When is it "ok" for soldiers to deblouse while in garrison?

There is no Army regulation governing tops off, but you can have a unit policy at the Commanders discretion.

1. Do your CRM
a) Use the Work/Rest cycle IAW the current temperature.
b) Have plenty of Soldiers to help with the work/rest cycle.
c) Ensure water consumption.
d) Have several jugs of water on hand + ice sheets ready.
e) Maybe add tops off at Heat Cat 3, 4 or 5, depending on what kind of physical work is being
conducted outside.
f) Commanders will have to sign off on the CRM, He/She is ultimately responsible.

2. KEEP IN MIND: Heat Stroke (Hot dry skin is a good indicator besides falling out)
a) Keeping your tops on will keep your body cool by sweating and prevent sunburn.
b) Taking off your tops will likely cause sunburn and increase your sweat evaporation, due to direct
sun exposure on the skin, resulting in hot dry skin.
c) you can go from zero to heatstroke very quickly, if you're not using that work rest cycle.

Remember: Safety of your troops is priority #1 and the completion of your mission will be defined in your CRM.

Deblousing all depends on the work, weather conditions and work location i.e. company area and not in the general garrison area (public). It is the call of the commander & 1st SGT. We have even wore our summer PT uniform at times. The last thing a Commander needs is a heat related casualty on his watch.

When I was brigade surgeon with the 4th Inf. Division, I was known to assume responsibility to help the soldiers in the field to be safer and healthier. I would create a memo and figured if I overstepped I could apologize later as our soldiers' welfare was more important then someone's turf or corrupt interpretation of regulations.

In Iraq, we'd have to wear those combat shirts for missions leaving ACU tops for the FOB. When the cash flew the black flag (was pretty much every damn day) we'd go in pt's... to do pmcs or platoon stuff. Ft Sam had a few days where the black was flown, if anyone was caught wearing the blouse outside, command would give us a counseling statement or worse, etc... as far as regulation goes, unit command should make that a priority. In my own thoughts, thel military today isn't tough at all. There's poor mentally unstable folks in the ranks who think getting yelled at is verbal abuse and emotionally abusive. If it's too hot and thy SM isn't preforming, water and hydrate... take precautions w water and tents, personal fans, etc...

The long answer is it is never appropriate to remove your blouse for work details or not. HOWEVER, the commander (usually with guidance from his senior NCO) has the authority to “modify” the uniform and in fact it does happen. I have been all over the globe in jungles and deserts on deployments. I have served in bases in the south (bragg, benning, Polk, etc.) where the summer heat and humidity are almost as oppressive as my jungle deployments. Here is the facts that your question seems to imply you don’t understand. Sleeves on uniforms protect you both from the sun AND from the heat. Our body cools with the moisture trapped in the clothing. If you want to protect your troops, they should unblouse their boots, turn their sleeves up one or two turns and drink lots of fluid with reasonable breaks. I always tried to have a shady area (sometimes like in motor pools or on runways you have to create them yourself) to get a break from the sun as well. So, specific to your question, proper duty uniform is a full uniform including a hat to protect your head and blouse to protect your arms. Whether a commander or NCO modifies that or not neither makes them a good commander nor a bad one. Whether they monitor (or not) the work and the troops to protect them from heat stroke, etc. determines good leadership. And by the way, we worked 20 hours a day 7 days a week for 10 months in the desert during the gulf war. It was over 140 degrees on the tarmac when we got there in Aug. Short of the american south west, there is no place as dangerous for troops as that. Never took our blouses or hats off… it would literally bake your head and burn your skin in a couple hours.

In the 80s and 90s we were allowed to "deblouse" for work details on post and fold our BDU sleeves up spring and summer on the BC's orders

I don't think you can roll up your sleeves with the current uniform (ACU?). And if that is so, that needs to be corrected pronto with the next uniform change.

Common sense should guide any commander and senior NCO as to when heat conditions would be dangerous to the health of their troops!

As a former Armor Co Cmdr, I allowed it in the tank park after field exercises when spending a couple days on PMCS. I figured the Army issued my troops sunscreen for a reason. But that was 20 yrs ago. My CPT peers of that day are now the Generals of today and after seeing how many political tools aspire for stars it's no wonder so many good ones stop at COL or LTC.

When I was stationed in Hawaii at the 25th Infantry Division, we often removed our outer shirts due to the excessive heat. Back then there were no females in our unit so it really did not matter, but I still think if the heat is excessive and all of the soldiers maintain then it would be okay so you don't overheat. We were out in the field a lot and removed the outer shirt many times. In garrison, if we were on a detail where it took extreme work and it was hot, then it was up to the top NCO in charge.

Back in 1984 when I was stationed in Germany and working in the summer heat, we removed our tops, and when we finished our job, we put the tops back on. No one said a contrary word to us.