Posted on Jul 2, 2015
CW4 Brigade Maintenance Technician
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MSG Intermediate Care Technician
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Yes. If the brass really want to save money, then pick one damn uniform for all.
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TSgt Gwen Walcott
TSgt Gwen Walcott
10 y
If the brass wants to really save money, eliminate most of Washington and the minions that occupy it
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MSG Intermediate Care Technician
MSG (Join to see)
10 y
TSgt Gwen Walcott - THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!
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CW4 Brigade Maintenance Technician
CW4 (Join to see)
10 y
From a cost savings aspect, that makes sense.
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LCDR Judge Advocate General's Corps Officer
LCDR (Join to see)
10 y
But also pick something that is breathable during summer months, for those on ships can float, flame-resistant and doesn't completely blend in with the water. For those deploying on land, something that blends with the surroundings.

There was a lot of talk about redoing the women's uniform, but after redoing one shirt, the movement died.
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CPT Zarin N.
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It'll save money, and (hopefully) simplify logistics. Honestly, it seems like everyone just started pushing for new combat uniforms because everyone else was getting them. Army didn't really have a reason to go to ACUS-UCP, other than the Marines going to MARPAT. Air Force only changed because the Army did, and the Navy Changed because everyone else did.

At the end of the Day, I think our dress uniforms are where every branch ca take liberty and be different, but I think to truly bring home the "One Team, One Fight Mentality", having the same combat uniform is a good place to start.
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CW4 Brigade Maintenance Technician
CW4 (Join to see)
10 y
I agree with the cost savings aspect. I also agree with why all the services started changing their camo patterns. I personally wished that we would have kept the woodland BDU.
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PO1 Shahida Marmol
PO1 Shahida Marmol
10 y
CW4 (Join to see) - I like that idea. Our dress uniforms should be the only uniforms we wear that is distinctive to our branches. As a sailor, I wouldn't want to get rid of our jumpers. They are apart of our tradition... I love them lol
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MSgt Ncoic
MSgt (Join to see)
10 y
You will not find many Air Force members that like their uniforms. I don't think there was much thought about what we would be able to blend in with. Its not like our bodies are flying through the sky.... They don't camo you from anything. Some guys let their uniforms fade to the point that you could mistaken them as snow camo.
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MSG Air Defense Artillery (ADA) Senior Sergeant
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I'm torn on this one.

A) for money's sake, if we would develop the best theater-specific uniforms and share for all military in that theater (desert, urban, jungle, garrison, snow, water, etc) it would make the most sense - after the pattern in that environment proves to be the best, every branch should wear the best then.

...however...

B) there is a strong sense of pride and identity in each branch. Different branches also take pride in their uniforms differently. Requiring the same uniform for each branch would certainly detract from that branch's pride in their uniforms and possibly even decrease morale.
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CW4 Jason Wheeler
CW4 Jason Wheeler
>1 y
Your B comment is interesting since most of the US Military wore BDUs from 1981 till into the early 2000s (2005 for USMC, 2008 US Army, 2011 Air Force, 2012 Navy) which is over 20yrs. Before that, a vietnam era as early as 1965, all services wore a solid olive green uniform, OG107. So it would seem service members only developed this "service specific pride" in their Utility uniforms after the Marine Corp made Marpat and every other service started playing keeping up with the Jones. So, I'd vote for some butt hurt service members cries over "I don't look special anymore" over a Billion dollar (That's with a B) fiasco of the Universal Camo Pattern, to a field testing a UCP variant with Coyote Brown added, to the OEF Camo Pattern (Multi Cam) to finally now the Operational Camo Pattern. Which by the way was developed by the Army in 2002, known as Scorpion, by CRYE Precision. CRYE later took an modified "Scorpion" and trade marked it as Muliticam. You read that right we paid for a pattern we already basically owned.
So, I think you comment b is basically a Straw Man.
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Should there be one standard combat uniform across all branches of service?
TSgt David L.
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Edited 10 y ago
Back in the day we had a common uniform, we'll call it Woodland BDU. It had service specific designators, lets call them Nametapes. In a joint or multi service environment (like we had when I taught at the EOD school, NAVSCOLEOD) we would actually look at the nametapes and then if we needed to address the individual we looked at the service specific rank designators, we'll call them rank insignia, then we could say "SGT Snuffy!", and relay a message.
In an outdoor environment we wore things we'll call "Headgear". Sometime they were a common shape but one service used headgear rank while the other service did not.

Now I know this is all crazy and makes no sense, but if you remember this tell us your opinion or view of the old style system...
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CMSgt Tom Qualls
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Yes
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CPT Armor Officer
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I started reading this thinking, "No, of course not. Why should the Navy and AF dress like the Army and Marine Corps? Economies of scale be damned, we have different jobs." However, as I read through, I've come around due to the issues of 1) service members looking different in theater making some stand out as targets, 2) the fact that two out of three services picked horrible uniforms that provide no tactical advantage to those wearing them (looking at you, Army and Navy), and 3) the cost to taxpayers (and service members) of having half a dozen different patterns out there.

So, for a duty uniform, one standard design across the services, with a desert variant and a woodland variant. Dress uniforms can and should remain different. That's where you show your service heritage.
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SFC Jeff L.
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As long as it's not the AF "tiger stripes" or that ridiculous blue camo the Navy wears. I'm partial to the Army's new pattern and the Marines and Navy SeaBees.
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PO2 Anthony Cruz
PO2 Anthony Cruz
10 y
I'm interested in what you mean by Navy Seabees, they no longer use the BDU version of camo and now use what is called NWU type II and III.
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SFC Jeff L.
SFC Jeff L.
10 y
PO2 Anthony Cruz Nobody has used BDUs for years now. I'm talking about their current digital camo pattern.
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A1C Cyber Systems Operations
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I think there should be. There are separate branches, each with their own specialties and differences, but we are all one military, one fighting force and I believe we could show some cohesiveness and all wear the same uniform as equals. Also, it would save a lot of money.
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SrA Edward Vong
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I'll take the same combat/utility uniform. I do think the branches should have a different service uniform.
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SFC Network Engineer
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Absolutely not. Each branch has a different mission set and different types of situations for which they could be involved in. Additionally, I first served in the 80's when all branches used the BDUs. This was done under the auspice that if we went to war with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, every NATO country had a variation of the BDU that was very similar to ours - so if you got separated from your unit, you could still get an appropriate uniform that identified you as a NATO ally. That is no longer the case, and most NATO countries have completely different uniforms now, the Warsaw pact is defunct, and as I understand it, some former Warsaw pact countries are now NATO or non-aligned. As I served over 26 years, I have seen both sides of the coin, and I can say this too: Each service, being able to create and design it's own uniform, allows that service to uniquely identify itself from other services, and it instills pride in your branch when you have a bad-ass uniform. Lastly: Why should any one branch, be able to influence the type of uniform requirements that any other branch has? What may work for a Navy Seebee, or SEAL, will not necessarily work for an Army grunt, or and Airforce mechanic.
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