Should the Army uniform only show name and US Army? (Getting rid of patches and badges)?

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.

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.

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?

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"

Negative, this is an Army tradition,, leave it as it is!

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.

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?

Cost wise yes tradition wise no.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Airforce, Marine Corps, and Navy all wear skill badges on their daily wear camo

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.

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.

I don't see any problem with us wearing (some) of our achievements on our duty uniforms. For many, it is a point of pride to walk around demonstrating who they served down range with, or what pain in the butt schools they've survived. I don't see any reason to stop, and personally hate the justifying argument of "Everyone else does it" (for any point)

I think the patches and badges can motivate, though.

I don't see a problem with the way things are now. If somebody earns the right to wear something, let them. If they choose not to, they shouldn't have too (except in ASUs). Being allowed to wear a badge that you earned is a matter of pride.. Soldiers should be proud of their accomplishments and allowed to display them. They worked hard for them and earned them. People that don't have them, see them and see something to strive for, a goal to set, a way to better themselves or stand out above the crowd. At least that's the way it was when I was a young Soldier. Maybe the lack of ambition I see in a lot of the Soldiers today has changed that, but does that mean the Army should buy into the trophy for everyone mentality? I personally don't think so but that is a completely different subject for discussion.

As far as the other services, they do wear badges as many have mentioned above. Navy has surface warfare and submariners badge. Pilots wear wings and SEALs can wear their tridents. I have seen marines with jump wings. Air Force has badges for their career fields, can wear jump wings, astronaut and missile badges, MPs wear a patch version of their badge, and recently the Air Force authorized wear of the Ranger tab on the ABUs for airmen that earn it or former Army personnel that changed branches and have the badge.

Let's consider the fact that we are a big Army. We are a big Military. 1% (or less) of our entire US Armed Forces come from elegible Americans or green card immigrants. (who I think have five years after joining to get their citizenship or they're out) Now only 1% of those troops actually see combat! Who's to say is more important the grunts on the ground, special forces, seals, delta force, rangers, EOD guys...you get the picture.... or all the service members supporting the combat forces on the ground on the sea in the air? Believe me it is an uncomfortable feeling to feel inferior to guys with all the tabs when most soldiers, sailors,etc don't get a deployment. The Army is the biggest supporter of making it's brother in arms feel inferior! The Airforce Marines..treat all their personnel with EQUAL treatment. Jesus..look at old pictures of Patton, Eisenhower, Bradley etc...one maybe two rows of ribbons and nothing to make them look like a third world dictator. Look at our Generals now in the Army!! From their belly button to the top of their shoulder is full of medals/ribbons tabs EVERYTHING they can stick on it!!! WTH?? ONE ARMY ONE UNIFORM! We all do are job and if we were discharged before a deployment or served during the cold war, even if it was for twenty to 30 years...You are still judged in the Army by the crap you wear all over your uniform!! Meanwhile all who did outstanding jobs for years but were never deployed suffer the rath of stare downs while they size up what you are wearing! Most other services DO NOT DO THIS. Now for those Medal of Honor awardees and CIB and CAB and proud soldiers wear them with pride on your blues but take it easy on the ones who didn't get the chance to get deployed or go to school because of their unit. NOTHING on the BDU's ACU's Multi cams etc! All For ONE And ONE For ALL! Sorry for the rant but what I see happening is not in keeping with the Army Standards. Those who supply the Beans and Bullets deserve respect also. Let's tone down all this "stuff"stacked to the ceiling on our uniforms and get them off our field uniforms! White Six OUT!

I agree I have seen E3's & 4's who have more eye candy on their shoulder and above the L/ breast pocket than some veteran who have been in for 30 yrs. No I'm not knocking the young troopers. I understand it's a pride thing. I have my share of patches and badges as an NCO. But your right we should all be the same. Be uniform. Like they say we are all wearing the same let us all look the same.

Yes. It's just getting crazy with all the bells & whistle badges that are on the uniform now for the ACUs & other combat uniforms. Defeats the purpose of the combat uniform. A unit patch & a combat patch as well as the US flag should be it. Rank of course. Let the bells & whistles only be part of the dress uniform. That's what it's there for.

Sure, why not? Let's just Obamaize everything and follow the current trend of no winners or losers. Everyone is equal. Fuck that. The other services have limited schools; a lot of them actually get qualified through the Army. UDT wears a patch in the navy, as do Air Force pilots. Those patches signify a "go" accomplishment. If you don't have any then quit being a pissy and go get some. Idiot

no keep it the way it is...that's what make us more distinquished. if that was the case we could all just wear a regular three piece suit and necktie and call it a day. 

I love it the way it is right now. I don't think any change is in order.

I don't see the point to this. This helps you know who your talking too and too a degree, that they know what they are talking about.