New "Battle Dress Style" Navy Uniforms announced

[BrainRants]

"Navy officials have approved two new uniforms for sailors and will announce the changes in an Naval Administrative message on Thursday. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen gave the go-ahead Feb. 24 to implement Navy-wide a blue digital-camouflage, battle dress-style uniform for all sailors."

http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1572097.php

Hmmm, one has to wonder why the Navy, after so many years of tradition would suddenly find a need to change their uniforms over to a "battle dress" style. Perhaps a ship may no longer be called home for my fellow shipmates.

Disclosure: I'm ex-Navy.

[Kerrytravelers]

1. Uh-hem... cough *Iran* cough... humm.... possibly?

[Jack from Charlotte]

40. The new uniform needed the most is.....

a retired military guys uniform. I've been in the officer's club at Patrick Air force Base in Cocoa Beach many, many times. (It recently burned down, however) Don't think a current officer would be caught dead in there. It's full of 80 year old retired Lt. col.'s. The way those guys dress is unreal. But afterall, for 30 years they never had to actually pick out clothes. They just wore uni's. Now it's white belts, sting ties and white shoes.

So I propose a RETIRED military uniform. Kakki slacks, light blue shirts and even dark blue shorts.

Anything would be better than old guy 1976 clothing.

[Kerrytravelers]

42. How long were you in the Air Force?

My dad did 20 years.

[cynatnite]

2. They look like marines...

maybe that's why.

They'll be closer to what the other branches wear. :shrug:

[0007]

19. Does that means they can double being a Marine, a dogface or a

fly boy.

[MemphisTiger]

23. The marines are a division of the navey

[derby378]

29. I thought they WERE, not ARE

The Marines are governed by a Commandant, not a Navy Admiral. Do they both report directly to the Secretary of Defense, or does the Commandant still answer to the Navy?

[RiDuvessa]

30. Marines still fall under the Navy

The Commandant answers to the Chief of Navy Operations (CNO)

[MyNameGoesHere]

36. Aks a marine what it says

on their paycheck Department of the Navy lol

[sui generis]

3. does it come with an eye patch and a pipe?

just curious.

I hope they don't get rid of those dress whites. They sure do make a sailor look fine.

:rofl:

[BrainRants]

4. Dress whites are attention getters!

I got more attention from the ladies in my dress whites than anything I've ever worn in civilian life!

[sui generis]

7. that' s why I unlawfully married my USN Lt. Cdr

Enterprise

Don't ask and we won't tell.

[BOSSHOG]

11. Hey Shipmate

I remember being stuck in the airport in Dallas because of a snow storm on my way home after bootcamp. There were hundreds of Air Force guys stuck as well but the swabbie in the Cracker Jacks got all the attention. Truly loved that uniform. I still have it and it has shrunk quite a bit. The worse (and only bad) thing about making Chief was hanging up the bellbottoms.

[BrainRants]

18. Back at ya shipmate!

Funny, mine has shrunk over the years also! Must be a defect!

[hootinholler]

39. Mine too!

Probably a design problem. WTF was wrong with the working chambrays?

:evilgrin:

-Hoot

[PsN2Wind]

43. Yea Chief!

Those Seafarers were great, and as we used to say, "gave a girl thirteen chances to change her mind".

[BOSSHOG]

44. Were you involved

with that total failure of a uniform the Navy designed for E-6 and below with the combination cap in the mid 70's? What an abomination. Common sense prevailed. Oh my, you've got my mind drifting. CrackerJacks with a fit Sailor inside has got to be the number one chick magnet on the planet. Even outshines Marines.

[PsN2Wind]

46. No Chief

I was jumper and dixie-cup sailor. And patch pocket dungarees.

[Turbineguy]

13. When I was

in the NROTC I went to pick up my date who was a student at Cal Berkley....wearing my white uniform. It was the spring of 1975. Saigon would fall 2 weeks later....

Somebody in a dorm across from her apartment spotted me. When we came out of her apartment building, the windows of the dorm were filled with jeering students.

It bothered me then that people called me a "fascist pig" and the like. I'm glad that these days war protests are directed at those responsible for the war.

[BOSSHOG]

20. What's a Chief's favorite letter??

RRRRRRRR!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. They look more like soldiers

I guess this is so that they will blend in when they are sent on land in Iraq to replace the Army.

[fasttense]

6. Damn, they look just like soldiers. I'll miss the bell bottoms, dixie

cups, and whites. Sigh.....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Join the Navy and look ridiculous.

[MemphisTiger]

25. You don't join for the clothes

:wtf:

[madokie]

9. Me too, after a stint as a company commanders aid, adjutant i think we

were called. Never wore a navy uniform again, always wore green fatigues. When I checked out of the navy i was wearing civies too. I claimed my uniforms were lost in transit from vn.

[underpants]

10. Hey listen since you are already dressed like that

take this M16 and get on the back of the Deuceandahalf.

[Chipper Chat]

12. Well. it looks like they will be dressed warmer

when our ships sail over the Iranian mountains.

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. These are for on-board ship?

