Posted: 9/23/2005 6:53:47 PM EDT
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Am setting up my Blues for the dinner dance tomorrow night, and am trying to remember if you wear the Distinctive Unit Insignia with them. On the Class As, you were them centered on the shoulder loops. I am looking at Ar670-1 and cannot find anything on the blues or infor in the DUI section. Thanks. Aviator |
Dont you mean greens? Army class A uniform is green.
Army Dress Blues are a formal uniform worn in place of a Tux. Blues are styled after the old cavalry uniform. Darker blue blouse, white shirt black tie or bow tie, lighter blue trousers with 1 1/2 inch gold stripe down the leg. Most people see it at the Tomb of the Unknowns. It is one of the few uniforms people actually wear thier medals with, though most still just wear the ribbons. The only more formal uniform is Dress Whites. |
Dress mess, also. Dress mess comes before Dress Whites, which are more limited in time, season and occasion. Rarely saw Dress Whites in 16 years. |
Ah , OK. Those aren't typically issued are they? |
Nothing above Class As is issued. If you don't have Dress Blues, Class A uniform with white shirt and bowtie is substitued. |
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You wear your regimental crest with Blues. Also with Mess. Boy are you guys wrong on uniforms, let me help you up. The Blues are NOT a replacement for a tuxedo. That would be the evening mess. Blues are a duty uniform for formal occasions. Worn with a necktie before 1700 and cover and worn with a bowtie and no hat after 1700. The blues have recently substitued for the mess, which in formal days, was the only acceptable uniform for dining in the officer's mess (hence the name, dress mess). The dress whites are a copy of the Green's in a white fabric that substitue for Blues in warmer climates. There is also a summer mess which is a white jacket and black pants. Blues may wear full size medals or ribbons (but NOT miniature medals, though I have seen f-d up fat boys do it. Its authorized by the reg, but you look like a dork) With mess, only miniatures are to be worn. Mess, for those that have seen it, basically looks like a bartender's jacket. Blues are worn under arms, but the mess is not. Since the blues are a duty uniform, I think that the CSA's decision to get rid of the greens and only have blues is a good call. Just need TW's to cover for the B's. I am a walking 670-1. Which, btw para 28-23 covers the wear of the RDI. ETA para of 670-1 that covers the wear of RDI with Blues. |
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Aviator, checking out your blues, you are goofed up. You would wear your regimental crest above your name tag (no name tag, btw, during evening wear, though with 4-1 you do wear it (as you are doing)) And to be super anal, 1/4" for the wear of a class 3 badge(your aviator wings are class 3) above the top ribbon. You look way closer than 1/4" in your picture. |
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It's too late now for the purposes of the original questioner, but: No unit crests on the epaulets of Army blues UNLESS you are in a designated honor guard unit. We wore them in the 1st US Infamtry and the 3rd US Infantry... at West Point and Ft Myer/Arlington, respectively. If you are in the reserves or guard all the rules seem to go out the window. Ask your platoon sergeant what they normally do in your unit. (this can be amusing to all when you are a new o-1 platoon leader, but why rob the ncos of some fun) I've seen some very weird uniform set-ups at reserve and guard formal events. But then again, I've seen some weird stuff when the 1st Cav does a dining out too... so I suppose it all evens out. Greetings from Ft Hood. |
It's been 20 years for me to wear the Blues, so I am not up on all of it anymore. I left out Mess Dress intentionally, since I figured it was "dinner party" uniform (a high power dinner party, but still a dinner party). I'm not even sure if enlisted has a dress mess uniform. I saw the Dress Whites once. When I was a MP in MDW (Military District of Washington for those who don't know) in 1985, they were being worn during a graduation ceremony at the National War College on Ft. McNair. They chose whites since all 4 branches had a white uniform. Pretty wild to see Army and Air Force Officer's in almost the same uniform. The way we told them apart was by the color of their metalwork Army had gold and Air Force was silver. The Navy and Marines were easier to identify by the collars and shoulder boards. We were all in blues that day, but then blues were worn every Sunday or when some kind of event happened. We even worn blues and Class-A's on midnights. |
kar98k, next you could explain the buff and black strap worn by the 3'rd herd.  Then there was the wire coat hanger inside my "bus driver" hat to make it look right. And using masking tape instead of a belt under your jacket so it would lay right. Just a few tricks of the trade. |
Don't forget those wonderful stacked and tapped shoes either. Boy they were fun on highly polished floors. |
With the metal plates on the side of the heels. From the little cobbler across the street from Myer. The reason for the extra soles was to keep heat from your feet on 90* + days. And wetting your right hand glove so your rifle wouldn't slip. And lighting a can of Johnson's floor wax on fire to get the floors highly polished. |
Apparently they still do make Spec-5 insignia. Spec-5 insignia You might want to google for other sellers. |
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The only place I ever saw Army Dress Whites was in Washington and in the Summer season. If you looked carefully during Reagans funeral you saw them a few times. Mess Dress (all services), is the Evening Dress uniform with the little cutaway jacket (miniature medals, cummerbund, etc) is actually called a Mess Jacket even in civilian world,. Used to be de rigeur in colonial days for military and civilians after 7 pm. Again this is for formal dining, Mess Knights, Balls, etc. Even more formal than a tuxedo.(at least in the good old days) You might check some of the on base Army/Navy/Marine Relief Society thrift stores, used to be they would have a nice selection of the dress uniforms. Most guys got very little use out of theirs. |