New recruits are issued uniforms in basic training. They get so many sets of whatever the working uniform is, so many sets of other uniforms, and a set of dress blues. They also get shoes, boots, hats, and that sort of thing.
After that, though, you’re on your own. You typically get an allowance each year to buy any new uniforms you need and take care of the ones you’ve got, but you’re responsible for making sure your uniforms are in good condition. That said, if you are in a job that requires a special uniform, that may be provided for you.
One way or the other we are all paying. Taxes to pay for the issued uniforms or for the clothing allowances. It’s the way it’s been since I have been around. In the guard you get issued replacement uniforms. Active duty you get paid on your anniversary date. I’ve been off active for quite a while so I was a little off on what the allowance is. This link has the chart and a pretty good explanation.
What if your uniform is damaged as a result of following orders - like, for instance, climbing rocks or crawling through thorn bushes? Does the officer who gave the order pay for a new one, or do you? Because the latter hardly seems fair.
Uniforms you pay for. Most other gear is temporary issue and you can directly exchange damaged equipment. Some exception to the rule. I have had a varied military career. I started off in aviation. My flight suits were temporary issue and I had to turn them back in. When I was a tanker my nomex tanker coveralls were temporary issue and I turned them back in too.
ETA in combat zones uniforms are issued and it’s easier to get replacements issued. And it’s needed. The new uniforms are not as durable as BDUs.
Not to bust your balls to much, but this had nothing at all to do with it. First, conventional forces do not remove their rank before going on patrol. Second, the Army Combat Shirt, (the uniform specifically designed to be worn in combat under the body armor) has the rank on the sleeves.
AIUI, used to be once that Enlisted personnel got a set number of the mandatory uniform items issued free and there was a limit to how often you could get a “free” replacement for each of those items for reasons other than it getting ruined by actual battle/duty action. You still were responsible for properly maintaining and repairing it at your cost to keep it useable as long as possible. Then this was at some point replaced with the system by which you’re given the original set, then an allowance for maintenance and replacement and if you can’t manage it well it costs you.
Officers had to clothe themselves out of pocket all along.
Well, actually if you went back far enough in history, there’d be precedent for the in-garrison everyday uniform being a cleaned-up version of the one you wear to the battlefield if only due to that the troops could not afford otherwise.
Where the US Army, specifically, realy did break with the usual was to abandon the rule that the utility uniform should only be worn in garrison or to move to-from immediate duty w/o stops on the way. They expanded the concept of travel to include ALL travel to or from a duty station, and allowed it to be worn when taking care of any incidental business between duty post and your home (probably influenced by many more soldiers with families living off-post). Of course, that raises a chicken-or-egg question as to whether this was the plan all along.
BTW, the Marines and Navy have retained wearing rank on the collars, rather than the chest and Air Force Enlisted still wear full size fabric chevrons on the ABU sleeves. As for removing rank in the field to foil snipers, that was partly addressed 40 years ago with substituting “subdued” insignia (flat black, mostly) instead of shiny silver/gold devices or bright yellow/white/red stripes when in the field.
This is one of my huge personal pet peeves right now. There is no reason to wear ACUs or ABUs to an office environment. None whatsoever. Doesn’t matter what branch you are in. Unless you are doing manual labor where you will get dirty or are deployed the uniform of the day should be normal blues or the army and navy equiv. For years the AF has had us wearing these things to work every day and it looks completely unprofessional. We are finally correcting this starting in the NCR where AD AF are required to wear blues 4 days a week now. The navy has been wearing their equivalent for years.
Whoever said that these things cost $300 a pop is out of touch. Minus the shoes a tailored set will run you around $100. And don’t kid yourself either, people do not change to a fresh set every day. It’s nasty I suppose but most people will wear them for a week or more before switching to a fresh set.
Enlisted personnel are issued a huge pile of uniforms upon entry. Huge. And they are paid a stipend each year to maintain and replace them. Most do not come close to spending the full stipend on uniforms but pocket the bulk, wearing the same ratty old shit until it is yellow and falling off in tatters. I know this because I was enlisted and did the same thing.
ETA: Oh, I forgot to add that most soldiers ACUs look like they slept in them and they don’t give a shit how unprofessional and unkempt they look. Part of that is the shitty material they are made of but most of the reason is that they just don’t bother taking care of them. Marines look 100x better even on their worst day.
Partly because when the ACU was introduced it was strenuously pounded into the grunts that these were NOT to be ever ironed, creased, starched, tailored, altered, washed with colorsafe bleach, etc. lest you damage the amazing hi-tech fabric properties, whatever they are. When the original BDUs came out in the early 80s they were initially* also *supposed to be “low maintenance” for the sake of the IR properties, but too many post commanders/senior NCOs said go ahead and launder and starch them just like the old green fatigues, with the result that into the mid-80s a lot of people were walking around in an alien grey-purple shade of Woodland with shiny imprints of every concealed button and inner seam.
The Marines, of course, knew to take into consideration the expectation of sharp looks up front so even the utilities are designed for a better fit. To be fair the Army always has had to have uniforms in stock to fit 3 to 4 times as many people as the Marines right off the shelf so one can imagine the QM saying: “so the smaller people look like they’re wearing a mail sack – we did dress the whole bunch, Sir”.
