Should the DoD ban the wear of all camouflaged uniforms off of military installations unless there are special circumstances?

Who remembers the days of Starched Fatigues; colored name tags; branch colored scarves; colored Battalion Crests on the pockets; blocked hats, spit shined boots? Looked like a Christmas Tree. but, don't get caught off post You, The 1SGT and CO wil have a long talking to and your 14x2 seems to last forever.

SFC Bill Snyder - The only Art 15 in my 23 years was for being Caught off Post in Starched Fatigues and spit shined boots, while Picking up same form Landry just out said Gate in Spring Lake NC. and we are talking about maybe 200 m outside Gate. this was in 1975.

CWO5 Ray Lee - I was never a Marine but a lot of Marines and Soldiers really believed that I had been in spite of my denials. It has to do with genuine pride in one's appearance and performance of duty. Semper Fidelis!

1SG Billye Jackson - I remember those days. Your outfit was a bit harsh in my opinion. A good chewing out should have been enough to correct your failure to repair, no?

MAJ John Linardy - The boots are made that way for good reason. Our black shinny boots were good radar reflectors and good also be see too well with the necked eye. They don't look as nice as our black boots but i'm sure they have gotten fewer shot which is more important than looking good in my book. I hated those "wash & wear" fatigues we had between the old starched ones & BDUs. They never looked good and wore out too quickly. I did like the jungle fatigues in Vietnam.

Well, this old worn out Army Aviation W4 agrees with you totally, Colonel Ritz! As long as it is worn properly, this is much ado about nothing. I hope no one will be offended here, but I still believe that the main reason the Army got rid of the one-piece flight suit we used to wear is simply because some in the upper leadership of the Army were jealous of aviators, and that uniform was a mark of distinction for us. Some of the same people have hated berets for years, so when they couldn't totally get rid of them, they took the black berets away from the Rangers and gave everybody one so no one would feel left out, you know. Then, they decided you can wear a maroon beret even if you're not Airborne qualified if you're in an Airborne unit. My point? We pick stupid things to focus on, and most of the time it involves some type of political correctness. I happen to think the multi-cam is a nice looking uniform, and the ACU is not too bad either. Common sense should prevail....

COL Tom Ritz I thought your original quip was largely unfettered hyperbole, your follow up statements are much better. It’s been a fairly modern development that BDU variants have been worn as daily office wear. It started post 9-11 when pentagon officials wanted to promote solidarity as “an army at war”. It’s always been like wearing combat pajamas. I was a young E3-4 when I wore my Class B with shined low quarters and garrison cap to work every day. That was a little bit of a silly leisure suit uniform but it was more professional.

Just bullshit if you think that.

LCpl Rich Vail ,

Yes the ACU and its equivalents in the other services is a “utility uniform.” I understand that. But let’s look at the USMC policy where I’m at. If my Marine buddies want to have lunch at the Burger King on base, they can wear their “cammies” all day long in that establishment. However, go to Burger King off base for lunch and “cammies” are not allowed. What’s the difference? They’re having lunch and going back to work. At the end of the day, they’re required to change into civilian clothes before driving home, if they live off base. I just don’t see the point. I get it that we don’t want our SMs just hanging out in town in their utility uniforms. I don’t know of too many SMs who would want to hang out in their utilities. But what exactly are we addressing by writing the policies the way we are? I stop by the gas station on base in my utilities, I’m good. I stop at the gas station at the gas station off base in my utilities and I’m wrong. So, is the issue that I’m wearing the uniform off base? Okay. Cool. But when we make the argument that the uniform is not a “liberty” uniform, then I would think that getting gas on or off base in the uniform, unless I’m on duty would be a problem. Same for having lunch.

LCpl Rich Vail - I grew up Army (enlisted) and then Air Force (officer) and our rules were quite different than the Marines'. We were allowed quick stops while enroute to/from base. Even so, many troops took advantage; it was not uncommon to see them out at the mall or the movies with their families. So I get it, the only way to stop troops from abusing the rule seems to be to go all-in with the Marine-style regs.

Lt Col Kevin Calhoun - ...and that's the problem, too many have taken advantage. That's why the policy SHOULD be changed.

SFC (Join to see) - The difference is, utility uniforms are a working uniform. If you eat on base NP...if you leave base, then techinically/actually you are on Leave or Liberaty and therefore, muct be in the appropriate uniform. That's pretty simple.