Posted on Apr 9, 2015
SGT Technical Support
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I've worn a couple of different of iterations of the Army's working threads, to include a brief stint in BDU, two generations of ACU, the FRACU and the A2CU. I'd have to say the best one in terms of practicality and comfort was easily the A2CU, which is a two part flight crew uniform that has flaps protecting the pen pockets and zippers everywhere instead of Velcro. The fabric was fire retardant but breathed easy and bled heat well while outlasting the Fire Retardant ACU's hands down. I think I would like to see something like that go Army wide, but that's just my two cents.

What do y'all think could change about the uniform, or perhaps bring back that we used to have? Please note that I'm of the opinion that it doesn't matter if the working uniform looks like a bunch of pajamas on a burlap sack, if you want to look sharp wear ASUs because nobody wears their coveralls to the ball.
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CPT Chris Loomis
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Whatever is decided it has to be breathable and we need to be able to roll up our sleeves.
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PO3 Steven Sherrill
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I don't think it matters. Congress has gotten involved with legislation governing the uniforms across servicses so everyone is screwed.

http://soldiersystems.net/2014/02/03/joint-service-camo-national-defense-authorization-act-fiscal-year-2014-repost/

I may be the only one, but I was glad to see the Navy finally adopt a BDU/ACU type uniform. I will freely admit that when I was in the service, I was jealous of those who were able to dress like they were professional soldiers while our Navy daily uniform looked like we were working at a gas station.

I do agree that while I like the blueberry uniform, it is not very practical. The idea of camoflage being to blend in, the last thing you really want is a sailor who goes overboard to blend in with the ocean. You want them to stand out so that rescue can be affected. Additionally, in a combat situation, they are not practical either. Should a ship sink and the sailors find themselves on land, they want to blend in with their surroundings so as to avoid any enemy that may be searching for survivors. The blue just stands out making evasion more difficult under an already difficult situation. Much as I hate to say it, the Navy should have adopted the Marine Camoflage being that both are within the Department of the Navy.

I think that uniforms should be another source of pride in service. I think that the Navy/Marines, Army, and Air Force should all have compartmentalized control over what uniforms they are putting their soldiers in. The only caveat to that is that it should require testing.

The test of camoflage that I would propose is setting 100 soldiers dressed in the camoflage spread out in the environment that the camoflage is designed for. A group of untrained spotters (civilians would be my suggestion) would be brought in to find the soldiers. The service would set an acceptable threshhold, out of 100 (say 80% as an example). As soon as the spotters find enough soldiers in a specified amount of time (say ten minutes as an example), the camoflage fails the test. If it passes the initial test, then a group of soldiers is brought in to repeat the test with a new time constraint and a new threshhold. If it passes the second test, then the final test would be to bring in snipers, instructors, etc. as the final group to find the soldiers. Again a new time constraint and a new threshhold for failure. If it passes all three tests, then it can be put into production for issue to soldiers in the field.

Clothing is the first line of defense. Effective camoflage is required to help keep soldiers alive. Let's get that done so that we don't have to read about funerals, crippling injury, and needless loss of life.
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SSG Paralegal
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Let's get one that has a light weight breathable material for once.
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SGT Technical Support
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SSG (Join to see), That was my experiance with the Army Aviation Combat uniform. The fuellers used it too. The fabric was very light and handled the heat well in Iraq.
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