Would you support a standard uniform for all branches of service? Why or Why not?

Love it. All your military uniform contractors will fight you to the death however to do it. Sometimes I wonder who's controlling who's contracts. But that's a different, ans much longer, Rally Point complaint post.

Standard battle/utility uniform, yes! Dress uniforms, keep separate.

For financial reasons. I do not see a reason for every service having their own uniform. I support one standard uniform for all services

Yes as long as each one is some how distinguishable from the next. Marines are not the same k8nd of soldier and need a distonction for themselves even if it is just a logo or name tag that differentiates them

To the original question I'd limit it to two - one for the ground services and one for the sea services. Whatever the Army chooses is what the Air Force gets, whatever the Marines choose is what the Navy gets. Save the money.

No I would not support a standard uniform for all branches of service. You are correct in asking how I "feel" about this...as it may be practical and economical to mass produce one uniform for all the Armed Forces there is the issue of pride in ones own branch of service. If we are to standardize uniforms why not just lump all of the services into one branch and let the SNAFU begin. We are all committed to one goal however there needs to be a pride factor somewhere.

I support it for the work uniform, but dress uniforms should be branch specific.

I'm all for it. With the exception of the Marine Corps, we all wear the same uniform in a combat environment anyway. One team, one fight.

I think no matter what anyone thinks some company or companies is going to strike some stupid contract with the government and get rich and cause more spending to cause greater cuts to our budgets in the form of pay and benefits and no matter what they decide, in a couple of years someone is going to change their minds, re-invent the wheel and we will again get new uniforms... Politics at its best... I personally don't care one way or another, we use to all wear the same BDU/Cammies/utility uniform and it was all good, not to mention those things lasted for ever...

Yes, would save the tax payers in the long run....

Absolutely. all factors involved (design, testing, purchase and distribution would be simplified and more cost-effective. Tradition notwithstanding(a factor embedded with many, if not most, of those opposed, would not be a primary factor over time. I'd personally like to see something of which all can be proud - regardless of branch. I do recall earlier attempts at standardization in which it was extremely difficult for those involved to even decide upon a standard belt buckle. Good luck! Great subject; good question.

No, Here is why;
When I first joined in the 80's the Army, Marines, and Air Force. were starting to come together with the same utility or BDU Uniform mostly to add uniformity is what I was told. the navy had specific requirements that the uniforms of the time did no live up to. By the 90's the three services were wearing the camouflage uniform the Army called BDU's and the Marines simply referred to as Cammies.
The problem the Marines ran into was that the standard of the uniform did not fit well with the needs of the Marine Corps operational tempo, rarely lasted through a deployment, and there was always the costly need to issue a separate dessert uniform for deployment.
In the late 1990's The Marine Corps Uniform Board put out a survey to all Marines asking what they wanted to see or required in a combat Uniform. The survey went on for a few months and the board took all the results and came up with the uniform the Marines currently wear.
There are specific features designed into the uniform that are Marine specific. Wash and wear no iron, pockets inside the knees and elbows for pads, the pocket are designed to be conducive to wearing body armor, the material is very durable in a combat environment, and they are issued in green and tan to save money on TAP issue for Deployment.
It wasn't long after the Marines started issuing the new uniforms that the other services began working with their own designs that were specific to their needs. The navy needs uniforms that are conducive to ship life. the Air Force need uniforms that are tailored to the needs of an Airman. The Army while having most of the requirements of the Marines also need the ability to add unit patches which the Marines do not wear.
So in my opinion trying to make everybody wear the same uniform is simply short sighted to each services needs.
Money is not the issue since each service uses their individual funding in order to purchase the uniforms and once issued the service member is responsible for the upkeep of their uniforms except in specific cases of combat deployment when it is not possible to go to a uniform store and purchase replacements.
So my suggestion is that each service tailor their uniforms to their own needs and leave it at that.

I support it, not only is it cheaper in the long run it also unifys all service branches

I believe there are significant advantages to a single form of utility uniform with specialty-authorized deviations for safety, performance, and recognition (like law enforcement, first responders, and such). Dress and formal uniforms should stay as they are; there is a lot of branch-specific heritage and culture in those.

I would only support one standard field uniform. The dress uniforms should be specific to the branch of the military one is in.

I think a standard uniform could eliminate some of the inter-service rivalries. Actually, I think there should not be different services. We already have different sections within the various branches that overlap: Infantry/Marines, Navy/Air Force aviators, JSOC. A person would join "The Military" to specialize in a particular field. They would be assigned to a base, most of which are joint bases now anyway, that requires that specialty.

For the utility uniforms I would say yes, keeping branch specific rank insignia. But as others have said the Service Dress should all be branch specific. It makes sense fiscally and when it comes to force protection measures. If there was one uniform and one standard it would make spotting threats in disguise that much easier. From experience being AF I couldn't tell you if someone in the Army is wearing their uniform 100% correct or not, let alone any of the other services.

I support this 100%! It has gone too far with each service having a different uniform. If we are worried about saving money it seems like this could be one way to do it.

Not the Dress Uniform. I think that those should be as distinct as ever.

