# New US Army Uniform **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730 "2008-08-20T22:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/61 "2008-08-22T01:33:45Z")
Wow, they modeled the helmets on [Michel Dion’s goalie mask](http://www.hockeymasks.com/profiles/51-Michel-Dion-Mask.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/62 "2008-08-22T01:41:41Z")
[QUOTE=Mr Bus Guy] [This official message](http://www.marlowwhite.com/army/uniforms/service-dress-blue/asu-wear-policy.html) is all the reason I’d need to land on a grenade. [/QUOTE] “10. ASU ACCESSORY ITEMS AUTHORIZED FOR WEAR… BOW TIE, BLACK (WORN AFTER RETREAT)”. Wait…what?! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/63 "2008-08-22T01:50:13Z")
After retreat (a bugle call, called Evening Parade in the Naval Service). Retreat is sounded around sunset, when the flag is lowered. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/64 "2008-08-22T02:11:34Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Who the fuck are those guys? Is than an actual military unit? The guy in the back is holding a World War II-era German assault rifle. [/QUOTE] They’re all holding German WW-II era weapons. There’s the guy you mention with the STG-44, there’s a guy on the left with a MG-42, another guy with a STG-44 (I think) on the far right), and the rest seem to have MG-34s. That’s some goofy looking shit… 1/3 Star Wars action figure, 1/3 crappy 60+ year old weapons, 1/3 Warhammer 40k. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/65 "2008-08-22T02:13:24Z")
“IT’S AN MG-42!!!” (From Call of Duty 2) ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/66 "2008-08-22T04:52:19Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] After retreat (a bugle call, called Evening Parade in the Naval Service). Retreat is sounded around sunset, when the flag is lowered. [/QUOTE] OK – that makes more sense 🙂 .. but… a bow-tie with that outfit / uniform? Weird. (Only really used to the idea of bow-ties going with shirts worn specifically for that purpose – wing collar type). ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/67 "2008-08-22T07:35:22Z")
Jeebus, those suckers are ugly. They look like the uniform of some fascist South American police officers or something. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/68 "2008-08-22T10:40:00Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Who the fuck are those guys? Is than an actual military unit? The guy in the back is holding a World War II-era German assault rifle. [/QUOTE] Well, he’s accessorizing the couple of guys at the front who are holding WWII era german machine guns, obviously. I don’t think it has anything to do with Japanese films, I think they’re modelling the soon-to-be-revealed uniforms of the US Army Medical Corps, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/69 "2008-08-22T11:23:59Z")
All in all, based on the responses to my suggestion vs. the Army’s stylists so far, I think I’m winning. 😃 Well, they could always try going back to [Zouave-style unifroms](http://www.zouave.org/gallery/5thimag.html). Couldn’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/70 "2008-08-22T11:56:43Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] All in all, based on the responses to my suggestion vs. the Army’s stylists so far, I think I’m winning. 😃 Well, they could always try going back to [Zouave-style unifroms](http://www.zouave.org/gallery/5thimag.html). Couldn’t hurt. [/QUOTE] Looks like a Shriner’s Convention in their pajamas. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/71 "2008-08-22T14:16:12Z")
On the positive side, these new uniforms might finally succeed in making \*Beetle Bailey \* funny. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/72 "2008-08-22T14:18:16Z")
I’m a civilian, and always have been, so take all my opinions with a huge grain of salt, but as far as I’m concerned the Army Class As haven’t looked good since WWII (maybe Korea). I liked the old belted jackets, and the kind of mix-and-match it seemed you could do with the colors (like Patton with his khaki trousers, olive jacket and blouse, and khaki tie). The Eisenhower Jacket was cool, too. The new Class As are fine, if a little…generic? And I think the Class Bs would be OK if they fit the wearer a little better and didn’t have the bloused trousers. Which brings me to bloused trousers and berets. I’m sure there were legitimate reasons for that move, but to this outsider it smacks of this trend toward _everyone_ being “special.” It used to be that if I saw a beret on a soldier, I could safely assume that the soldier was a little more highly trained than average. Now? I have to look a lot more closely for badges and such to clue me in. I just don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/73 "2008-08-22T15:07:06Z")
I get the impression that the army is expecting people to wear the fatigues…er, I mean the BDUs…er, I mean the ACUs, for just about everything except weddings, funerals, and state ceremonies. If so, then I think they should revive the [pre-World War One full-dress uniforms](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.freeinfosociety.com/chimage.php%3Fimage%3Dhistory/johnpershing4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php%3Fpostnum%3D2219&h=334&w=195&sz=13&hl=en&start=97&usg=__TiOsXR73d23Zoae12iF0mB58SQ0=&tbnid=J6naUOcplfmOKM:&tbnh=119&tbnw=69&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djohn%2Bpershing%26start%3D80%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN). In my opinion, between 1901 and 1910, US Army company and field officers, and USMC general officers, had the sharpest threads on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Jimson\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@Jimson\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimson_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/74 "2008-08-22T17:55:52Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] That is a comically terrible uniform. Why in God’s name is the Army wearing BLUE? [/QUOTE] The US Army has had a blue uniforms of one sort or another since the Revolutionary War. The Continental Army’s uniform was blue. The modern Army has had Dress Blues for as long as I can remember. It’s just that you never saw them except on Honor Guard members at the White House, Tomb of Unknown Soldier or at State Dinners or other very formal functions. I always thought they looked great. That is until I saw that photo. I think in looking at the photo and reading the order that only Airborne units would wear the pants bloused over boots. I believe everyone else gets to wear it straight leg. I am glad I left before soft caps were nixxed. Does any one know if the Airborne, Rangers, Pathfinders or Special Forces resorted to new headgear yet. Now that every wears a baret how will know who the true bad asses are? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/75 "2008-08-22T19:01:04Z")
