Posted on Nov 17, 2013
Should the Army uniform only show name and US Army? (Getting rid of patches and badges)?
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I just like the fact that Airforce, Navy and Marines only have the name rank and their respective branch. They all look the same and they all don't seem to have the judgements we have in the army. I mean we in the army have the unit patches, skill badges and deployment patch. I believe that the army should be the same as the other services.
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 79
Being in the National Guard We almost Never wear our ASU's. Matter of fact I still haven't had a set issued. They keep saying that the state has no monies to order the stuff. With that being said I think that wearing your badges is a sense of pride. I have a CIB from Desert Storm and AirAssault Badge. I have 2 different combat patches. Its a way of showing your accomplishments. I have young Joes all the time asking how they might get there AASSLT badge. In the guard it is a whole lot harded to achieve. You are competing for 10 slots and sometimes over 200 apply of those said slots. I think that if displayed correctly and the way they are supposed to by 670-1 yes we should have them.
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Why not just wear your "required" patches? I never wear anything but name, rank, service, and unit. Yes, I got chewed out for not wearing identifiers we are supposed to be "proud" of. But, I didn't earn it for public recognition; I did it for myself and I keep it to myself. I took the ass chewing and continue to respect my privacy.
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I am with SGT Cunningham, bring back the BDU. And why on earth would you want to be like the other services SSG Turkezer? We are the oldest and best service in America or don't they teach that anymore?
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There is always talk of standardizing the uniforms across the branches, and then there are always the politics involved with looking apart from each other. I remember the fallout with the change to MARPAT, its why we all have unique patterns now, some stupid copyright "war"
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Strange I have seen MARDIV patches etc. If you like that look, then maybe to should join them. Our uniform is set up so a discerning, intelligent person would see, whether to are a combat vet or a greenhorn, what unit's you have served with and therefore were you served- whether you are a skilled warrior or a wanebe Fobbitt.
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Uh... the Air Force wears identifier badges based on their MOS and wing patches, the navy has skill badges along with the coast guard, even the marine corps can wear skill badges... Exactly why is it "showing off" to know the unit that the soldier belongs to, if they have deployed and with who, and what kinds of specialized skills that they bring to the fight?
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The Navy still displays name, service, warfare qualification and rank on the working uniform. I believe that's excessive, when I joined the submarine coveralls didn't need anything on them and we did fine.
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The other branches have insignia as well. A few in the Marines have aviator or jump wings or some other skill badge. The AF it seems everyone gets a badge. If anything I'd like to see the Army do away with the name tag on the Class A-B uniform.
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Going way back in history, unique badges (and uniforms) grew out of the British Army - where particular regiments came from particular areas (i.e., the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders came from Argyllshire and the Duke of Sutherland's lands), and soldiers and officers stayed in their own regiment for their entire career (unless they were "seconded" to something unique, like the Tank Corps or the Parachute Regiment). Maintaining unit identity over generations of soldiers was a very big deal.
In the US, we broke that tradition long ago. Now, individuals move from unit to unit all the time. The patch thing got out of hand. Skill badges are OK, but the Navy too lost its mind - there used to be aviator wings, submarine dolphins, and later the SEAL trident. Now, they have "water wings" for every type of assignment.
I'm for the uniform displaying the service and individual awards (and those "right pocket" awards look silly), but enough with the patches already. Simplicity is what makes the Marine uniform look so good. Keep it simple.
In the US, we broke that tradition long ago. Now, individuals move from unit to unit all the time. The patch thing got out of hand. Skill badges are OK, but the Navy too lost its mind - there used to be aviator wings, submarine dolphins, and later the SEAL trident. Now, they have "water wings" for every type of assignment.
I'm for the uniform displaying the service and individual awards (and those "right pocket" awards look silly), but enough with the patches already. Simplicity is what makes the Marine uniform look so good. Keep it simple.
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I am a little late to the discussion on this one, but the Navy and the Air Force both wear skill badges. There are also certain parts of their force that wear patches, especially deployment patches.
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First, I think branch traditions matter. Unit Patches are part of our Army's history. The Army is the Army.
That said, I think the badges, decorations, and accouterments should be for the Class A only. I think on the ACU (fatigues) we should only have name, US Army, rank and unit patch. I was disappointed when we went to ASUs and full color unit patches and combat patches died.
