# Soldier in pink shorts
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 24, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443 "2009-05-24T05:13:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/21 "2009-05-25T00:46:38Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#):
>
> As for easier to aim at…that’s just ridiculous. By that logic, we shouldn’t let white people in the Army at all. And from experience, I can tell you that these people aren’t really into the whole “aiming” thing anyway.
Under field conditions red objects are much easier to distinguish, especially at a distance, than any natural skin tone I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen them all.
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### Author:  [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/22 "2009-05-25T00:47:16Z")
ETA: responding to **FoieGrasIsEvil**
Define “forward position” in the context of asymmetric war, if you don’t mind. Then describe which parts of Afghanistan don’t qualify as a forward position under your definition.
Because I think you just said that every soldier not in Kabul should always sleep in their uniform for the entirety of their deployment.
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### Author:  [@Chickenwrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenwrangler)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/23 "2009-05-25T01:42:25Z")
I thought he might have been joking about loosing his job but these days with so many rules and regulations regarding what guys in uniform can and cannot do who knows.:rolleyes:
Good for him, lucky he was not sitting on the loo with the shorts round his ankles at the time. 😃
Just out of interest are the military issued with underwear? Is it camouflage? and presumably they have a choice of wearing the issue undies or their own choice.
🙂
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/24 "2009-05-25T03:01:56Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#):
>
> ETA: responding to **FoieGrasIsEvil**
>
> Define “forward position” in the context of asymmetric war, if you don’t mind. Then describe which parts of Afghanistan don’t qualify as a forward position under your definition.
>
> Because I think you just said that every soldier not in Kabul should always sleep in their uniform for the entirety of their deployment.
There’s no distinction between a heavily fortified base and a forward outpost due to the war on terror? Gotcha.
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### Author:  [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/25 "2009-05-25T03:02:41Z")
> [@HelenGawn](#):
>
> I came here to quote this, and to say that Robert Gates is much cooler than I thought. He also said he wanted to shake the soldier’s hand. I especially liked what he said next:
Eddie Izzard comes to mind here. “Because we all know one of the main factors of war is the element of surprise. And what could be more surprising than the First Batallion Transvestite Brigade? Airborne Wing.”
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/26 "2009-05-25T03:14:55Z")
Maybe “losing his job” means being reassigned to some less-pleasant, more mind-numbing duty than the one he’s got.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/27 "2009-05-25T03:30:57Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I thought he might have been joking about loosing his job but these days with so many rules and regulations regarding what guys in uniform can and cannot do who knows.
Well then, I guess it’s a good thing he _wasn’t_ a guy in uniform, now isn’t it? 😉
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### Author:  [@BlakeTyner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlakeTyner)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/28 "2009-05-25T04:41:10Z")
> [@Chickenwrangler](#):
>
> Just out of interest are the military issued with underwear? Is it camouflage? and presumably they have a choice of wearing the issue undies or their own choice.
> 🙂
In the Army (which is all I know about) yes. They’re briefs, and they’re brown. At basic it is a big deal to only wear the issued ones, but after that nobody really seems to care.
(I also want to state that I wasn’t in the Army–that information comes from my brother, who was.)
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### Author:  [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/29 "2009-05-25T16:53:58Z")
> [@Chickenwrangler](#):
>
> Just out of interest are the military issued with underwear? Is it camouflage? and presumably they have a choice of wearing the issue undies or their own choice.
> 🙂
When I was in the Army ten years ago, men were issued underpants and undershirts. Women were issued undershirts, but not underpants or bras. The Army-issue undershirts and pants were brown at the time.
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/30 "2009-05-25T17:11:05Z")
I asked Ivylad about this, couldn’t he have taken two seconds to get his pants on? Ivylad (who was in the Navy), said absolutely not. It’s not what you’re wearing when they sound general quarters, it’s that you’re at your station.
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### Author:  [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/31 "2009-05-25T18:52:20Z")
You guys are missing the “PINK = GAY” thing here. That’s why the whole article makes for a funny joke.
