Posted on Feb 28, 2017
Of all the uniforms you wore, while serving our country, what was the strangest one?
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I have had many uniforms. In 1980 it was green fatigues, then BDUs in 82/83... In AK we had wool shirts, pants, Arctic mittens, VB boots, Mukluks, the 3 piece parka, and over-whites... Vietnam era Jungle Fatigues at Ranger school... Chocolate chip DBUs... 3 color DBUs... Multi-cams... Dress Greens, Blues, ASUs, The ACU Digital... ACU - OCP... The SWAT suit was the goofiest... or Polizei?
Memories
Uniforms
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 118
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Jungle fatigues with bush hat, late 1960's with the jungle Air Force in Thailand.
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But you never got to wear the Bermuda shorts, knee sox and short sleeve khaki's of the late '50's because some high ranking general thought the British equivalent was very military - "pip - pip, old Chap!"
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CPO Robert Benton
Rocked the hell out of the Tropical Khaki (authorized for E-7 and above) uniform in the last place (Diego Garcia) in the last year (2004) it was authorized. Cotton khaki shirt and shorts, brown or black knee socks to match shoe color (we aviation types wore the ever so cool brown shoes) and the best part, wait for it...Pith helmet! It all had a McHales Navy, They Were Expendable feel about it!
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CSM Charles Hayden Passed 7/29/2025
1LT Peter Duston I was issued a set of Khaki Shorts and Short Sleeved Khaki Shirt in the early 1960s. I do not recall wearing them as a uniform, the shorts later worked well in CA summers!
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Perhaps not strange, per se, but unusual was during deployment to Antarctica for ODF with the Coast Guard. Below the Antarctic Circle, it kinda turned into a "as long as it's blue (USCG) or red (red for 2 reasons; 1-line crossing ceremony made us members of the Order of the Red Nose and authorized to wear red below the Antarctic Circle and 2-USCG icebreakers are red-hulled, not white, so those who earned their quals are authorized red hats when breaking ice) and it keeps you warm, it's good." Boots or boat shoes; blue ODU pants; red t-shirt or blue t-shirt or ship's shirt or blue or red sweatshirts; ODU blouse; blue parka, red parka, green parka, blue fleece; cold weather cap (with the ear muffs), blue ship's ball cap, red ship's ball cap, blue USCG ball cap, blue toboggan, red toboggan, black toboggan. All Hands was of course, in ODU blouse and pants and ODU boots, (preferably) red parka and (preferably) red ball cap. But other than that, stay warm! (Oh, when we had a visit from a 3-star USAF, a 2-star USCG, and a 2-star USN flag officers all together, it was ODUs with blue ball caps, wear long-underwear cause you're not wearing jackets).
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Richard Nixon changed the White House Guards to a "more regal", European style - Reports have the uniforms actually being used in service for anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years. They were not a hit.
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SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
TSgt (Join to see) - and one the most foolish looking clown outfits I've ever seen for anyone to wear !
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SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
MAJ (Join to see) - They may well have been White House doormen but then they would look good in front of a hotel also.
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Have to go with the RefrigiWare insulated coveralls, "moon boots", and varied accessories down in Antarctica. Looks like a warm day out as we didn't need our "bear claws". We'd typically have a down vest underneath and behind it all, OD Green shirt and pants. The beard was common and was actually a service wide OK thing to have back in the day.
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Lt Col Jim Coe
I was issued and used a lot of Arctic gear when assigned to Alaska. When it's below -20 degrees F outside, you put on all the stuff they issued you and hoped it worked. I found the winter flight suit (an insulated onesie), parka, moon boots, and bear-claw gloves with a stocking cap under the parka hood, worked pretty well for an hour or so. Problem we had was coming into a warm airplane with all those clothes on and having to take the time to undress to our nomex flight suits (the winter gear wasn't nomex in the 1980s) before we got in the seats to go fly. Much colder in Antarctica I hear.
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SPC Rebecca M.
Lt Col Jim Coe - Things got better in the insulation department up in Alaska. :) I had just been medically separated and joined my husband who was stationed at Fort Richardson but often went up to Wainwright. Being the caring, "I get why this is important" and "yes, dear, I did outrank you but you're active duty now and I'm not, so I'll do your TA-50 so you can get some rest before PT at oh-dark-thirty" type, I developed very interesting ways to take care of those Arctic whites and the bunny boots and had the pleasure of watching my husband try to learn to walk in issued snowshoes. :) He's a guy that runs to the hot side anyway though, but I rarely heard him complain about issued gear not keeping him warm enough. If anything, I know he did get reprimanded once for not wearing his thermals when he was supposed to. He figured nobody would notice since they were under the blouse and everything else, but it warmed up just enough that it did eventually become apparent. Much of the time I appropriated his gear since I tend to be cold most of the time regardless. Even while stationed in California. (Edited a spelling error for clarity.)
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In my opinion, the WWII era look were the best looking uniforms the Army ever had. I was a Marine, our service uniform (greens) came out in 1933, aside from a few changes in rank insignia, some changes in the collar emblems, the shades of green and weight if the material, it's essentially the same uniform.
The dress uniform (blues) has been around over 100 years. Again, some fairly minor changes, but still the same look.
It's worked for us.
The dress uniform (blues) has been around over 100 years. Again, some fairly minor changes, but still the same look.
It's worked for us.
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MCPO Roger Collins
With you all the way, Gunny. The primary concern back then was utility with a degree of panache. Now it's a beauty contest driven by the MIC.
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I guess I got lucky with uniform wear. I joined the Marines in 2002 and was the first few units to be issues "digi's". Also I personally think that the Marine Corps always had the best looking uniforms. Only uniform I disliked was Bravo's with the sweater
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SSgt Wendell Croom
I have to agree with LCpl Pickett. That Marine Corps dress uniform is a great looking suit.
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