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Col Jim Harmon
7
7
0
Why do we continue to follow the Army down this path?

It started with name tapes on our utilities (yes I am old enough to have uniforms with only the EGA ironed onto the pocket). Then we went to that insane Army practice of putting a rank insignia on our covers (snipers the world over thanked us for the triangulation of target).

Now we are looking at cloth rank insignia? Let me guess, we'll have to have little Velcro patches sewn on to make the rank insignia interchangeable.

Pretty soon we'll end up with Velcro unit patches on our shoulders, where we list our unit affiliation, blood type, boot size, sexual preference, favorite football team, and every other piece of personal information (not unlike a subdued NASCAR driver).

Hell, why stop there. For that matter we should stop rolling our sleeves and follow the Army lead of folding them. We should discard the boot blouse and start tucking our trousers into our boots (it really does a great job of easing those small pebbles into your boot). Speaking of boots, we should also authorize wearing combat boots with our Blues uniform (just tuck the trousers into the boots). Hey the Army does it, so we should too right?

Ultimately this will get us to Berets. Do you want Berets? Cause that's how you get Berets (Channeling my best Archer impersonation).

Let's just keep being who we are and stop trying to copy the Army's uniform regulations.
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CW3 Harvey K.
CW3 Harvey K.
7 y
Well said Colonel. My Marine brother always marveled (and chuckled) at the Army variety of headgear.
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MAJ Raymond Haynes
MAJ Raymond Haynes
7 y
Col., when I first saw the post I just assumed that it was some star chaser looking for a bullet for his fit rep. I read the original article and it was the Commandant that fielded the research study. Strange that they would use visibility as the issue. I agree with you ,Sir. Three days a week I would split a new set of 'starchies' and we still had 'khakis' as our original issue. It didn't seem to be to much of an issue then. Everyone knows that Marines lead their men from the front, in that situation you can't see the rank anyway. In addition, I doubt a Marine field exercise was ever conducted where the enlisted Marines were confused who was in charge. They are only recommending the change for enlisted Marines, why not just make the chevrons chrome. The Honorable Mr. Dogg is not only going to shoot this one down, the Commandant might get a trip behind the gear locker for additional training.
Col, I do however share your concern regarding the adoption of certain distasteful Army uniform standards. When I switched branches, this was one of the more difficult issues to adopt. I still have faith in my beloved Corps, and the two worst practices of all, the tucking in of trowsers, and that stupid cover will never grace a Marine formation.
I feel so confident, that even at it's weakest point, Marines will not let these uniform atrocities happen I will back it up. I am 62 now and I figure I got about 20 years left on the airframe.if I can stay away from bars and the track. I here byl publicly declare on the RallyPoint blog, in front of God and everybody, that those changes will never take place between now and 2037. If I am wrong, I will present you with a full size 70 year old bottle of Scotch. If I win all you have to do is admit that no matter how bad things can get, you were wrong to not trust in the fact that there are some things that Marines will just not do. S/F
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Col Jim Harmon
Col Jim Harmon
7 y
MAJ Raymond Haynes - Great post Ray!
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SSgt Copyright Specialist
2
2
0
I am not sure how cloth chevrons would make rank any more visible than metal ones? The Army has cloth chevrons on the front of their uniforms and it is difficult to distinguish between some ranks just as it is with Marine metal chevrons.
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Sgt Correctional Specialist
Sgt (Join to see)
5 y
Yes. I have been on both sides: Marine Corps and Army. After E-7 in the Army, I have to squint to figure it out.
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Cpl Sean Wyler
1
1
0
Cloth rank?...newly promoted Marines will never again get to experience pinning; a tradition I remember from my beloved Corps. Uniform changes? Remove the embroidered EGA from boots' cammies until they graduate boot camp!
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SGT Jeffrey Tyree
SGT Jeffrey Tyree
7 y
we still did blood rank when pinned. It isn't like our leaders stood there and sewed the rank on us in formation. Take a deep breath.
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Cpl Sean Wyler
Cpl Sean Wyler
7 y
Welp, ya see, the USMC is starting to call it hazing...probably another unforeseen reason they want to get rid of the pins.
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Sgt Dale Briggs
Sgt Dale Briggs
>1 y
My stripes are still pinned, both on my arms and legs. My jump wings were pinned as well, just a small reminder remains. They're pinned on forever, it's not hazing, hazing excludes, this is a welcoming to the brotherhood.
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