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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Stupid new uniforms!

I am watching the inane pre-race coverage for the Daytona 500.  There was video of some military men and women holding American Flags.  No one in America, except possibly active duty Navy personnel.  They had black garrison caps on (Piss Cutters) khaki shirts with seaman, third class, and second class emblems on the collar, and black pants.   Are they sea cadets?  Junior NROTC?  Merchant Marine Academy Midshipmen?  Actually, I do know they are active duty Navy personnel.  But that uniform makes them indistinct!  The Marine Corps does not see a need to change their dress uniform ever  Why do we change uniforms.  Neither does the Army.  But the Navy changes uniforms like I change socks.  I believe someone gets a kick back on the uniform changes, but I may be somewhat radical in that.  However, it hurts our service's recognition in the heart land to change uniforms.  The "Cracker Jack: blues and whites are the uniform Americans associate with the United States Navy.  And the Dungaree Work Uniform is the traditional working uniform.  Before the 1950's even Chief's wore the Dungaree Working Uniform!  Bet most of you did not know that?  But, this new dress uniform is as bad as the "Salt and Pepper" uniform of the 1980's!   Maybe the makers of the khaki shirt complained that they were not getting enough business!  Another draw back is, who pays for all these changes?  I'll tell you, the sailors.  Second question, where do you store all these uniforms on ship?   The Traditional "Cracker Jack" uniform was designed to fold into a compact size that easily fit in a locker and did not require hanging space.  I believe this is another example, much like the extreme flammable polyester material, of decisions being made that impact fleet personnel by shore duty personnel that don't have to fit a sea bag into a small locker.

Let's reduce the sea bag to a uniform that is easily stored,  is easily washed by the ship's laundry, wears well, is fire resistant, and looks like a sailor!

3 comments:

  1. Very important information provide that beneficial for us....
    Cheap uniforms

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  2. Bang the gavel for the cavil! I agree! A sailor should look like one... and polyester...??? Bad move... stinky and burns well... cotton is a much better choice. ~Stan

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  3. I was in when the Navy changed E-1 through E-6 uniforms to the CPO style suit and tie blues, Gestapo working blues, CPO style white trousers. I hated those uniforms; there was no place on board a ship to stow the dress blue jacket or the combination caps. Plus, the caps got smashed and crushed when you put it in the seabag or parachute bag when traveling to the ship for a cruise and were wearing dungarees from the base to the ship. Boy, was I happy when we were told that we could start wearing cracker jacks blues and whites. But we were told we had to wear the new style uniforms, not the ones we received in boot camp. I hated the 100% polyester white jumper and pants that you could see through.

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