[QUOTE=Jimson Jim] The US Army has had a blue uniforms of one sort or another since the Revolutionary War. The Continental Army’s uniform was blue. The modern Army has had Dress Blues for as long as I can remember. It’s just that you never saw them except on Honor Guard members at the White House, Tomb of Unknown Soldier or at State Dinners or other very formal functions. I always thought they looked great. That is until I saw that photo. I think in looking at the photo and reading the order that only Airborne units would wear the pants bloused over boots. I believe everyone else gets to wear it straight leg. I am glad I left before soft caps were nixxed. Does any one know if the Airborne, Rangers, Pathfinders or Special Forces resorted to new headgear yet. Now that every wears a baret how will know who the true bad asses are? [/QUOTE] Everyone else wears a _black_ beret. Rangers wear tan, SF wears green, airborne wears maroon (like in the picture). As far as blousing goes. Nothing has really changed. Blousing was done on the old Class As but not the blues. These new blues are made to replace Class As. So… blousing is allowed. Still only an option for airborne and air assault units–not everyone. Oh, and MPs **while on duty only**. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/76 "2008-08-22T19:20:01Z")
[QUOTE=carlb] I’m a civilian, and always have been, so take all my opinions with a huge grain of salt, but as far as I’m concerned the Army Class As haven’t looked good since WWII (maybe Korea). I liked the old belted jackets, and the kind of mix-and-match it seemed you could do with the colors (like Patton with his khaki trousers, olive jacket and blouse, and khaki tie). The Eisenhower Jacket was cool, too. The new Class As are fine, if a little…generic? And I think the Class Bs would be OK if they fit the wearer a little better and didn’t have the bloused trousers. Which brings me to bloused trousers and berets. I’m sure there were legitimate reasons for that move, but to this outsider it smacks of this trend toward _everyone_ being “special.” It used to be that if I saw a beret on a soldier, I could safely assume that the soldier was a little more highly trained than average. Now? I have to look a lot more closely for badges and such to clue me in. I just don’t like it. [/QUOTE] Civilian you may be, but I agree with your observations. Now, I’m not sure what you mean exactly when you say “Patton” and “Eisenhower,” but generals can actually change their uniform to an extent. I knew a general who always wore black cowboy boots with his uniform. Yeah, you can do that, when there aren’t too many people who can tell you, you can’t. The green class As were ugly. Everyone knew that. The dress blues were pretty snazzy though, and I really don’t mind blue. Lots of people I know in the military didn’t like the move to berets. “Oh, aren’t we special, now we’re like, Special Forces or something. We’re all a special Army of One.” Plus, berets don’t keep the sun out of your eyes as well. Same thing with the bloused trousers. People in the Army don’t want to look like they’re pretending they’re Special Forces or MPs or something. Well, most of them don’t, whom I’ve spoken with. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/77 "2008-08-22T19:29:50Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] I knew a general who always wore black cowboy boots with his uniform. Yeah, you can do that, when there aren’t too many people who can tell you, you can’t. [/QUOTE] Army Regulations regarding the Wear and Appearance of the Army Uniform (AR 670-1) _does not_ apply to General Officers. So it’s not so much “there aren’t many people who can tell you, you can’t”, as it is “General Officers are not governed by the same Uniform Regulations as Colonel and below.” Basically there is NO ONE to tell you that you can’t. The reg says you can if you want. They can effectively wear whatever they want. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/78 "2008-08-22T19:36:28Z")
Obviously the American army is planning to infiltrate the Canadian Air Cadets. I’ll alert DND immediately. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/79 "2008-08-22T20:26:04Z")
I was in the regular army in the early-mid 80’s, and at that time everyone was issued their class A dress green uniform and low quarters. If you wanted to wear a black sweater with your class B uniform, you were allowed to purchase an approved sweater from the PX. If you wanted to wear the dress blue uniform to a funeral, wedding, or other formal event, you had to purchase your own dress blue uniform. Ditto for the blue mess uniform, which was the army’s equivalent of a tuxedo. Do soldiers still have to purchase the dress blue uniform, or is it issued to them? And will the army still hold class A uniform inspections? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730/80 "2008-08-22T20:43:02Z")
Soldiers still have to purchase their own Blues. Officers are given a stipend to purchase theirs. However, once these new uniforms take effect in 2010, soldiers will be issued these new blue uniforms instead of green Class As. These are the new replacement for both the Blues and Class As. (As well as whites and a myriad of other uniforms… this will be IT) So new soldiers will be issued this starting in 2010, and the everyone will be required to have them by the end of 2014 (not 2012 as stated in the OP) Clothing allowances will be adjusted so that every enlisted soldier can afford to purchase his new Army Service Uniform. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-us-army-uniform/460730.md?page=5)