Seems to me if someone went overboard wearing this, he'd be real hard to spot in the water - mostly blue with grey and green.

Am I wrong?

[theHandpuppet]

17. Those darn unis are so frickin' big...

They'd drown before anyone had the chance to spot them in the water.

New motto for the USN: "Supersize Me!"

[RiDuvessa]

28. Regular uniform is slimmer

The sailors in the picture above are wearing jackets over cold weather shirts. That why they look so big.

[RiDuvessa]

33. Sailors wear life jackets.

They call them float coats. They have reflective tape on them, also have a dye pack in them that releases upon hitting the water. You've probably seen it on TV or in the movies. It spreads out and makes it easier for them to be spotted. Pilots have the same thing. The float coat also has a whistle that you can use IF your are still conscious after hitting the water. For a night rescue, the coats include a strobe light you can stick to the top of your head.

[theHandpuppet]

35. Um... I was being sarcastic

Yes, I do know that sailors wear life jackets. :eyes:

[RiDuvessa]

37. I wasn't responding to you.

If you look at the tree, the response was to NCevilDUer.

[MaineDem]

15. They've been wearing these at the local Naval Air Station

For about a year, I'd say. Most of the sailors like them. They don't show dirt like the dungarees and work shirts, they claim.

:shrug: I don't like them but I don't get a vote.

[theHandpuppet]

16. So now it's camo hiphop?

Damn those unis are ugly and I don't understand why they all look to be about three sizes too big. I don't see how wearing those bulky unis can be any more comforable or efficient than the old blue shirt and dungarees they're replacing. Besides, they just look darn sloppy.

[Comadreja]

21. What about the Coast Guard?

Shouldn't they be ready for desert ground combat, too? Everyone but the fatass big brass Pentagon desk jockeys.

[WePurrsevere]

22. Well that's one way to hide a woman's curves... Gender neutralize 'em.

They really are hideous. Look for them to be worn as a fashion statement coming soon to malls and high schools near you. :puke:

[MemphisTiger]

24. They change the uniform every once in a while

how long were you in?

[BrainRants]

26. I've been out for 20+ years

But the uni was pretty much the same as the one worn in WWII (i.e. bell bottoms/dungaree shirt)

[MemphisTiger]

41. Several family members were in various branches of the

military for 30+ years and saw a few, not huge changes along the way. This includes the Navy, Marines and Army.

[RiDuvessa]

27. This was a huge initiative.

It was called Task Force Uniform. Doesn't really have much to do with the current military situation. It was floating around the Navy prior to 9/11.

The Navy sends out regular surveys to gauge what sailors like and don't like in the military. One of the biggest gripes that sailors had was the uniform. Most wanted to go to a BDU style uniform.

The blue utilities that the sailors used to wear were uncomfortable, easily damaged, and showed dirt and stains too easily. The uniform surveys went out, and the consensus was that the sailors wanted a BDU style.

So the Navy requested styles, and came up with four different uniforms for Wear-testing. Several commands around the navy received them, and everyone got to see what they looked like. The surveys went out again, and everyone had their say as to what uniform they preferred.

The uniforms displayed in the OP won.

[derby378]

31. Hey, BDUs are no big deal

They're roomy, they're durable, and they're surprisingly comfortable. Not in the same way that your favorite pajamas are comfy, no, but if you get BDUs that fit you just right, you're all set.

Only thing is - what's with the tie-down fasteners on the trouser legs? Do they tie around the ankle or the foot?

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

32. when i was in the navy

as a corpsman serving with the marines, i had to wear a marine uniform with navy insignias.

we got a full set of marine uniforms, except for the dress blue marine uniform.

we had to dress like marines on fridays.

[Ilsa]

34. I recall back in the early 1980's they went back to the traditional

enlisted sailer uniform because it helped recruitment. Maybe it was the seventies, I can't remember for sure. It surprises me they'd take risk like this. I wouldn't want to wear it. It looks hot, bulky and ugly.

[ThatsMyBarack]

38. Do you think....?

....they may have raided Pickles' drapery-fabric collection to make these? :rofl:

[neverforget]

45. Noij eht yvan, noij eht yvan......

For the Simpsons fans out there.....:hi:

[RandiFan1290]

49. “It doesn't mean anything."

"It's like rama-dama-ding-dong, or give peace a chance.”

--Homer

:hi:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

47. The Navy has always had BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform), complete with

combat boots. They have just revised the style to the digital pattern as they have done for Army and Marines.

Aside from SEALs or Hospital Corpsmen assigned with Marine units, it's certainly not one of the most used uniforms except maybe if you are assigned to a large deployed tent hospital overseas, it's probably one of the more comfortable and useful working uniforms for that type of setting.

On Edit: That having been said, I'm hearing more about Navy people probably getting yanked to do infantry type duty in Iraq due to the overdeployment and depletion of the Army and USMC personnel, and the obvious unwillingness of shrubco to call for wider enlistment or a draft to support their extremely unpopular war.

[lectrobyte]

48. digital camouflage? still looks analog to me.