New US Army Uniform

[Kamino_Neko]

Can someone explain all the abbreviations for those of us who aren’t American Servicemen?

BDU, ACU, ABU?

[levdrakon]

@Tengu

Can someone explain all the abbreviations for those of us who aren’t American Servicemen?

BDU, ACU, ABU?

BDU is “Battle Dress Uniform.” The military loves acronyms.

ACU and ABU mean, “fuck you, we’re going to come with so many new acronyms your head is going to swim and you’ll never keep up so don’t try because WE’RE SPECIALER THAN YOU.”

[Omniscient]

@Tengu

Can someone explain all the abbreviations for those of us who aren’t American Servicemen?

BDU, ACU, ABU?

I had to Google most as I read the thread, so I might as well share my efforts to make them only slightly less time wasting and pointless.

ACU = Army Combat Uniform
BDU= Battle Dress Uniform
ABU = Airman Battle Uniform
NWU = Navy Working Uniform
MCCUU = Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform

There’s bunch of other stuff with the Class As and Class Bs but I’ll let people figure that out on their own.

[Cubsfan]

@Airman Doors

Still, it could be worse. The new ABUs look like warmed-over hell. Thank God I wear a bag for a living, I might have to wear the ABU one or two times in the next 25 years, tops.

You must be joking? Bags look like shit and most clowns who wear them in any environment off the line look like complete slobs. Most guys wear the same set of bags a month at a time and it shows.

[HMS_Irruncible]

@Paul in Saudi

The green US Army uniform is dead. Long live the blue uniform for everyday office work. The greens go out in 2012. New recruits draw the blues starting next year.

The Army Times has the story complete with gruesome photos.

Your opinions? Seems still to busy and too fiddly. We need to get rid of the divisional patches on the Class A (keep them on combat uniforms). We need to get rid of the “US” and branch of service insignia. The white shirt (when worn without the tunic) looks very bad. Too many colors and general stuff.

Official message here.

Unbelievable. They look like the Cypriot Coast Guard on the way to a pole-shining contest. Are they trying to drive recruitment down? Some things change, some things stay the same, and the Army is still trying to figure out new ways to look like a bunch of idiots.

[JRDelirious]

@Omniscient

There’s bunch of other stuff with the Class As and Class Bs but I’ll let people figure that out on their own.

Class A: Coat-and-tie “business suit” officewear/public-appearance uniform. Class B: “shirtsleeve” version of the same (summer, a short-sleeve shirt with no tie; winter, a l-s shirt w. tie + windbreaker/coat/sweater as needed). Used to be that these would be distinct outfits, but eventually the Army and Air Force adopted a system by which B was just A minus the suit jacket (and tie, for the summer version – the rule in my time was long sleeves = tie always; short sleeves = tie only if with jacket). A “dress” version of Class B was done by putting your decoration ribbons and some badges on the shirt.

Now that the Army has virtually made the ACU the default uniform for everywhere, anywhere, 24/7, unless you’re told otherwise, maybe they’re counting on that for practical purposes the only people still wearing the Blues after the switch will be those who already are wearing them, at the same times and places (ceremonial functions) that they’re already wearing them…

(BTW: A sailor’s “crackerjack” jumper outfit [talk about your atavistic holdovers!] is considered a proper jacket-and-tie business suit for etiquette purposes. The Navy TRIED to put their lower rates in coats and ties in the early 70s but apparently doing so during the heyday of polyester resulted in a very unfavorable reaction and they eventually gave up on it.)