By I think the Army’s decision to make the every day dress uniform for the Army the Dress Blues which would replace the green dress uniform most people are familiar with is a bad decision:
The good old days of the green Class A’s and B’s are over. The Army’s plan to make dress blues the only Army Service Uniform is approved, and soldiers who own the uniform are encouraged to begin wearing it now.
The move to eliminate the green service uniform and the more rarely seen white service uniform is aimed at streamlining soldiers’ clothing bags while modernizing the way the traditional blue uniform is worn.
The new wear policy was announced in an All Army Activity message Aug. 20 from Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth Preston, who is president of the uniform board that meets once a year. [Army Times]
I really like the Army’s Dress Blue uniform that for those that don’t know is only worn for special military functions like a ball, but by making it the every day dress uniform it will make Army personnel less distinguishable from the Air Force and Navy who also wear blue dress uniforms. I understand why the Army wants to change the green dress uniform but why not bring back the old Army khakis?
Heck it was good enough for John Wayne so it is good enough for me! 
2:13 am on September 6th, 2008 1
"why not bring back the old Army khakis?'
Because if I remember correctly from my father's time in the Army, the shirts were military pressed. So in other words they were a huge pain in the rear.
Of course, nobody says that bringing khakis back means that there can't be alterations to way they were designed and worn. And any color is better than that god awful green that's been used for decades.
3:24 am on September 6th, 2008 2
We had khakis until the early 1980's. Until the mid-70's, enlisted were issued a cotton khaki that did need a lot of ironing, then we got sets that were pretty much wash & wear. They were okay, but you still had to keep all of your brass & bright work polished.
The women's class B's came in a bewildering variety, blue cotton cords, polyester mint greens….the one difference was that they were cut so that a fat chick had trouble hiding it, kind of like Marine women's uniforms.
In the early 1980's, Shy Meyer introduced the new bus driver class B's, which nobody has ever really liked. The thing I remember is that the black wool commando sweater was introduced, which would have been a great piece of gear…for the field. But unlike the Marines, we weren't allowed to wear it with fatigues, only with class B's, and we had to pay for it out-of-pocket.
I never had a set of dress blues; never was in units that did much to warrant the purchase. But the tailors in Yongsan/Cp Casey made a mint turning them out for officers.
I did, however, want to own a set of dress whites; seems they were dreamed up by MacArthur, when he was Generalissimo of the Phillipine Constabulary between the wars.
I had always been jealous of the Marine's uniforms. They changed very very over a century or so. If somebody wants to play uniform games, why not go back to something classic, like uniforms of the 1940's-50's….except for the Ike jacket.
6:58 am on September 6th, 2008 3
Trying to be like the USMC, are we?
This reeks of the "Black Beret" decision, when they robbed the Rangers of their distinctive headwear in order to make everyone feel special.
Now they want to put everyone in the Army in "Dress Blues???"
Agree with Cienfuegos…The Army looked good in Khakis.
"…I wanna be like you…" wasn't that a rap song?
10:25 am on September 6th, 2008 4
I've been advocating for this change for decades. The blues are more traditional (all the way back to the Revolution) and they just look better and fit better than the greens. It's a better idea than the black beret was.
11:36 am on September 6th, 2008 5
The Navy *is* bringing back the khaki dress uniform! (for officers and senior enlisted) The main differences between the Army version is a black rather than khaki tie, and shoulder boards for rank.
http://www.swankyconservative.com/wordpress/wp-co…
I wear khakis (this weekend, in fact), and can tell you that the military creases are now fixed in so they aren't a pain to iron. Navy khakis (not the type worn at sea, which are going away) are 'poly-wool' (a 75/25 percent mix) that are easy to take care of and wear well.
1:14 pm on September 6th, 2008 6
Personally, I like the pink and greens from WWII (and no, they weren't really pink, closer to khaki). The all-khaki uniform is a good choice, too. Otherwise, I agree with GI, making the dress blues the service uniform is a bad idea. The Army should maintain a dress uniform that is more practical and less butlerish than the mess dress uniform but more dressy than your day-to-day uniform (for those who aren't wearing class Cs all the time).
11:17 pm on September 6th, 2008 7
I got out before they changed the Air Force mess dress into airline pilot uniforms. That said…just be glad the Army didn't change your dress uniform into ones resembling bus drivers.
2:53 am on September 7th, 2008 8
We already had class-B bus driver uniforms. Agree with the pink & greens, except that I think those were strictly for officers.
One thing I note from looking at WWII officers pix is that they seem to have had great leeway to indulge in sartorial splendor, -but they had to pay for it out-of-pocket, I think. Patton was easily the best example of a dandy, but then he was independently wealthy.
Patton wanted a separate uniform just for the Tank Corps….one that featured among other things, a gold motorcycle helmet…
8:38 pm on September 27th, 2008 9
[...] Look at this way, at least you won’t have to wear a uniform that looks like you work for mall security. [...]
5:44 am on October 29th, 2008 10
[...] http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/wac/appendix-d.htm • Found on Google, Windows Live, Ask.com Introducing the Army?s New Dress Uniform Sep 6, 2008 … I really like the Army?s Dress Blue uniform that for those that don?t know is [...]
12:28 pm on November 2nd, 2008 11
As a newly commissioned officer, I realize that I don't have as much time or experience as most of you. However, I still feel as though this new uniform is an embarassment to our great Army. I never wore a khaki uniform, but I do have a set of the green class A's. I would be honored and proud to wear the khaki uniform from WWII. I spent a year at a military school as well as spent two years in the Navy prior to contracting in Army ROTC. I seriously do not understand some of the comments and complaints about uniform upkeep. Try keeping an entirely white uniform (when I was enlisted Navy) clean, pressed, and sharp, along with POLISHING the shoes you wear with it. IS the Army seriously that lazy that we cannot iron our uniforms, or shine our shoes? Again I'm young and haven't seen as much as most of you, but I have worn plenty of uniforms. (With the Navy I had over six uniform variations to keep track of throughout the year) The uniform we wear is a representation of who we are and the organization in which we serve. Khakis would bring pride and honor back to every soldier in all ranks.
