US Army gives away the Beret

[Stealhead]

They must have been Navy troops the USAF just made the Tiger Stripe love child pattern as the only official "Work" uniform just in 2011 been around since 2006 though(I missed it by one year thank god I think the pattern is odd).I don't see why they'd change to a different pattern less than a year after making one official the brass that make these decisions are a bit stupid but they are not that stupid.Also I have heard nothing from friends that are still on active duty in the USAF about any sort of blue pattern.

The USMC started the trend of the "digital" patterns they got the idea from the Canadian Military CADPAT(both came out at around the same time but the Canadians had been developing theirs longer and Im sure some Marine got the idea) then the Army was next with theirs then the AF and the Navy was last.Some of the patterns are questionable.You will also see US troops wearing this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MultiCam-trans.jpg I saw some guys wearing this at the Airport a few months back turns out that some special ops units wear it as well as the 173rd Airborne and other Airborne units and also Rangers.

The ergonomics of the uniforms has been vastly improved over the old "BDUs" mainly in the layout of pockets they also gave up on the old buttons and use heavy gauge zippers or velcro which are much more practical the front breast pockets they slanted which is how they where during Vietnam they made them straight to line up better with name tapes but being straight you can not put anything in them if you have a ruck sack straps going over your shoulders the slanted pockets don't have this issue.The USAF "ABU" has not been very popular some of its pockets are rather useless and the material is said to be too heavy in hotter climates and the pattern has been questioned by many airmen same goes for the Army ACU it was rated as poor in certain types of terrain and barley effective in Afghanistan by many troops.

As you can see even when they get the good idea to make a more useful combat/working uniform they still at times focus too much on looks.I think that the "combat uniform" should be functionality only you can get your "looks" from the dress uniforms.When I was in the USAF we only wore the BDU pants and the under shirt and hung up the blouse in a locker at shop and wore either blue or OD green coveralls if you where lucky youd traded some of the blue coveralls for some tanker coveralls from "Old Iron Sides" tankers they liked the lighter weight blue ones and we liked their heavier more durable tanker coveralls the brass is not on flight lines very often so no one was able to get at us for not wearing a proper AF coverall and it was about wearing the most practical stuff not looking cool.

Also post 92' 93' many bases are used by multiple branches they combined the training commands to all be at the same base for the same job so you cant assume just because it is an Air Force Base that every person you see on the base is an airman.For example Fort Lenard Wood is where they train most every form of heavy or specialty vehicle operator for every branch.All DOD working dog technical training is done at Lackland AFB those are just a few examples.That does not consider troops just stopping over.Also many foreign troops wear bluish patterns and will find a handful of Gulf State air force members training at many bases.

It is funny because in the old day at least BDU wise every branch had the same uniform now I suppose it is trendy to market your self and be different when really it does make sense to use the same thing when your doing the same thing.That was the idea that McNamara had and to some extent it is a sound practice when gear is doing the same job from one branch to another it should be universal McNamara just took the concept to the extreme and thought every thing should be universal when sometimes this does not work.They are spending millions of dollars on all these different uniforms money that could be better used some place else.

Hey at least we dont have integrated reflector strips like the new Australian Navy uniform does. http://www.navy.gov.au/File:New_navy_uniform1.jpg
Are they serious? The guys face looks like that because he hears the bullets snapping past him.

Might as well just wear a bulls eye.

O.K. I did some searching and found some airmans blog there was a test version of the current "ABU" that did have a much more blue tone to it but the testers hated it so they
dropped it went with the current pattern maybe you saw someone with that test pattern they normally make the SPs at the gate wear new crap like that. This was the test pattern that they dropped: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_t7cpKso2WZ...520uniform.jpg this would have been way back in 2007 though if your visit was around that time period it probably was the test pattern that you saw.A way to tell Navy(and Marines) from others is they roll up their sleeves showing the inside of the fabric the Army and Air Force do not also Navy and Marines wear pointed field hats Army and AF do not.

[TLAM Strike]

As bad as our uniforms are just be glad you are not these guys...


^Troops of the Elite Iranian Revolutionary Puffy Hat Brigade.



^The Iranian Munchkin Soldier Regiment?

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

Are you sure this is not Charle's Oompa-Loompas Brigade?

[Stealhead]

I recall some years back in 96, or so they where showing the news on AFN during lunch at my the shop and they where showing some clips of Saddam "victory parade" to celebrate "winning" in 1991.In one clip they showed what I later learned where Fedayeen Saddam they where wearing this Ninja looking garb and someone says,"****in A it looks like Snake Eyes has defected." (Snake Eyes is a GI Joe hero if you did not know)

They seemed to wear a Darth Vaderish helmet in combat dont believe me?

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

The ergonomics of the uniforms has been vastly improved over the old "BDUs" mainly in the layout of pockets they also gave up on the old buttons and use heavy gauge zippers or velcro which are much more practical

I don't think that's a great idea. Velcro wears out, and is loud if noise is of concern. Buttons never wear out, and it doesn't take much to sew a new button on if you loose one (which rarely ever happened).

the front breast pockets they slanted which is how they where during Vietnam they made them straight to line up better with name tapes but being straight you can not put anything in them if you have a ruck sack straps going over your shoulders the slanted pockets don't have this issue.

Ok, that actually makes sense. Of course, I imagine this is why they reverted back to straight pockets? We can't EVER have anything that makes sense.

The USAF "ABU" has not been very popular some of its pockets are rather useless and the material is said to be too heavy in hotter climates

From my experience (lots of heavy construction), summer weights were ONLY worth a **** in two places:
- Jungles (say like in the southern command)
- In garrison on base when back from TDY and not actually working.

