Posted on 02/05/2018 12:41:01 PM PST by Strac6
I scratch my head at how frequently our military branches change their uniforms - especially combat uniforms. Seems that just about the time that everyone finally gets converted to the new patterns/designs, it changes again. I have yet to see a convincing reason for the changes.
It makes one wonder if the brass who make these decisions get kickbacks from the manufacturers of all the uniform parts that get changed... Planned obsolescence to boost profits.
Because this smacks of painting one of the rooms on the Titanic as the ship is going down. Every dollar available should be focused on readiness. I have this nagging feeling we’re seeing the late 1930’s all over again. So tell me how many times has the USMC changed their Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform in the last 20 years?
Don’t soldiers have to buy their own uniforms?
Know what this means? Next war in a place that isn’t all sand.
“I don’t care if they have to gold plate everything: if we need it and maybe our lives depend on it, fork it over.”
I like your attitude! You must work in the defense industry too ;D
But seriously, last time I asked a soldier they hated swapping uniforms all the time. If this uniform makes them 1% harder to see? Great! I am all for it. If this is just a feather in a cap for some bean counter’s next promotion? Boo!
I clicked on the link. It shows a soldier in blue Class A’s. Are they disbanding the Air Force and transferring pilots to the Army?
2002 was when the USMC rolled out MARPAT it was heavily influenced by camo used by the Canadian Defense Force. The Marines won't let other services use it. (It also has a USMC logo embedded in the detail to discourage the services from using the same uniforms.)
Also, MARPAT doesn't meet the specs modern forces require for night vision masking/hiding. So the Army has been looking for something else.
BTW, the main purpose of the Navy blue digital camis is because of the dirt, fuel, oil, and grease that is on every Navy ship no matter how much you clean. The old chambray shirts I wore showed every little speck and had to replaced constantly at the sailor's expense. The officers and chiefs had the same problem with their light brown working khakis. However, it would seem to make it more difficult to spot an overboard in the ocean.
See my post above.
Care to explain how the rash of uniform changes has made the difference (or even potentially made the difference) between life and death?
Further - your attack on those who have not served, with a blanket label of “service avoiders” is uncalled for and quite contrary to the spirit of the very service you apparently are claiming to defend, as well as the standards of FR.
Every Soldier I have had a conversation with over the last several years - when uniforms come up, they generally express frustration. Yes, many have “preferred” camo patterns (much like us hunters who have our favorites). But overall - they express irritation at the changes and have yet to have something nice to say about all the changes.
Fatigues should be one color. OD green. Thats the way it was for 150 years. You can have special jungle fatigues or tan fatigues to wear in the desert. Stateside should be a plain OD green fatigue. Almost forgot, our new and improved military don’t even use the word fatigue anymore. And of course all branches wear the same looking uniform. Can’t tell the Army from the Air Force.
It is like multicam but without the vertical elements.
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My last comment reflects on my own experience in Vietnam. We had 1950s utilities and black leather boots and 1942-issue web gear and 1942-lot C-Rations. The cotton utilities rotted off our bodies and the boots came apart almost as fast. We had a pretty decent rifle, the M-14 but the idiots in the rear sent M-16s which had not been sufficiently developed and lots of good people died when their rifle didn't work.
My attitude then and now was that we were worth more than that. We were the few who were at grave risk of death and dismemberment when most of the rest of our generation was having a wonderful time back home. When the new Jungle Boots started showing, they issued me and others used boots that came off the dead. We have to do better than that.
The current army uniform is ridiculous (thank you Natick "Soldier Systems Center") and needed to be replaced.
It just hacks me off to hear alleged conservatives complaining about how much it costs to defend our country. I can tell you how much it costs when we meet at the Wall.
Nothing smarter than being dressed to blend in with the ocean if ever finding yourself overboard in the middle of the ocean.
Thanks. I appreciate your knowledge.
About the "service avoider" stuff: I am after all these years still very bitter that most of the men of my generation found convenient excuses to avoid service - and if they couldn't escape service completely, picked occupational specialties as far from combat as they could get.
That left people like me to take all of the hard stuff and I resented it. We could have used more help and we didn't get it, so more of us died or were torn apart than should have been.
I have always believed that it is the responsibility of all able-bodied young Americans to head for the fight. It was true in most of our earlier wars and it's a damn shame that it isn't true anymore.
Well, I spent 15 months in Vietnam (including two Tets) and wore that “Flak Vest” every day. I’ve finished working for the Army on a two Billion dollar program for the last 17 years, including in “The Box” at Fort Irwin and the range at Fort Bliss. If the Acquisition Corp can’t get it right on a uniform how in the hell are they going to get it right on a complex weapon system? And I absolutely guarantee you there were advocates just as certain as you for the need for change the last time the Army changed uniforms and the time before that.
Fort Drum jello flashbacks.
“Sergeant? The jello is moving by itself!”
And it staining your uniform.
atc23 - USS Henry B Wilson (DDG-7) B Division, 78-84 - US 3rd Fleet, US Surface Forces Pacific, 32 St, San Diego, CA. Destroyer Squadron 13 “ The Black Cats “
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