Two years later, the new SecDef reverted enlisted back to bell bottoms and dixie cups because the officers and Chiefs made such a big stink. While I hated the dixie cup, I understood the traditional need to differentiate between Officers, Cheifs, and E-6 and below. Got used to it as I did my job. While I was fine with the dress bell bottoms and working bell dungerees, just never liked the stupid dixie cup. Would have preferred a "piss cutter".
I joined in 1976. The enlisted raised as much a stink as the chiefs and officers about the old pants and shirt with jacket dress blues officer and chief type. They were highly dysfunctional, hard to stow on ship without them getting wrinkled or filthy, and high maintenance. The Crackerjacks were welcomed back by most junior enlisted I knew. But IIRC they were optional UOD up till almost 1981. I mustered out in Oct 80 and chief checked my sea bag before I got out. I had to buy the Crackerjacks before I could leave.
The old blue jean dungarees were kinda hard to keep clean I got gigged by the MAA's all the time. That and not wearing a tee shirt. Well Duh it was bloody well hot LOL. I washed them after a days use & our shop had our own washing machine. Ships laundry didn't want the snipes greasy clothes LOL. But when you constantly worked in oil and grease what did they expect?
IMO Coveralls are the most practical clothing to wear be it uniform or otherwise. Seriously that's all I own. I do not own even one pair of pants. It's either coveralls or overalls. LOL.
I first got to wear coveralls when I was T.A.D. to the Boat Shop for Boat Crew and liked them. When I got out and started working maintenance I began wearing them instead of a typical work uniform. In my line of work they prevented a lot of embarrassment having to work bent over half the time LOL.
The return to tradition was badly needed though. You and I enlisted close to the same time frames within a year. Morale in early 1977 when I got to the ship was low Navy wide. There really wasn't any tradition. We did a MED SEA cruise in 77, came back in early 78 and things were really changing. Pipes began being sounded again by the Bosuns. The dress blues uniform changed. Small changes but the right direction. The last chief I had was one who had retired and volunteered back for a few years due to a shortage. We had a shortage of E-6 and E-7 Snipes. My WCS was usually the senior E-5 holding an E-6 or E-7 billet. We had an E-6 maybe a total of two years in the shop. The E-7's oversaw three shops each.
The HUD on my ‘99 Corvette Convertible was an offspring of the HUD in the F-14
First time it was ever used in a production car was the 1998 Corvette.
They’re pretty common in a lot of cars these days.
were you a fresh air snipe???
cool story, I was on the kennedy in ‘78, commanded by jerry o tuttle....
he started as an e-1 and eventually became a vice admiral, truly a seaman’s captain..
he would get in line for chow with the rest of the enlisted men and would get a tray of what they were serving that day... if it was not up to standards, a cook would be in the brig...
anyway one day I was in line for chow, and the skipper was in line several people ahead of me..
suddenly, right next to the skipper, a snipe hole opened up and out came the dirtiest, unshaven, long haired snipe I had ever seen..
I guess the skipper had not seen one like that either, because he sent the guy directly to the barber shop en route to the brig..
priceless memories...
I joined in 1975, and I would far rather have worn the dixie cup and bell bottoms. I didn’t care for the ice cream uniform, though I did enjoy wearing all whites...:)
I had no problem storing my double breasted dress blues and combo hat on my first ship. Beside the locker under our bunks, everyone had a "stand up" locker to store such. It was the rare occasion you had to wear dress blues. The working Uniform of the Day aboard ship was chambray shirts and dungerees and ballcap.
The old age is probably kicking in but I think the Crackerjacks came back around 1981, while stationed in Rota, Spain. Also, I remember every enlisted being po'd that they had to buy new uniforms and patches to be sewed on. Interestingly, women have always had a romantic attachment to sailors in Crackerjacks.
That said, I get that tradition is everything in the Navy. Still, never liked the dixie cup, although it was suppose to be a flotation device. Do you remember jumping off the high dive in Basic Training and pulling off the dungree trousers and tying both legs into a knot and pulling over your head to make a flotation device (all while treading water)? Many recruits in my Company had to repeat. Three failures and out of Basic. Wonder if they still do that.
I also remember the winter "working" blues with a black shirt, black tie, and black trousers. After Navy, I saw a recruiter wearing that UOD with a black piss-cutter. It looked sharp. Wonder what they wear now if off ship. Guess I could Google.
I left the Navy in December 1986 as E-6 - 11 years total active/active Reserve. I was going to go at least 20, but my rating was closing up, and Chief was not looking good anytime soon. Got a good offer from a civilian company.
I would do it all over again. The Navy made a man out of a lost punk. I carry the values that the Navy instilled in me to this day.
And yes, I know what it was like for Snipes in the hole back in the day. The rare time I went down to the boiler room to visit friends, those who weren't operating were standing directly under the A/C vent. If only those young guys knew what BT stood for - Baked Testicles. Har.