Summer weights just didn't last on the job. We always wore the winter weights most of the time, which is really a misnomer because aside from the summer weights ability to dry out faster, they were nearly indentical in terms of how hot they were. What's more, after awhile, those winter weights got pretty thin in the fabric. A well broken in set of winter weights was a uniform to keep.

A way to tell Navy(and Marines) from others is they roll up their sleeves showing the inside of the fabric the Army and Air Force do not also Navy and Marines wear pointed field hats Army and AF do not.

At least some things never change. Army and AF roll up their sleeves the same. Navy and Marines do it differently. The block cap has always been a department of the navy thing.


As an aside.

I don't care much for the new uniforms. I still wear BDU pants when i go hiking or am outdoors. BDU's are what i was "raised" with. I'll never wear that new styled crap.

[Platapus]

I used to hate the way the AF rolled up their sleeves. It looked stupid to have your cuffs at you elbows.

The way the Marines do it is much easier and, in my opinion, looks better.

[August]

Originally Posted by Platapus

I used to hate the way the AF rolled up their sleeves. It looked stupid to have your cuffs at you elbows.

The way the Marines do it is much easier and, in my opinion, looks better.

The Armys solution was to ban allowing rolled up sleeves altogether.

According to them rolled down (and loose fitting) sleeves actually keep you cooler. They also protect the forearms against sunburn as well as most cuts and scratches.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by August

The Armys solution was to ban allowing rolled up sleeves altogether.

According to them rolled down (and loose fitting) sleeves actually keep you cooler. They also protect the forearms against sunburn as well as most cuts and scratches.

That's a real good point, especially when out in the field.

[Growler]

The thing I hated about summer weight BDUs was the "one-wash-to-First Sergeant" habit - after few launderings, they faded so badly that they looked like those of the career NCOs', faded almost to a uniform grey.

That, and the nasty tendency then had of burning through when you held an iron anywhere near them.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Platapus

I used to hate the way the AF rolled up their sleeves. It looked stupid to have your cuffs at you elbows.

The way the Marines do it is much easier and, in my opinion, looks better.

I never had cuffs at my elbow. The trick was how how many rolls you made and how wide you made them before folding down that outer fold. It had to be juuuuussst right. As a SrA, i rolled up my sleeves to where i looked like a SSgt. You could barely see the 3rd stripe, and couldn't see the bottom of the chevrons at all, so it looked like i had a 4th covered by the roll.

The only problem was, getting your blouse on or off was a tight fight on the bisceps - but hey, you looked hard charging.

I also boxed my covers, and wore them NOT tipped back on my head, but low over the eyes.

I was hard core, but then, i was a Horseman.

[Feuer Frei!]

And now it's the Camo Uniform's turn.
For a review anyways:

Soldiers wanted to do away with their current camo uniforms and adopt the pattern now being worn by their counterparts in Afghanistan."A lot of the Soldiers brought up that they just want to have the MultiCam, or Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage pattern, as the standard design for all uniforms," Chandler said.

The Army did a radical about-face in 2009, adopting the MultiCam pattern developed by New York-based design firm Crye Precision to replace its so-called Universal Camo Pattern for Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. The Operation Enduring Freedom Camo Pattern, or OCP, is popular due to how it blends into the varied backgrounds across the combat zone.
Chandler's predecessor, Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Preston, told Military.com last summer he believed the service was right to shift away from the universal camouflage pattern adopted in 2005 to the MultiCam scheme.
"The OCP allows the Soldiers to get far closer to potential enemies before being observed," Preston said. "I believe [Soldiers] are safer" wearing the OCP.
The Army launched a follow-up program late last year to see whether MultiCam or a family of patterns designed for different climates would be a better fit Army-wide than the UCP.
The $10 million effort led by Program Executive Office Soldier will lead to a pattern for desert and arid climates, one for jungle and woodland zones and another so-called "transitional" pattern that will work in a wide range of potential combat zones. The Army will also select a fourth pattern to camouflage its tactical gear -- such as body armor covers and magazine pouches -- that can blend with all three.
Though Chandler emphasized cost savings as a factor in several uniform modification ideas, he dodged questions about the cost of fielding a family of camo patterns while the service is already buying OCP uniforms and gear for Afghanistan-bound troops and Soldiers seem to want the pattern for universal use.
"We're not going to do that," Chandler said of adopting MultiCam uniforms for all Soldiers. "We're looking at a new Army uniform through a very deliberate process with using some technology in industry to figure out a better pattern that works in more than just Afghanistan."

SOURCE

[Stealhead]

From what I understand the new AF ABU or what ever are a single weight unlike the light weight and heavies which I fully agree with the low life span and durability on the summers lucky for me one of my tech school instructors told our class about the shiftiness and some of us took heed and bought more heavy weights.

The issue with the ABU is not so much durability it is that it is too heavy and not very breathable which is bad if an airman is not staying cool very well he wont be able to wear out his uniform.

The Velcro is mainly used on your unit patches and the like which you either take of or leave on full time seems like the Army is going back to the buttons though the main gripe with the Velcro was it getting fouled up with dirt. The Air Force seems to love the velcro and metal zippers on the ABU though but that is typical Air Force oh and they still make you wear that stupid reflective belt even in areas of know enemy activity.Not as bad as my friend a 27 year E-9 USAF back in Nam at Tong Sun Nut(near Saigon) a couple weeks before Tet some AF general did not like all the sandbags around the base buildings(which where there to provide cover from VC rocket attacks that occurred a few times a week) so they had to take them down while he was there.After he left they started setting them back up too late for my friends unit though on the night of Tet a 155 rocket hit his barracks and killed 10 airmen and wounded many more but hey it looked great without the sandbags.