Monday Night Football and Military Uniforms

I am brutally exhausted in our policy to allow public presence in ACUs. I firmly believe in traveling (PCS/TDY) ought to be in the ASU versus the ACU and if you don't want to wear your ASU, then civilian. The motto and slogan "Profession of Arms" only holds water if we look professional in public and I can assure you in my humble opinion a Marine traveling looks a whole lot better than a Soldier in ACUs.

I was stationed at Fort Myer where we never wore BDUs unless on midnight shift, so the beef that Blues (ASU) cannot be everyday wear will not pass with me. I am proud of the uniform and work diligently to wear it correct and with pride.

There, the old man syndrome is exposed!

The army seldom wears any dress uniforms. The culture of being an Army at wear lets soldier wear ACUs as a professional uniform. I don't like the practice. I hope the Army moves away from this mentality. Other branches like the MC and Navy wear their dress uniforms far more. An example of this is when a Navy ship disembarks from a port. The AF has worked so much with the Army they just mirror another.

Wait a second, are you saying that the Army has another uniform? I thought they came out of their momma's wearing their ACUs.... I went to WWE Raw this past Monday and lo and behold, ACUs all over the place. Riddle me this Army, are your junior ranks just sooooo hooah that they have thrown away any and all civilian clothing?

I would like to add that the Army has a hatred for their class A uniforms. Now I know I don't speak for everyone, but most people I know agree when I describe them as a uniform for a 3rd world dictator crossed with a mall rent-a-cop. Most people I have spoken to in other branches (I work in a joint environment every day) will openly state that their Class A uniform is more or less comfortable to move and sit in. The Army's is not. The only time it ever looks good and put together is when standing at the position of Attention. Any other position or at all relaxed and it immediately degrades the look. These uniforms are not comfortable either, so more often than not, if the army has a reason to not wear them, it's going to take it. It looks terrible when we wear our ACU's all over the place, because those are ugly as hell after one wash as well. The Army would love new uniforms that looked better, but we don't want to deal with having to buy all new uniforms ALL OVER AGAIN so soon. I think another change that won't make much sense is coming up for the Army uniform anyway.

Different standards for different branches is about all I can say.

IMHO, everyone should be at the same uniform level. I agree with a lot that's been said about the "Army at war" theory but it's all about "uniformity". Without uniformity, the armed services won't know what to do. They'll be wandering through wilderness trying to answer the ultimate questions of, "What hip is your canteen supposed to be worn on?" and "Is the first aid pouch worn flap up or flap down?". They'll be as lost as a 2LT with a map and compass. On the bright side, at least no reflective belts were abused in the process.

I believe current Army policy for this is for them to be in dress uniform. Maybe someone oopsed? (Is that a word?)

I watched it and the few I seen it was actually Airman in ABUs. My wife and I commented that it looked bad.

I say they should wear the ASUs, its ceremonial event. Be proud, the public likes to see all your fruit salad! Seriously, nothing opens up a good dialogue than when you get a civilian asking you what all your stuff is for and you can regal them with your stories of how you earned it. And that provides you the opportunity to talk about your battle buddies and all the things you didn't get a ribbon for. It shows the public that we are humans just like them, not robots that just obey orders.

The Army doesn't need to show off.