Once every lifetime, a day comes along when the planets align perfectly and the U.S. Army actually does something right. Today is one of those days. The New York Times reported:
The United States Army wanted a spiffy new service uniform, one that would stand out in a tough recruiting environment and polish the Army’s image after a generation of grinding and divisive wars. So it turned the clock back. Way back.It chose a new uniform that looks almost exactly like the old green gabardine wool field coat and khaki trousers that officers wore in World War II....
The new service uniform is currently in field tests with a few military bands, recruiting battalions and other highly visible troops. With Sergeant Major Dailey overseeing the process, the Army plans to roll out the new uniforms to all soldiers starting in 2020. Soldiers will even be given the option to buy a retro-styled leather bomber jacket to go with the uniform.The Army says that while the new service uniform will cost more than past models to make, it will also last longer, making it cost-neutral overall.... Rest of article.
About damn time. No more green bus driver uniforms.
35 comments:
Great idea. If we can't raise a generation of young people with character -- like late George Bush who put off Yale until he'd been shot down a couple times -- then at least we can dress 'em up like in the good old days.
The Great Depression and a country without much of a social safety net was a breeding ground for character. Pearl Harbor pissed people off and they signed up and many did great things. It was truly our greatest generation.
Those days are gone. What are we like now? Look at Jackson. In a word, on the decline. Government pays people to breed like rats and they end up having the same character as rats. We have raised a generation of morally disordered weenies.
Their uniforms are not the problem.
I personally like the look. Might take a little more material for those uniforms nowadays. We tend to grow our soldiers slightly larger than we did 70 years ago.
"the U.S. Army actually does something right." What a crappy, thoughtless comment even if you claim it was tongue in check. If it weren't for the U.S. Army you might be speaking German or Japanese or perhaps Arabic. I'd say you owe a helluva lot of people an apology.
Kingfish: The U.S.Army does lots of things 'right'. Without them, you wouldn't be up early this morning posting to something called a blog page.
I have two similar sets of my dad's WWII uniform in my closet, complete with ribbons/awards, including his Unit Presidential Citation from Okinawa.
Let us not forget that thousands of patriotic Americans signed up immediately following 9/11/2001.
Hope the Corp stays just as it is.
@5:24. You are so right. Young folks are are the problem. Need more of those honorable older folks who made the US the most indebted country in the history of the world while engaging in perpetual wars and mass surveillance.
The old folks took a prosperous country and outsource most of its manufacturing base while debasing the USD$ by more than 80%. Then kick back drawing pensions and social security benefits that they knowingly underfunded.
It may be a good thing that such selflessness is not likely to be repeated.
Wish they had these when I was in the service.
US Army 1969 - 1972
Basic Fort Jackson South Carolina
Fort Hood, Texas
South Korea
Vietnam
Did you ever serve....or just another "smartass keyboard know it all warrior"?
Cool !!
@8:25
Thank you for your service !!!
Will the new uniform help draw recruits?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/army-recruiting-shortage.html
Considering I wore the uniform, I can say whatever the fuck I want to say.
I am a retired United States Marine. As a Marine, I was also fortunate enough to live 2 other "older" Marines who served in and since WWII.
We discussed on a couple of occasions this new found societal pedestaling of members of the Armed Forces. There was a time when members were just welcomed home, put to work and merged into society. Even the ones that chose a lonely motorcycle life upon getting back into society.
Then members were spat upon, slurred, cussed and sometimes physically assaulted because of their service. There was a time with branches told their servicemen NOT to wear their uniform in public situations unless called for out of fear of retribution from the general public.
We now have the children of that general public rebelling against their parent and attempt to lay a claim of condescending patriotism by patronizing those who actually serve. Notwithstanding those who serve and then develop some sense of entitlement from their service, most members of the Armed Forces that I have been fortunate to serve with and/or know do not want any kind of special recognition and do not want some random person using their service as an attack on another's right to speak their own mind.
One does not have to serve to therefore have an opinion and it's disgusting that it has come to appear that as a modern social more'
When the shit hits the fan at least half the whiners above will be fragged. The herd is way overdue for a thinning.
I just turned to look at a photo of my father in uniform around 1942. He was in the Army Air Corps. I'm thinking that he would love this change.
Kingfish, don't let the bastards grind you down.
I wore the uniform too, and I don't particularly care for the change. The belt is unnecessary.
