How many different uniforms have you worn throughout your career?

COL Charles Williams — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 00:04:09 -0400

I think, since 1980, I have worn at least 8 different field uniforms, not including some Alaska and Fort Drum unique uniforms I had, nor the Tanker's Uniform.... (1) Green Fatigues, (2) BDUs (from Elvis to end), (3) Jungle Fatigues (Vietnam Era), (4) Chocolate Chip DBDUs, (5) 3 color DBDUs, (6) ACU-UCP, (7) Multi-cams, (8) ACU-OCP... How about you?

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2017 12:10 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 00:10:34 -0400

ACU-UCP - Temporarily in RSP 2015 - 2016
ACU-OCP - Issued in BCT 2016 - Present

Response by SFC George Smith made Mar 30 at 2017 12:12 AM

SFC George Smith — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 00:12:24 -0400

1973-1975 Fatigues Green Og
1975-1976 Fatigues Og "wash and ware" Polyester
1976-1982 Jungle (camo) ...
1983-1986 BDU's...
1986-1999 Jungle's (Camo) Second generation
so that makes 5

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Mar 30 at 2017 12:29 AM

LTC Stephen F. — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 00:29:48 -0400

Thanks for asking COL Charles Williams
1974-1975 Fatigues Green OG
1975-1983 Fatigues OG "wash and wear" Polyester
1983-2004 BDUs Woodland pattern, various iterations of BDUs
Images: 1975 Fort Leonard Wood [Fatigues Green OG]; 1981 Grafenwöhr [Fatigues OG "wash and wear" Polyester]; 1984 Promotion to CPT at Bamberg, FRG; 2004 My wife Maria posing with me right after my demobilization award was presented in the Pentagon.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown CW5 Charlie Poulton SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt Private RallyPoint Member TSgt Joe C. SCPO Morris Ramsey CPL Eric Escasio SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski SP5 Robert Ruck SrA Christopher Wright

Response by 1stSgt Eugene Harless made Mar 30 at 2017 1:23 AM

1stSgt Eugene Harless — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 01:23:42 -0400

1980-2000 USMC,,, Wore 4 different types of "Cammies" . Dress uniforms went from have wool for winter and Polyester for summer to a single poly/Wool blend. Went from the old "horse blanket" over coat and rain coat to a single All weather coat, Had the Wooly-pully sweater and tanker jacket.
I got confused even with those few changes. As soon as we got off Id just go in my room and strip buck naked and watch TV. Too many decisions.

Response by SGT Christopher 'Kit' Lowe made Mar 30 at 2017 2:58 AM

SGT Christopher 'Kit' Lowe — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 02:58:18 -0400

2004-2012
1.BDU's
2.DCU's
3.ACU's (regular and flame retardant)
4.Multicam
5.Dress Greens
6.Dress Blues
7.ASU

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Mar 30 at 2017 5:48 AM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 05:48:22 -0400

Three different uniforms, the old cotton OD green fatigues, to the newer poly OD green fatigues, to the Woodland pattern, both summer and winter weight. Still have sets of each. And have a set of the old khaki class B uniform.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2017 8:09 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 08:09:27 -0400

In my case 3, BDU, ACU and the new pattern they issued for Afghanistan.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2017 8:27 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 08:27:37 -0400

If we're talking simply about patterns, then 4. BDU, UCP, Multi-cam, and OCP.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Mar 30 at 2017 8:38 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 08:38:34 -0400

Strangely enough, not many.

I got out as they were phasing in the MARPAT so I never actually wore them (was authorized but was before the wear out date for my BDU sets).

The only significant change I saw was NCO Buckle on Dress Blues gained the EGA while I was in right around the time I pinned on Cpl. Don't remember if immediately before or after.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2017 8:56 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 08:56:25 -0400

COL Charles Williams if ROTC counts as well I started with gray pts, then black and gray, and now black ones, BDUs, ACUs, FRACUs (ACU), OCP, Multicams, greens, blues, ASUs. So 11 if you could the ACU vs. FRACUs, etc.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2017 9:40 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 09:40:00 -0400

BDU, ACU, OCP.
Marshmallow Sweats, IPFU, APFU
Class A's, ASU
White Outs (Alaska)

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2017 9:44 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 09:44:07 -0400

Let's see: 3 different types of APFU's, 2 different types of dress uniforms, and 4 different types of duty uniforms.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Mar 30 at 2017 11:06 AM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 11:06:45 -0400

COL Charles Williams Like you I've worn a lot of different uniforms from January 1975 to February 2012. The only one I didn't waer is the new dress uniforma that the Army just introduced that look like the Dress Blues we use to wear at formal events or the new ACUs they just came out with. Missed those two changes - Nice post Charles!

