My favorite Army uniform has always been the dress whites, worn in duty stations like Hawaii and Guam for formal wear. Strangely, I can’t seem to find a good image of them. I remember when my family was stationed at Schofield Barracks in the late 1970’s when my Dad was a major, and he looked real sharp in those unis.
Also, I am not a fan of the new army dress unis either. I prefer the old class A’s.
Ah! My mistake. And in fairness, the actual Hap Arnold coat doesn’t look as much like a 1930s motorcycle cop’s uniform. 
Here’s Lt. Gen. Walter Short, U.S. Army commanding officer at Pearl Harbor, 1941: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Walter_C_Short.jpg
I think the OP is actually saying is that it seems more common, with all branches, to see service men and women in public wearing utility uniforms versus service uniforms.
Is it more common that while on base that there has been a shift in this same manner of dress…something akin to a move to business casual?
I didn’t know this, or notice… the Air Force bases and the Pentagon I never spied anyone wearing cover indoors.
Although, as an exception to the rule: interior courtyards are usually (at the Pentagon, definitely) cover-free areas, thankfully.
Generally, any place outside designated a “rest area” can be cover free, even a picnic table set someplace on a lawn.
That’s what I remember from my service from 1988-1992 in the Army. Someone upthread mentioned that you don’t salute indoors and that’s mostly true, but if you’re reporting to a superior officer that’s say, sitting at his desk in his office, you most certainly do in that instance.
In the U.S. Navy, you only salute if covered, and the only time someone is covered indoors is if they are under arms or going to Captain’s Mast (UCMJ Article 15).
If reporting to a superior officer indoors, an uncovered Navy sailor would simply come to attention.
One thing I find interesting is carrier deck uniforms. They’re color coded by the sailor’s function on the deck: flight control wears yellow, ammunition and emergency crews wear red, maintenance and deck control wears green, aviation crew wears purple, movement crew wears blue, etc.
It’s actually a sensible system that lets everyone know who’s doing what at a glance. But I look at this picture and all I can think of is this.
Maybe I’m mis-remembering. I’m trying to recollect the few times I had to report to my CO indoors. I certainly wouldn’t have been wearing a cover upon entering the building, and I can’t remember if I’d salute without it or not. Meh. Stupid memory.
In the Air Force, when you report to an officer in his or her office, you do indeed center yourself on the desk (well, in front of the desk) and render a salute, along with something like “Senior Airman Rags Reports, Sir.” In such circumstances, you issue another salute once you’ve been dismissed before you about face and vacate the office.
On first glance I read the headline on the newspaper at bottom left as “God killed in air raid”.
Heh. Where’s that painting from?