I understand the need for the Air Force to look pretty. Thats fine. But straight off the AAFES website: Army ASU jacket $189, pants $87, shirt $27. I know I’m just a dumb combat engineer but I think that adds up to $303. So who is out of touch? Not including beret or bus driver hat, tie, shoes, bling, belt etc. Uniform allowance is around $300 a year. And with that they also need to maintain their other uniforms. I understand that most will not have a set for everyday of the week but you can’t just have one if you are wearing them everyday and they have to be cleaned and pressed. So even being a cheap bastard and paying the for the minimum possible amount of uniform items during the year, the “bulk” they are pocketing isn’t much if anything. Just a pair of decent boots will run you about $100. And I don’t know what the Air Force does but when I came in I got 4 sets of BDUs (2 summers and 2 winters) and one set of Class As. Is that a huge pile to you? The summer ones lasted about a year. Winter a little longer. ACUs aren’t that durable. But they are wash and wear. Not much to do to take care of them. They are not supposed to be ironed.
I know that you know but others might not, ACS was designed and fielded rapidly due to some of the design shortfalls in the ACU. The ACU had features which were supposed to be for wear under body armor but didn’t work that great. The diagonal pockets didn’t make much sense when the IOTV came around. And they realized the need for flame retardant combat uniforms which the ACU is not (except for the shitty pink ones).
Are you being obtuse on purpose? Everything other than the pants and shirt are 1 times purchase items. And if they are enlisted they are issued every piece of that uniform. The coats and shoes and hats and whatever other crap you are throwing in to boost your per uniform cost last years. The prices you just posted match what I said. 87+27 is about $100.
As far as the ACUs appearance yeah they say don’t starch or press them. No one is asking them to. They could still do basic things like wash them, hang them up out of the dryer, and replace the things when the ass fades white from wearing the same pair to the office for months in a row.
One uniform cost. $303. Jacket, pants and one shirt. Just bought a set in November. For everyday use maybe you can get away with one jacket if you are a shitbag. No way you can get away with one pair of pants and one shirt. Which is what you are issued initially. And that’s for the shitty AAFES brand. The better uniforms from other vendors are more expensive but last longer. If you want to argue that you can wear them until they are threadbare then your argument for looking professional goes out the window.
Do you really think that 3 pants and 3 shirts per year is an outrageous possibility? That’s the whole uniform allowance for the year. Everyday use, dress shoes maybe a year for the AAFES brand. Unless you are letting your troops look like complete shit they are paying much more than their yearly allowance if they have to go Class A most days.
I’ve been in 23 years. Do you really think I am still wearing my basic training Class A jacket? One time purchase? Really? And I’m combat arms and now part time.
Are you wiping your ass on your jacket or changing oil in it or something? What exactly are you doing in the thing to require more than one? Even the sloppiest, dirtiest soldiers I’ve seen have clean jackets on. What you are saying makes no sense what so ever.
I’m almost wondering if we are crossing wires here and you are talking about some mid-grade uniform. If you’ve seen AF blues, NOT service dress, then that is what I’m talking about. WTF are you referring to?
FTR I’ve been in 17 years and have been in joint billets for at least 10 of those working every day with all branches so I’m quite familiar with the spread of uniforms. What you are claiming is not aligned with reality regarding the expense of wearing your class A’s every day. Unless you have some sort of sweat gland problem or are shitting yourself every week or so.
So you really think that one pair of pants and one shirt is all you need for a year? That’s what you are saying when you are trying to keep it to your $100 a year limit. And you really think one uniform jacket lasted 23 years? And if you are wearing Class As everyday what do you do when it is in the cleaners? Or does it never have to be cleaned even with daily use? I don’t care who you are, you can’t wear the same uniform everyday for a week without getting stinky. And I don’t know if your Class As are that much different but mine say “dry clean only” jacket and pants. So along with the increased cost of the uniforms you also increase their expenses with the price of dry cleaning. And its all supposed to be covered by the yearly uniform allowance. Maybe we are talking two different things. In the Army there are ACUs and ASUs. The Army Service Uniform without jacket is Class B. There are no other uniforms. ASUs have to be professionally cleaned.
I really want to know how you wear a jacket for 48 weeks a year and only need one and never have it clean and pressed.
When you said wear the jacket every day that’s when I realized where the disconnect is. I’ve been improperly referring to your Class Bs as Class As. Your class A is the equivalent of my Service Dress.
With that said you wear the same pants and shirt in A and B configuration right? Your class Bs are office appropriate and should be worn everyday you work in an office environment. Your Bs cost a hundred a pop. No you should not have to replace more than one set a year if you are working in a typical office. If so you are really beating the shit out of your uniforms.
BTW the new Army Class B(or A) shirt is white. Makes Class B look kind of odd at first sight and probably will increase maintenance cost. Originally they were going to keep the white shirt only for Dress occasions and use a greyish shirt for the everyday service version (like the Air Force and Coast Guard do) but they weren’t able to get a satisfactory selection for the latter so they kept the white.
I agree. USAF blues are worse. They look like they were all manufactured in the 60s and they are still trying to sell off the inventory. They fit horribly and the pockets are massive on the shirts.
Either way though they are still more office appropriate than our ABUs.
Exactly what I was going to post. Back in '59, in basic training we were issued 2 greens, 2 shirts 1 pair of dress shoes, 3 pair of fatigues, 2 pairs combat boots, C-caps, saucer cap, tie, etc. (it’s been a while, but I’m open to corrections.)