Definitely yes when it comes to the cammies. I knew several Corpsman when I was enlisted and didn't realize they have to maintain both Navy AND Marine Corps uniforms, which not only required a lot of time (and closet space), but also could get expensive quickly in some cases. I think we're long overdue for finding a common type of non-dress uniform. I also think it would help foster more brotherhood between branches, as silly as that might sound. When I was enlisted I always had some instinct reaction to other uniforms that made me want to stay away from them (can't explain why, just something i realized post-service)

I'm on the fence... I feel that the uniforms carry so much history and I, personally can more readily identify the branch of service.

From a budget standpoint standardizing the utility or battle dress uniform makes sense. The services need to retain their dress uniforms to remember their heritage and history. However, heaven forbid the Marines wear the same cammo pattern as the Army and the sailors aboard ships would look kind of strange as well.

SFC Michael Jackson, MBA, I think that each service should determine its own uniform, as only they can assess their unique and specific needs.

At this point, the changes just need to stop for a while. We are cutting jobs.....cutting Brothers and Sisters....cutting experience. Is your uniform going to tell you what you need to know to advance in the branch of service that you are in? No. Is your uniform going to guard your back in a firefight? No.

These uniforms are already being issued, so to go through the massive "research committee" that would be necessary to decide on the "best camo" would be many more jobs. Simply put, the cost savings I don't think warrant the necessary headaches that would come along with trying to "unify".

It also makes it easier. When trying to identify rank, it is helpful to know a good distance out what branch you are looking for. Sailors in Army uniform are sometimes confusing to Soldiers that aren't as familiar with the Navy ranking system. I once saw a SSG salute a PO3. Watching that PO3s face was the funniest thing I'd seen.

At this stage....let's just focus on settling into the new battle rhythm rather than trying to force 5 "Brothers" to dress in the same suit....
v/r,
CPT Butler

I think it would be kinda hard to tell who was who and the ranks between services are different you would definitely have to know all ranks of the other services,to make sure you render the proper respect for the rank.

No absolutely not. Think every civilian service uniform is differant. Police,Sheriff's office.

Coast Guard would never allow it.

hmmmmmm...
Logistically this would seem to make sense but uniforms are not just Branch identifiers, they are based on the types of missions and what kind of environments each Branch performs their missions in.
Army and Marines should have the same uniforms since we have very similar mission profiles.
The average Airman, Sailor, or Coastie really has no reason to wear jungle, woodland, or desert camouflage.
SEALs, and AFSOC, on the other hand, are a different matter.

I would support a single field uniform. Back when I was in my twenties (a long time ago in a land far, far away), I started writing a novel and in Chapter 1 I discussed how the military would combine forces, with a single dress and field uniform. The dress uniform would include I of all 5 services uniforms representing each branch. The boots would be Army,, the pants Coast Guard, the blouse would be Marine, The hat blue, Air Force, Coast Guard, and their would be blue tie Navy. The field uniform would be something akin to BDUs which was the field uniform i wore in the second half of my 20 years. But that was how the novel started I never finished it. Got to 12 chapters and my Air Force service took over my free time as I progressed in rank.

In the olden days ( Vietnam era) Army and Marines wore same OD fatigues.

When I worked at CENTCOM, everyone was issued DCUs, including military, DoD civilians and contractors. I think it helped create a sense of unity. It also made it easier to distinguish US personnel from all the representatives of 47 coalition partners who were also stationed there.

That uniform I have never worn but I have felt the fabric and it feels very comfortable to wear quiet to move in. Easy to care for like a cross between sweats and cargo pants.

I'm an old sailor. I remember when they came up with that totally asinine idea to have a "single" uniform for seaman recruit thru admiral. The "suit" uniform cost like 4x or more than the traditional Navy "crackerjack" uniform, was much harder to maintain, and took up a lot more shipboard storage space. Then the Coast Guard got into the act--apparently tired of looking like Navy, their new uniform was easily mistaken for Air Force. Leave the damn uniforms alone!

As a cost saving measure for the nation's taxpayers, and Military Services Members, Absolutely. Economy of scale, and ease of replenishment makes the idea most practical. The Services should retain their distinctive rank insignia of course. As for the visual of shubbery on haze grey Public Service Vessels of Specific Function. Why not?

We all should be wearing the same camouflage combat uniforms. The navy & coast guard be different. But on ship. On land they wear the same colors as everyone else.

We never should have gone to branch specific combat uniforms. Here's a single plan. Use the uniform from the Marines, built strong, durable, functional. Use army multicam color pattern. No velcro patches. Every thing sewn on. Navy & Marines keep pointed soft cap. Army & AF use standard soft cap. It's that's simple. Cheaper all around. No more extra fu ding. No more research (which congress supposedly canceled).

great so long as the dress uniform stays the same-each unique to it's branch of service-

I think all service branches should wear the same uniform. But each branch retains its own rank and its own dress uniform.

We did it for 20+ years with the BDU and since the Korean War with the “pickle suit”

That was the original plan when the BDUs came out. Then the Marines wanted their insignia permanently embossed on the uniform. Then the Air Force insisted on blue lettering, followed by a blue BDU pattern, affectionately known as WalMart Camo, then modified to a tiger-stripe pattern. The Navy followed suit. A common uniform pattern makes sense, but each service keeps making changes to make the uniform unique to them, thus defeating the intent.

Yes. Less change for troops.