merge the BDU and DCU. I also wore DCUs to OIF 1 and still have two of the my tops. [laugh]

i am not whether the ACU has saved money. i guess i could google GAO reports but i IDGAF. the multi cam being used in A-stan appears to be a better made, more rigged on, kinda like the latest generation of ACUs. I can clearly see the difference between the ones i've bought in the last 12 months vs. the ones I got 3+ years ago.

one thing that REALLY pisses me off is the sneakerish boots. i'm still wearing my Altima's and Bellevue's and cringe every time I see someone wearing those damn boots. granted, i know people with bad backs, bad feet that have a medical need, while the majority are the desk jockies and PX rangers.

[laugh] DAMN!
 
wolf223 said:
+1

the whole reasoning behind the ACUs was to merge the BDU and DCU. I also wore DCUs to OIF 1 and still have two of the my tops. [laugh]

i am not whether the ACU has saved money. i guess i could google GAO reports but i IDGAF. the multi cam being used in A-stan appears to be a better made, more rigged on, kinda like the latest generation of ACUs. I can clearly see the difference between the ones i've bought in the last 12 months vs. the ones I got 3+ years ago.

one thing that REALLY pisses me off is the sneakerish boots. i'm still wearing my Altima's and Bellevue's and cringe every time I see someone wearing those damn boots. granted, i know people with bad backs, bad feet that have a medical need, while the majority are the desk jockies and PX rangers.

[laugh] DAMN!
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The ACU is a POS. We switched over to MC in Afghanistan, and lemme tell you it is a better made product and is more versitile than the ACU which is only good if your theater is a rock quarry. Although velco is still POS.
 
vellnueve said:
As far as I know it's only the Army that wears their camo out in town regularly. I know for a fact that the Navy is prohibited from wearing NWUs except during the workday, on base or making short stops for lunch or gas, etc. I believe the Marines and Air Force have similar restrictions but am not sure.
Click to expand...

Unless things have changed significantly since 2007, Marines are not authorized to wear cammies off base at all outside of a vehicle except for emergencies. Even such things as stopping for gas are frowned upon when wearing cammies. Travel in cammies is forbidden except as a unit and travel in any uniform at all is discouraged for OPSEC reasons.
 
Every time I see anyone walking around in any version of the digital camo I feel sorry for them. Whoever authorized those patterns and thought they would actually help you avoid detection was a moron. MC is a far superior pattern. I also think the more common use of camo in public hurts the overall pride and perception of the military, IMO, YMMV.
 
Jose said:
The Air Force is the same as the Army. They wear their cheesy camo everywhere.

At lest the Sea Services have maintained some sense of decorum.

The least formal uniform I ever wore on travel was Summer Khaki. Most often either Summer White or Service Dress Blue.

I really dig the new Service Dress Khaki with garrison cap. Sharp as hell.
Click to expand...

I've never seen anyone in the Service Dress Khakis, I think they might still be in the testing stage. Didn't see them at the local uniform shop and it's the biggest one in the Navy. We were instructed to wear civvies when traveling if possible, but outside of that it would be Summer Whites or Service Dress Blues. Of course, I can imagine TSA trying to confiscate them because of all the pins.

tigersplint said:
Too bad the Navy rats wear the blue "lost in the water" fatigues everywhere. [smile]

Unless you're overseas (GUAM) then you still have BDU's.
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The BDUs are still seen here and there but they're supposed to be completely gone by next year.

xtry51 said:
Every time I see anyone walking around in any version of the digital camo I feel sorry for them. Whoever authorized those patterns and thought they would actually help you avoid detection was a moron. MC is a far superior pattern. I also think the more common use of camo in public hurts the overall pride and perception of the military, IMO, YMMV.
Click to expand...

Which digital camo are you talking about? There are multiple patterns and multiple uniforms across the Army, Marines, and Navy.
 
vellnueve said:
Which digital camo are you talking about? There are multiple patterns and multiple uniforms across the Army, Marines, and Navy.
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All of them. They all attract your eye to them. Complete fail on the purpose of camo. The human eye is very good at picking out straight lines, even small ones. IMO all digital camo patterns in the military should be eliminated. Either go back to the old patterns or move on to something better like variations of MC.
 

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