Also, the USAF wears many things (Sleeve Rank, Command Patches, Skill Badges, etc.) on their utility uniforms as does the USN.
That said, I think the badges, decorations, and accouterments should be for the Class A only. I think on the ACU (fatigues) we should only have name, US Army, rank and unit patch. I was disappointed when we went to ASUs and full color unit patches and combat patches died.
Also, the USAF wears many things (Sleeve Rank, Command Patches, Skill Badges, etc.) on their utility uniforms as does the USN.
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I think you need to worry about your branch and traditions and not what other branches are doing. I think there is a lot of catch up on things like that such as Marines changing to Marpat and then everyone else switched to some new camouflage pattern in the years to come. Change isn't always good, which is why most of our uniform stays the same, and rooted in tradition. Change to follow or just the sake of change is no good in my opinion. I liked it in the early 90's and prior when we didn't have name tapes and just EGA and USMC on our pocket.
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Are you freaking serious? I love my Air Assault wings. For one, I was told I wouldn't make it through the school because I was to old (30) when I went to AA school. It also showed the younger Soldiers in my unit that if a 30 year old can do it, so can they.
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The Navy wasn't always that way. Sailors used to wear the name of their ship on their Dress Blue Dixie cover. Staff Corps officers still wear their Corps insignia as well
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I personally don't see an issue with wearing them. I am proud of where I have been and the "trinkets" I have earned. I am sorry that someone hasn't been to a school and has missed the deployments. But I'll be Danged if I going to let PC get ride of the things I have earned. Suck it up buttercup! Life is hard and those schools, awards, and deployments where hard and they Were EARNED. I'll show them off. If the person or persons are offended by the things a soldier has done in his/her career then go to the schools, be a better soldier and get your own!
So sick of being politically correct be cause little johnny didn't get Airassualt, or Airborne schools. Grow up like is hard. Quit being jealous and get your
So sick of being politically correct be cause little johnny didn't get Airassualt, or Airborne schools. Grow up like is hard. Quit being jealous and get your
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Airforce, Marine Corps, and Navy all wear skill badges on their daily wear camo
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It's a lost cause. Every year the Army will continue to find new things to add to the uniform. It's sign of insecurity from my point of view. I loved when I was a Marine that I was just a Marine and it was enough said. This goes hand in hand with pride. If you ask a Marine at a bar if he serves he replies, yes I am a Marine. (Unit affiliations are discussed later) you ask a Soldier and they immediately go to unit identification. I can go on about how significant this is.
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LTC James L Guerrieri Sr
I think you are 100% right. What exactly do all the young gung ho Army guys think all the Cold War Veterans feel like when they do not have many patches and badges though no fault of their own?? There just was no place to serve! For a generation of soldiers there was omly a cold war. Does that make us any less a soldier? Only one percent of Americans go into the service and only one percent of that one percent actually see combat. It's a shitty feeling to be looked at with disdane because your ribbons or patches don't look the same as some of the young gung ho soldiers ribbons and badges and patches do. We stood watch while they were in diapers. We were no less a soldier if we never had a chance to be deployed! I love my Army, and my career, but I hate this competition shit! We all swore the same oath. This is a problem I want addressed for my men who weren't deployed and looked down on by the younger Army of today.
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SSG Nick Tramontano
I graduated Basic with Expert badge (rifle) and Sharpshooter (grenade). The NDSM was discontinued sometime after 'Nam. The 'wonder ribbons' didn't come out until about late 1980. (ASR-OSR-NCOPDR-ROSTR) Today you'll see a Jr. enlisted with as much fruit salad as a combat vet had back in the day !!
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I used to do laundry at a naval base since I lived right up the road at the time. The ground war for Desert Shield hadn't kicked off yet but I already knew one of the missions immediately. There were a bunch of Army guys in the laundromat, some had SOCOM patches on their sleeves & they all had flight wings. I knew what kind similar things were near by that would be vital during the invasion. So I told the guys what their unit was & what the mission was going to be (nobody else around) & they asked me how I knew. Patches & badges were a dead give away. It's even worse now. If your FOB gets overrun & do you want the enemy knowing every school you went to by the patches all over your Multicams or what? It may mean the difference between being left alone or many painful nights of torture. Dress uniforms, sure go hogwild with badges like a waiter at TGI Fridays with buttons. Lets cool it with the field uniforms.
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