What do you think about the wear of uniforms off post?

I'm an OPSEC junkie so I try to to avoid wearing my uniform in public any longer than I have to.  

It has been a few years since I retired from the service; my thoughts are as long as they do not misrepresent our military branches and look sharp in their your uniforms. It was upsetting when some didn't wear their uniforms with pride! We should not take a privilege for granted.

Where I live We have a navy base and you don't even have base stickers to get on base you need a
ID card. they said that you are a Target so that why they stopped issuing them.

I don't think it should be authorized by any branch in wearing military uniforms on a off base STORE.
WHEN I WAS IN WE WERE NOT AUTHORIZED TO EVEN STOP TO GET gas on base.

To avoid the problem, I would always hit the gym right after the end of the day on the ship, so I would be in my workout clothes (not a PT uniform) to leave the base. (It was a little more difficult in the morning, however, so I was in uniform going into work.)

Lets forget the fact about the Impact of Military image. Let's concentrate on the antiterrorism aspect. If you wear your uniform off base, you are potentially making yourself a target. I laughed when I was told that we were going to be mandated to wear our Service Blues while traveling on Military orders. So now the terrorist on the plane knows exactly who he needs to take out first. No thanks, I'll go in Civis and if the fecal matter hits the mechanical apparatus I'll take action to defend the personnel on board and take the terrorist by surprise. Sometimes people don't think!! I believe the mindset was, if we mandate military members to travel in uniform then the American people will feel more secure while flying. Don't worry about the military members personal safety, that's what you get paid the low two figures for.

I think the better question would be appropriate activities to participate in while wearing your uniform. The question of wearing your uniform off post is too broad. Why? Because of the fact that a lot of our troops live off post. If we restrict wear of the uniform off post, do we provide appropriate time for our Soldiers to change out of uniform before leaving post? If so, do we give our on post Soldiers time off when the off post Soldiers are changing? Ugh, it's a nightmare.

The better question is restricting wear of the uniform during certain activities. I never understood why 10th Mountain had a policy stating that there was to be no wear of the uniform off post after 1900 hours. What about our guys that work 24 hour shifts? This 1900 standard assumed there were no 24 hour shift workers. Yes, the standard did allow for quick stops for "essentials," but there were a lot of rabid, pit bull, alpha type NCOs that seemed to spend all their free time patrolling for Soldiers off post, as if they had nothing better to be doing with their free time.

So, back to the question I posed. As AR 600-20 already covers where and when to wear the uniform, as does sections of AR 670-1, isn't this a redundant question? I don't mean to say you're (SSG Turkezer) asking a redundant question, it's the leadership of any given Division that has made this a redundant question.

At any rate, we should be more concerned about the conduct of any given Soldier while off post in uniform, and how that Soldier's conduct reflects on the US Army. If we're recruiting quality Soldiers, fostering good ethics, and ingraining positive ideals into the Soldier, we shouldn't have anything to worry about. There are always going to be the one or two Soldiers in ANY given unit that makes that particular unit look bad, but they should not be allowed to set the standard for the rest of us that actually make the unit look great.

If I plan to go anywhere after duty, I always pack civilian clothes in my car. ACU's or ASU's, I can still do a quick change in a bathroom or in my car if it came down to it. It takes like 10 minutes max and you're on your way and not out at the mall, movies, ice skating etc in uniform.

We were ONLY allowed to wear our uniforms off post to go home, it was strictly adhered to and you would be stopped if caught frolicking around at a bar , club or other establishment where alcohol was served as per Ar 670-1.It even went so far that you could not go shopping in uniform during the duty period of the day and monitors were placed into Px and other establishments and WOULD stop you and you WOULD wind up having to report to the post commander.I remember having to do this duty and busted a Major out who had a tizzy and tried to pull rank on me ( had he just let me talk and share the post commanders wishes he could have gone on his merry way with just the knowledge of what was going on and no visit to the Post Commander).

A proper answer to this question requires three more questions.

1. What is the local command policy? Each command has a policy and it might be more strict than AR guidance.

2. What is the current OPSEC situation? Situations constantly change and could require more strict practices than those permitted by regulation and policy.

3. Does it present a professional appearance and reflect favorably upon the reputation of the Armed Services? This is our guiding principle, whether in uniform or civilian clothing. The best dressed Service Member can still discredit the branch he/she represents through unprofessional conduct.