Isn’t this the origin of the term, “chickenshit.”
Only a girlie man would wear a fleece jacket.
I never had to deal with the weather during Air Force Tac Evals at Hahn AB, lol, at the Wing Commander's direction. I was in "the hole" for as long as the alert was on, usually 4 days.
I was one of two officers in my battery with a TS, the other was the Battery Commander. The issue was settled on my first trip, during a NATO Tac Eval. I happened to be in the Eagles Nest, briefing him on the location of our Vulcans and Chaparrals. An NBC input was dropped then, and the Base Disaster Preparedness Officer, a Captain, was intimidated by the 4 or 5 full birds present, and he made the wrong recommendation, to go Alarm Red, i.e. full protective gear and mask.
I spoke up, "Sir, may I make a recommendation?" As if 5 AF Colonels are going to listen to an Army 2nd LT...lol. I gave him 3 reasons to go Alarm Yellow, no masks, no protective gear. As he said, "I like that, let's go Alarm Yellow". As he said that, I saw the NATO Team Chief nodding his head in assent.
15 minutes later, the Wing Cdr's voice boomed out, "as long as I'm in command, whenever there's an NBC input, I want that Army Lieutenant up here." So it was for the next 18 months, I'd bring 3 sets of fatigues and a shaving kit to the Wing CP.
Add the black watch cap and thermal underwear with Goretex pants and we'd really be warm and dry.
Guys looked "thick" until we got indoors.
The M58 Field Jacket was also authorized too.
When the commander fails to take care of his troops, his troops will reciprocate at every chance. Egotistical dumb a55!
For many years now, Special Forces soldiers have worn pantyhose under their pants in cold weather. Works like a charm. But made me wonder why nobody ever invented a long sleeved pantyhose like upper body undergarment.
Of course the life expectancy of such garments is short, but that’s the price you pay to not have hypothermia.
Now the masks were difficult, but everything else was sweet. It was always raw and damp in Germany at night during Fall & Winter. Those barrier articles were terrific for retaining body heat.
The LTC has forgotten the First Commandment of Military Leadership: Take care of your troops!
Has this commander counted the strawberries?
The field jackets we were issued in 1966 were OK for cutting the wind, but it was the fleece liner that kept us warm in winter. If it got REAL cold we had Parkas.
I kept my field jacket and liner when discharged and wore it in shop work for years.
Then one winter, I looked for my field jacket and found the wife had thrown it away as it was really wore and tore.
I wa very upset, not over the field jacket as you could buy one at any army surplus store, but it was the LINER I wanted to keep. THOSE were really hard to come by.
Former Army mortar-man here. It has been my experience that dumb-assed officers and CSM’s power-trip and if they don’t like something, rationality be damned!
My 1st 3 years in Fort Wainwright doing PT and field time; you had a uniform, but you could adjust it to how you were feeling. As long as it was in good shape and a military uniform, no problem.
I came back 2 years later, and if you deviated from the uniform, you could get an article 15. I sweated my ass off during PT, then subsequently froze my ass off because of sweat, because jack-wagon officers and CSM’s who thought they knew it all. They were responsible for many cold weather injuries and yes, hot weather injuries during the ass-biting cold weather because of their idiocy. I despise power tripping clowns ever since.
Yeah the fleece is a zip out liner to the BDU/ODU field jacket. It’s not outerwear however you can wear it inside in the office. If you’re going outside you have to put the shell on over the fleece.
The complaint is against the uniform regulation manual for that particular service which clearly states that it is not an outer garment, but it also clearly states that it can’t be worn indoors without the shell.
Who cares if they’re cold so long as they’ve got their pronoun use figured out