Posted: 8/2/2006 5:53:53 PM EDT
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Is the army really getting rid of the Class A's? Are they gonna wear ACU's to goddamn funerals now? wtf, over |
The green Class A's are supposed to phase out at an undetermined date, with the new uniforms being in Clothing & Sales by 2007, with the issuing in Initial Issue to start in 2009. The new blues will take the place of the greens, dress whites and present dress blues. |
The USMC hasn't used unit patches since the early 50's, IIRC. Unit patches still exist but are not used officially. The lack of them has instilled a "one for all and all for one" attitude. Patches seem to suit the Army since it's geared more towards unit pride than pride in the overall service. |
All non-duty uniforms (As, Bs, Mess, Evening Mess, White, etc) will be replaced by the existing Army Blue Uniform (the one that makes you look like one of Custer's cavelry troopers).... Presumably, this uniform will be for formal occasions (funerals, dining ins, etc) only, ACUs will be worn for all normal duty work, as there is no planned replacement for the Class Bs... |
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*sigh* When will they realize that making "warriors" requires a lot more than uniform policy changes? By making office dweebs wear "combat" uniforms, they don't suddenly grow a heart of fury. Patton and Ike wore waist coats into combat... As far as the marine v. army thing? Well, the Corps does a pretty good job of instilling a warrior spirit in all its marines, the army does NOT. So I would really like to be able to see some branch insignia or some kind of way to discriminate between the 69th Messkit Repair Bn and some combat arms lifetakers. Glad I'm out. I should have joined the marines. |
+1 on all counts. 'dog 11B |
They already have a way, the blue discs and blue cord on your Class A's and the crossed rifles on your collar. And the CIB on your chest says you've seen the elephant. |
Branch insignia still exists for the ASU/Blues... The unit-affiliation patch/combat patch removal IMHO doesn't hurt much of anything in this department - you can get a 1st AD or 82nd ABN combat patch for spending your entire tour in a FOB.... Also, with the exception of 82d and 101st, and to some extent 1st CAV most folks in the Army don't seem to have that much attachment to a perticular unit, unless they find themselves continuously rotating back to the same one... |
When I was in The Old Guard we wore our unit crest on our Dress Blues. If they do this Army wide, you could tell what unit they're assigned to. 
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I catch myself thinking this many times threw out the day... But I am still happy with the choice I made. I went to a good unit, with good leadership, and had a "good" war. Still would not mind having the Marine uniform. Still might do it... Would the brainwashing just make me worse, or does it work in reverse? 
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Do you really feel like doing basic training all over again, Marine Corps style? |
I'm glad you're out too. You should have joined the Marines, at least they already have a cool uniform. How many u7niform changes have their been over the life of the Army? Maybe you think that we should have never changed from the original that Washington's troops used? That would be the answer. Never change, even though this has nothing to do with the fighting spirit or whatever you want to call it. It's just a uniform change, that many think looks better. Can't have pride in the way we look now can we? Oh, yeah, that's right, any real combat unit looks like shit. That's what all the movies and books say anyway. |
| I figured people most soldiers would be happy to turn in their green leisure suits for the blues. Other than loosing unit patches and jump boots, I think it was a good idea. Now you have one suit to maintain instead of one jacket, 2 pairs of pants, and four shirts (if you have a white shirt/bow-tie for the formal leisure suit). Add to that the fact that the dress blues have a little history with them, wasn't that one of the complaints about the greens? Granted, you don't improve warriors with dress uniforms, but at leats it should save soldiers some cash. (Except you chubby guys on the overweight program, hell, I'm still wearing the same class A's I got issued in 1997.) |
Well mine looked pretty sharp but so did my green class A's. And they should be wearing the "bus driver" hat too. I wore winter weight wool uniforms year round cause the summer weight blues and class A's looked like crap. |
How many uniforms are you issued now? I was issued 2 winter A's, 2 summer A's, 3 Khakis, wool overcoat, raincoat, and 4 fatigue uniforms in ’73. Along with a bus driver hat, cunt cap, fatigue cap (ball cap), 2 belts, 2 pair of boots, and low quarters shoes. A field jacket and wool long undies , and white T-shirts and briefs or boxers (your choice). Wool cushion socks and black dress socks, 2 khaki cotton/ sateen A’s shirts. There was probably more but I can’t remember right now. |
Well, I was kinda meaning just dress uniforms stuff. I can't quite decipher your clothing bag, but it sounds like you had alot more non-battle dress clothing than soldiers have now. Let's keep the trend going and ditch some more, I say. PAC clerks and recruiters and Pentagon Staffers aren't going to work in A's or B's any more. Simplify it, ACU's for everything from combat to desk jobs and Blues for when there is a need to look our best. And get rid of the Green Class A's, a uniform that looks like it was designed by Disco Stu. |
| Why the change? The dress greens were good looking, with the exception of the shirt color. And adding a gold stripe to the legs of all NCO's (hell, half the Army is E5 and above) and the funky color of the trousers, light blue trousers, dark blue coat, gold rank, etc, we're gonna' end up looking like some third world South American army. Plus having EVERYONE wear ACU's (including all the pregnant soldiers I see every day pumping out kid after kid) is crazy and does nothing to develope branch pride, which is very inportant especially for combat MOS's. Marines 1, Army 0 as usual. . |