Response by CDR Terry Boles made Mar 30 at 2017 11:18 AM

CDR Terry Boles — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 11:18:35 -0400

I've worn uniforms for three different branches of service; couldn't count the number of different uniforms over the past 37+ years. Plan on keeping only one when I retire from AD this summer, my last service dress uniform.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Mar 30 at 2017 11:22 AM

CAPT Kevin B. — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 11:22:51 -0400

Boot Camp through Tin Can Sailor Days:
"Utility Uniform": Uncomfortable, hot. Ships laundry gave it "permastink".
Dungarees: the best
Service Dress Blue/White: Monkey suits. Blues had 13 button front flap. "Quick Draw" impossible.
Junior Officer Days:
Khakis: Navy went to "Certified Twill". Flammable. Hot like their Corfam shoes.
Green Utilities: Unchanged from WW2
Service Dress Blues/Whites: Whites were "chokers".
Salt and Pepper: White shirt and black pants. People liked it so they got rid of it.
Winter Blues: Potheads at the apartment would close their windows since I looked like a cop.
Cold Weather: All sorts of stuff regulation and "authorized".
Senior Officer Days:
Lot of the JO stuff still around.
Mess dress.
BDU.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Mar 30 at 2017 12:03 PM

Lt Col Jim Coe — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 12:03:56 -0400

13 different uniforms plus some miscellaneous uniform itmes
Summer
1. 505s. Tan cotton shirt and pants with wool blue flight cap or service hat (bus driver hat)
2. 1505s. Tan poly cotton shirt and pants with poly blue flight cap or service hat
3. Light blue poly cotton short sleeve shirt O rank on collar with Polly wool pants
4. Light blue Polly cotton short sleeve shirt (SNCO and O rank on epaulets) with shade 1550 wash & wear pants or shade 1549 poly pants
Winter Service
5. Dark blue wool pants and blouse, long sleeve light blue cotton shirt, blue tie, with wool blue flight or service hat. Double breasted wool overcoat
6. Polly wool shade 1549 blue pants and blouse with poly cotton light blue long sleeve shirt. Dark blue tie. Poly wool 1549 flight cap or service hat. In 1980s & 1990s long sleeve light blue shirt with SNCO or O rank on epaulets. All weather dark blue overcoat.
7. Shade 1549 long sleeve shirt and pants with or without tie; O rank on collar (my favorite uniform as a young officer)
Dress
8. Mess dress summer poly wool white short jacket, black pants with silk stripe, white pleated shirt, black bow tie and cummerbund. Winter: same, but with black jacket. Black or white service hat to match jacket.
9. Shade 1549 all season mess dress jacket and pants. White pleated shirt with blue bow tie and cummerbund
Utilities
10. OD green fatigues shirt, pants, field jacket, cap, black boots; unit baseball cap sometimes.
11. BDU Forrest pattern shirt, pants, field jacket, cap, black boots
Special purpose
12. Flight suit cotton sage green, flight jacket sage green with orange lining, black boots blue flight cap or unit baseball cap.
13. Nomex flight suit OD green, light, medium, and heavy nomex flight jackets, black boots, nomex gloves, flight cap, or unit baseball cap. Scarf (not to be worn while flying), unit color.
Miscellaneous items:
-In 1970s AF introduced dark blue wind breaker, "golf jacket," to be worn with short or long sleeve light blue shirt and blue pants.
-Wool "horse blanket" overcoat was replaced with all-weather "London Fog" coat.
-Winter scarf in gray or white wool or poly wool; black gloves
-Arctic issue included winter weight flight suit, long parka, and "Bear Paw" mittens with liners all in sage green nylon outer shell, white "bunny boots," sage green mukluks, brown leather gloves with wool liners, nomex long underwear, black insulated leather boots.
-Dark blue tie, either clip-on or conventional, could be worn with all light blue shirt uniforms. Required with service dress uniforms and optional (local commander choice) with long sleeve dark blue shirt.
-Tie bars and tie tacks fashioned with AF crest or rank worn 1980s and 1990s
-Mess dress included silver buff finished studs and cuff links; some blue shirts had French cuffs (custom made) and members wore plain or AF crest cuff links
-Wooly-pully and cardigan sweaters optional from late 1970s; worn over light blue shirt.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2017 12:35 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 12:35:37 -0400

ACU in UCP and OCP patterns, and FRACUs in Multicam pattern

Response by SGT David T. made Mar 30 at 2017 1:15 PM

SGT David T. — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 13:15:03 -0400

BDU, DCU, and ACU

Response by SFC Dave Beran made Mar 30 at 2017 4:25 PM

SFC Dave Beran — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 16:25:06 -0400

Not counting PT as a uniform, 8 if you count the switch from brown shirt to green on Dress Greens.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2017 4:38 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 16:38:27 -0400

navy dungarees, dress whites, dress blues, corpsman whites, bdu, chocolate chips, marine corps alpha/bravo, army alpha/bravo, acu, and the army dress blues

Response by SMSgt Thor Merich made Mar 30 at 2017 8:47 PM

SMSgt Thor Merich — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 20:47:23 -0400

I started in 1981 in the Army and was one of the last to get issued green fatigues and Khaki's.
1- Green fatigues
2-BDU's
3-Jungle fatigues
4- BDU's (Air Force)
5- 3 color DCU's
6- ABU's (Air Force digital tiger stripes)

I didn't count the variations of dress uniforms.