Thank you for your service all who served.
You can never be repaid for your service.
Be careful, Kingfish. Better men than you have been outed for fake claims.
Well I was drafted 51 years ago and for 21 months my greatest ambition was to get out of the uniforms and back into civvies.
As Kingfish noted, this should be a welcome change from the "green bus driver uniform" (or, as I always thought of it, a green leisure suit). Soldiers should look like soldiers, and the new pink and greens make them look most definitely like soldiers.
There are those who will claim this is unnecessary, but I think a uniform helps lend a certain esprit de corps, such as seen with those who wear the green beret, or jump boots with their service uniform. As a squad leader once told me "show up with a good haircut, shoes shined, uniform squared away. Look good, feel good, do good." He had a point.
Now, if they would do something about displaying THE UNITED STATES flag on their uniforms BACKWARDS.
8:51 so?
As a USAF veteran who was aircrew on a C-130 E I like everything about the uniform except for the leather bomber jacket. Leave those to the airmen who actually fly! 😁
@10:22
The flag is reversed on the uniform, primarily worn on the right shoulder - to show "stars first". It symbolizes a soldier carrying a flag into battle. If a soldier hoists a flag and runs into battle, the stars on the flag would always be first, no matter which side you were looking at.
Damn. When I used to see a young cowards dressed in a Band of Brothers/Call of Duty replica uniform I always knew I could run up and film them while shouting "Stolen Valor" while asking random esoteric military questions. Now it is going to be harder to identify those nerds.
So maybe a lot of people just don't give a damn about the Army "styling and profiling," 11:23. Hell, utilities are all that are needed for the average grunt. I didn't wear A,B or C uniforms a total of 10 times and 4 times were to fly standby on a commercial plane yet I had to buy and haul that bag full of clothes half way around the world and back. At $100 a month those uniforms were expensive.
at 12:33 PM
It is displayed backwards no matter where it is placed on the uniform.
When looking at the flag patch, the stars should be in the upper left corner.
This "going into battle" crap is something some yahoo decided to create.
After 20 yrs in US Army service I have to point out that each time a new general takes over the Army, a new uniform is issued at huge taxpayer cost. Plus, those currently serving have to rebuy all the new issue and have pay for alterations.sewing of patches and rank. While improvements are welcome, for instance Vietnam issue jungle fatigues for hot weather, the constant change in the dress uniform puts a financial burden on each soldier. Find one and stick with it would be preferential to most enlisted. That being said, the khaki un9form from this era was the most efficient for non combat situations.
From "The Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia"; Section 19-18, Wear of U.S. flag embroidered insignia...
"(2) All personnel will wear the subdued SSI centered on the hook-and-loop faced pad already provided on the left sleeve of the utility uniforms. The U.S. flag embroidered insignia is worn so that the star field faces forward, or to the flag’s own right. When worn in this manner, the flag is facing to the observer’s right and gives the effect of the flag flying in the breeze as the wearer moves forward. The appropriate replica for the right shoulder sleeve is identified as the reverse side flag (see fig 19–133)."
(https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN6028_DAPam670-1_Web_FINAL.pdf)...page 216
All the drama over insignias is such a grand fart in a whirl wind. The Pentagon has too many wannabe Kardashians with nothing better to do than design expensive new uniforms for parades that no one wants to march in.
And BTW, I don't recall a single patch or insignia of any kind on the jungle utilities that I wore 50 years ago other than the black cpl chevrons on the center front of my cover and when eating old C-Rations and drinking warm creek water tainted with diesel fuel we had plenty to complain about besides our lack of fashionable clothing...... BFD.
May 8, 2019 at 7:47 PM
Try not to be such a buffoon. A flag is 2 sided and is meant to fly in the wind. They are placed on the uniform as well as on vehicles/aircraft etc to "point" into the wind. So if you are on the passenger side of a vehicle, looking at said vehicle, the field of stars will be towards the front of the vehicle or on the right side of the decal.
The vehicle or uniform is the flag itself and it's orientation is placed such that the vehicle or person is moving forward and the flag is representing this.
It's not rocket surgery
For every 2 million enlisted veterans there has to be ONE "Rod Knox"... someone to continually spew all of their doings in hopes of garnering lots of "look at me... look what I did..".
It turns off all of the others.
I seem to keep you entertained 2:35. Enjoy.
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