Of course the guy could’ve went “commando” and that would’ve tied in the military use of the word “commando” with the sans underwear use of the word. But that didn’t happen, but it would’ve been funnier
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### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/32 "2009-05-25T19:00:44Z")
Well, as a factual answer to the OP. Soldiers are not permitted to wear _any_ civilian clothing in theatre. There is no stipulation for sleeping or quarters or whatever. If you want to relax and get comfortable, you are supposed to wear your PT uniform which consists of black shorts and a grey shirt.
There is no reason or excuse for this soldier being in that uniform at the time. Thus, it’s likely he really was concerned about what officials would make of it.
With that said, the rules prohibiting wear of all civilian clothing is pretty lazily enforced in my experience.
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/33 "2009-05-25T20:52:52Z")
> [@BlakeTyner](#):
>
> In the Army (which is all I know about) yes. They’re briefs, and they’re brown. At basic it is a big deal to only wear the issued ones, but after that nobody really seems to care.
>
> (I also want to state that I wasn’t in the Army–that information comes from my brother, who was.)
My brother swore he would never wear brown underpants ever again! 😃
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/34 "2009-05-25T21:08:14Z")
But he could get really scared and no one would ever know. 😉
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### Author:  [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/35 "2009-05-25T23:03:54Z")
My ship once took a hit (nothing serious, just an accident during a training exercise) and when GQ sounded we saw a good number of sailors heading toward their battle stations wearing nothing but soapsuds.
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### Author:  [@Gethsemane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gethsemane)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/36 "2009-05-26T01:44:53Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#):
>
> Well, as a factual answer to the OP. Soldiers are not permitted to wear _any_ civilian clothing in theatre. There is no stipulation for sleeping or quarters or whatever. If you want to relax and get comfortable, you are supposed to wear your PT uniform which consists of black shorts and a grey shirt.
> There is no reason or excuse for this soldier being in that uniform at the time. Thus, it’s likely he really was concerned about what officials would make of it.
>
> With that said, the rules prohibiting wear of all civilian clothing is pretty lazily enforced in my experience.
From my personal experience in Afghanistan, there is no longer such a rule when you are ‘on your own time’, and as long as nobody of sufficient rank takes issue with your choice of civilian wear. I don’t know how this applies legally to US soldiers under their regulations, but I know I saw plenty of them in civvies in the stand easy areas and at KAF’s ‘social functions’. (Sausage parties)
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/37 "2009-05-26T02:18:37Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#):
>
> My ship once took a hit (nothing serious, just an accident during a training exercise) and when GQ sounded we saw a good number of sailors heading toward their battle stations wearing nothing but soapsuds.
That’s called readiness.
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/38 "2009-05-26T02:19:41Z")
> [@Gethsemane](#):
>
> From my personal experience in Afghanistan, there is no longer such a rule when you are ‘on your own time’, and as long as nobody of sufficient rank takes issue with your choice of civilian wear. I don’t know how this applies legally to US soldiers under their regulations, but I know I saw plenty of them in civvies in the stand easy areas and at KAF’s ‘social functions’. (Sausage parties)
It all depends on a variety of situations.
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### Author:  [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/39 "2009-05-26T03:12:02Z")
Maybe it’s a regional thing but Hub just said that at Camp Salerno, Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, no civvies were allowed. You could wear anything you wanted for undergarments but in your “down time” the only acceptable casual dress was the PT uniform.
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### Author:  [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soldier-in-pink-shorts/497443/40 "2009-05-26T03:46:05Z")
Those of you trying to cite protocol are failing. The #1 most important thing is the amount of time it takes you to get to the ready position. Get behind your gun and point it at the enemy. Nothing else matters and it supercedes all protocol.
I was one of the deck seaman assigned to lower the boat into the water during man overboard. I was extremely fast at getting into my overalls and into my boots but there is simply no time to tie your boots (I basically jumped out of the top bunk and landed with my clothes on). Oh, but protocol says that you shouldn’t be running through the decks with your boots untied! Who gives a crap, someone is about to die. Get out there and get the boat in the water you have less than 2 minutes for the entire crew to get organized.
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