2 sets of winter weight wool Class A's 2 sets of summer weight wool Class A's 2 cotton sateen shirts for Clas A's 3 sets of wash/ starch Khaki's Class B's 1 Wool overcoat/ greatcoat 1 Raincoat We didn't have the green Class A shirt to turn Class A's into Class B's. We were issued enough uniforms to wear one and be cleaning the other. In my day you wore Class A's or B's for desk/ office jobs and could not wear Fatigues off post. There wasn't any of the running around in Public in ACU's looking like a ragbag soldier, Our fatigues, your ACU's, were a work, field, and combat uniform only. |
The summer weight wool uniforms were wool gabardine a real lite weight wool that wrinkled taking them off the hanger. Winter weight wool uniforms could be soaking wet and still hung right. As a 11B most times I wore Class A's or Dress Blues was a formation or parade where looks trumped comfort. Even today I hate most civilian suits as they're made of light weight wool. A heavy weight wool suit the weight of the wool helps the creases in the jacket/ blouse and trousers hang nice and look good. When I had my oral board for Sgt(E-5) it was over 90*F and I wore my winter weight wool Class A's as I knew they would stay looking sharp for the board. In my day our Class A's and Dress Blues were real wool uniforms not some wool/ poly blend. |
yeah, but the rest of us combat arms guys get lumped in with the clerks and jerks, which can be very annoying. the CAB shoulda been for combat arms only and the rest get a ribbon for being unlucky IMHO |
Shit! DVCAPI was an old school, Old Guard trooper! Did your barracks have open bays and what company were you in? I was A Co on McNair, short stint in HHC and Then D Co. |
I was in E company or as they said in the movie Gardens of Stones I was one of those "pretty boys" in Honor Guard Company. Back then the only company that was authorized to wear the "honor Guard" tab was E Co. And yes my whole platoon was in one open bay divided off into squads by a row of wall lockers. We each had 2 lockers one for your GI stuff and the other for personal stuff. How did you like having to clean your Brown Bess every Thursday after parade practice? Then you had to deal with more uniforms than I did. Who else here knows why TOG wears the brown and buff strap on their left shoulder? |
By 80s garrison-obsessed, clorox bottle-halves in the pantslegs, mirror-polished boots standards, yeah we may look like 'shit' now... But IMHO, that's a good thing... With the exception of one small portion of 3ID (Old Guard) we are not a parade army... The spit and polish did nothing, and IMHO actually HURT the Army, as a 'good soldier' was rated not as much on how combat effective he was, but moreso on how his uniform looked at work call.... The ultimate 'sign' of this was the acronym STRAC being used to describe a parade-ready appearnce as if it were 'tactical', etc... Well, they're finally getting rid of that shit with the ACU, and although there are some holdouts who think the world is going to end when they're not allowed to iron/starch, it's a better world without that shit (and without the folks who don't want to do any 'messy' work because it fucks up their perfect, pretty-boy uniform)..... Now, back ON TOPIC with the ASU, that is SUPPOSED to be your pretty parade uniform... But still, it's an improvement over the slew of dress uniforms we currently have... One parade-pretty uniform for formal occasions, unpressed, wrinkled utilities for actual working tasks.... After all, we're supposed to be a working Army now, the 'Every formation a parade' BS is dead.... Makes sense to me.... |
So were you in the Old Guard? my dad served with them back in '62 |
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The black-and-tan "buff strap" worn on the left shoulder by each member of the 3rd Infantry is a replica of the knapsack strap used by 19th-century predecessors of the unit to display its distinctive colors and distinguish its members from other Army units. The present buff strap continues to signify an Old Guard soldier's pride in personal appearance and precision performance that has marked the unit for 200 years. Next question please 
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Yes, I was in 1st platoon, E Co. (Honor Guard), 1st Bat., 3rd US Inf (reinf). |
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Cleaning the old Brown Bess was not as bad as wearing the colonial uniform (100% wool) in the Virginia/DC summer heat. Topped off by a hot-as-hell gray wig, and tri-corner hat, it was murder. At least we got to fire those muskets on a regular basis. Always was cool to be at MT Vernon, or some other historically significant place with a Brown Bess, "locked and loaded". Besides, chicks will always dig an "Animal Guard" soldier in continental dress! Lots of photo ops with multiple hotties. |
1st. The 3rd US Inf is not part of the 3rd Inf Div (3rdID). It's parent unit is MDW (Military Distric of Washington). 2nd. I think there should be a Class B uniform for people that work in offices. I don't think a Jag officer or a clerk that works in Jag should be in Dress Blues or ACU's for normal work. The same goes for others that work in office jobs CONUS. I knew a lot of NCO's in TOG with Bronze or Silver Stars from VN that knew how to look good in garrison. If I was picking a uniform to use as Class B's it would be a short sleeve Kahki TW(topical worsted wool) uniform. For EM's they would wear rank on sleeves, US and branch discs, name tag, and at the most 2 skill badges(say jump wings and CIB) but no ribbons. Same for officers but they'd wear rank/ branch on their collar points. |
You completely missed my point. Great attention to detail, skipper. |