Response by SGT Matthew S. made Mar 30 at 2017 9:58 PM

SGT Matthew S. — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 21:58:42 -0400

I'm on the end with the low count - BDU, DCU, ACU

Response by SGM Mark Magnussen made Mar 30 at 2017 10:46 PM

SGM Mark Magnussen — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 22:46:04 -0400

Let's see, OD fatigues, Khakis, Dress greens(summer and winter both with poplin shirts). Perm press fatigues, BDU (light and heavy weight), class B uniform, gray APFU (no hats or gloves), desert cammo, acu, black and gray APFU, new non-wool Class A uniform (green w/ light green shirts), dress blues and now blue class a uniform, several variations of cannot patterns, Od wool over coat, rain coat, service jackets, etc.

Response by SSG Richard Hackwith made Mar 31 at 2017 12:13 AM

SSG Richard Hackwith — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:13:16 -0400

Started in 1964 with cotton fatigues, Wool Class A Greens + tan poplin shirt and long and short sleeved khakis. later long sleeve khakis eliminated, summer greens arrive, then wash and wear fatigues show up. Then khakis and poplin shirt go away, replaced by light green Class A/B shirt. Then fatigues are gone and BDU's show up. Then around 1987, I'm gone. Oh. don't forget the OG wool uniform.

Response by CPT Andrew Wright made Mar 31 at 2017 1:09 AM

CPT Andrew Wright — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 01:09:10 -0400

Pickle suit both cotton and permanent press 1977-1981, Woolen Zone 6 gear w/ Parka in Germany, Jungle Fatigues in the 82d from 1984-1986, BDUs, DCUs, ACUs, and Multi-Cams. Total=8 Field Uniforms. Always thought DCUs looked the best!

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 31 at 2017 9:12 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 09:12:01 -0400

Since I joined in 99 I've only changed 5 times.
BDU's
DBDU's
ACU's
UCP
Multicam

Response by SGT Christopher Hayden made Mar 31 at 2017 4:44 PM

SGT Christopher Hayden — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 16:44:42 -0400

BDUs, DCUs, and ACUs.

Response by COL Jon Thompson made Apr 1 at 2017 11:18 PM

COL Jon Thompson — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 23:18:32 -0400

I had the same as you except for the final ACU-OCP. Started off as an ROTC cadet wearing OD fatigues. Wore BDUs and OD jungle fatigues as a LT and the chocolate chip desert uniform for an MFO rotation in 1987. Wore DCUs in 2003-2005 and then ACUs. Finally go the Multicams in 2012 on my final deployment. There were also 3 PT uniforms starting with the banana suit.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 3 at 2017 10:18 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 22:18:43 -0400

3. ACU, Multicam, and now ABU.

Response by CMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 1 at 2017 10:14 PM

CMSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 22:14:25 -0400

Green Fatigues through basic and Security Police Tech School (1984). IMMEDIATELY told to secure those at first unit and issued BDUs so all variations of BDUs from "Elvis Collar", to "tabs" to final version. DCUs, and ABUs....missed out on the multicam.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 1 at 2017 10:36 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 22:36:43 -0400

All those minus the jungles. But I did wear the CVC jumpsuit when I was artillery. Add also 4 different types of PT uniforms from the banana suit to the new black and yellow PTs.

Response by SFC Terence Dingle made Aug 7 at 2017 9:21 AM

SFC Terence Dingle — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 09:21:58 -0400

BDU's, Jungle Fatigues, DCU's & Chocolate Chip, ACU's, Multi-Cams, Class A's, ASU's & Dress Blues

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 20 at 2019 10:01 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 10:01:06 -0500

Over my 26 years I have wore 6 different uniforms. The saying is true, if you wait a few minutes it will change.

Response by 1SG Dennis Hicks made Feb 19 at 2019 8:44 PM

1SG Dennis Hicks — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 20:44:45 -0500

Lets see, 1978-2013 Utilities, both Cotton(Starched) and Polys 109's, Cami's, slant and straight pocket, Jungle fatigues 107'sBDU's Elvis to hot weather, Chocolate chips, ACU's and assorted OPFOR getups.

Response by PO3 Donald Murphy made Nov 22 at 2019 11:41 PM

PO3 Donald Murphy — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 23:41:12 -0500

Not too many...

Coveralls ("Poop Suit")
Dress Blues ("Crackerjack")
Dungaree's
Un-dress Whites
Working Blues ("Johnny Cash")
Working Whites ("Ice Cream Man")