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

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.