As an officer, I have been taught that I am not supposed to simply identify problems, but to solve problems. I have spoken to many people both enlisted and commissioned, and read of many more, who are enraged about this uniform and who would love, as I would, a return to the khaki uniform. I am not sure what to do from here but I know that we need to keep up the noise and dislike for this uniform and a support for the khaki uniform if we are to ever be heard. So keep fighting, keep talking, keep complaining, and hopefully one day we will be heard.
- 2LT G
KEEP UP THE FIRE!
8:40 am on November 27th, 2008 12
I was an Army officer in the 1950's and 60's. At that time we wore the "pinks and greens" in winter and the khaki tropical worsted ("TW's") in the summer. Personally, my favorite was the summer semi-dress TW's with jacket. I would like to see that brought back for regular service wear. The pinks and greens were fine except that they never made a service cap which matched the jacket, so they all looked a bit "off". The blues are great, but should not be for ordinary wear. My last comment is: Get rid of that stupid beret and bring back the service cap with bill. The beret makes out troops look like a very poor imitation of some second-rate European army. No two people wear it the same way and as a result it always looks sloppy. I am glad we did not have them when I was in.
6:03 am on December 8th, 2008 13
My father was a World War II army officer, and afterwards served in the Officers' Reserve Corps for several years. The class A "pinks and greens" were for officers only, and made a handsome combination. The uniform blouse was well-cut, and had pleats in the back, and a belt made of the same material. Very military-looking! The khaki-colored quality shirt with matching tie set off the whole ensemble nicely. My dad even had a Sam Browne belt. The service cap with officers' eagle badge also looked sharp—a far cry from those cheap-looking black berets that don't even seem to fit right on a soldier's head. And they don't have an American eagle badge, either.
They ought to keep the dress blues for formal occasions and take a good look at the traditional appearance of those pre-1957 uniforms. No "Ike" jacket, though.
5:52 am on March 24th, 2009 14
i cant agree with bringing back khaki i personally think the are a god-awful looking uniform and strike and would make us look to much like the marines. i think the dress blues are a great idea. with the fact that acu's are now the day to day wear we really dont have a need anymore for class A's and we never were white so why not get rid of them. we will only need the new asu for dress occasions only and i think blue is a fitting choice after all blue is a color the army has been using since 1776 with maybe one or two short breaks the only thing i think that would help it out is one make the flat topped service cap a requirement i dont think the beret looks good in it. and i would also say that the ceremony should always be worn also as it give the uniform a more military air to it ….but thats just the opinion of a lowly PFC
1:05 pm on March 24th, 2009 15
The berets are just as much of a joke as the friggin winter pile caps. Back at Camp Eagle in the winter of 1990, a genius (NOT) known as LTC Hinojosa decide the whole battalion should wear pile caps instead of the BDU cap for the winter to keep our ears warm. Oh yeah, but you couldn't put the ear flaps down. The next thing you discover is that if it is raining or snowing it hits you right in the face. Hmmm, that must be what the piece on the front of a BDU cap was for: keeping out the snow, rain, and sun.
Like the berets were a bad idea, not one made for functionality but one for politics, all blues is another lame attempt to try to 'professionalize' the force instead of training and discipline. If you dress up a pig, it's still a pig. And just because the Army wants to dress better doesn't make it better. The leaders should focus on other things………
9:19 am on April 9th, 2009 16
Not that I know a whole lot or anything being just a plain ol' butter bar… but, whats this complaining all about… really? You talk about heritage- The Blue uniform was the official uniform of the army for 125 years, remaining a mess uniform 'til the present, the khakis look like the Navy & the Greens were impractical. The blues don't look anything like the Air Force, for starters it looks like a military uniform.
Why should a soldier have 4 different types of uniforms to maintain? If you want to talk about training why not spend more time on tactics and less on uniform maintenance? I did 3 yrs as an 11B before I did ROTC, and I wore the greens about 3 times where as I wore blues 6 times (2 times a year for dinning out). Nowadays we wear ACUs all the time so the ASU will be able to handle dressed up functions as well as formal mess while keeping life simple for the troops.
Consider the soldiers in this, nobody actually liked the greens, so we stopped wearing them, now all we're saying is why not take them out of our closets and put them in surplus stores and museums as a tribute to the past. The same can be said about the khaki's, let them stand as a tribute to the greatest generation's sacrifice.
7:50 pm on April 14th, 2009 17
I was thrilled to hear the "pinks and greens" are coming back after all.
This should look very sharp… especially on the thinner guys.
(See next post for link if it allows)
7:53 pm on April 14th, 2009 18
zzztoygrotto.net/merchantmanager/images/uploads/cop%20costume%20lc8128.JPGzzz
Remove front and back "zzz".
Hardly seems worth the effort.
11:01 am on May 9th, 2009 19
The blues look great- but so did the Class A greens if the Soldier 1) wore them correctly 2) had them tailored correctly 3) wore his head gear correctly 4) exhibited some form of bearing while wearing the uniform.
It will be sad to see the greens go. I always thought that the 101st guys always looked sharp in their "A"s with the cunt cap worn CORRECTLY and with the paraglider patch and their jump boots. A lot of history in that uniform.
11:52 am on May 22nd, 2009 20
Junior,
I spent 5 years with the 101st. I had forgotten about the over seas cap and glider patch. I guess I had forgotten because we went to the beret while I was there. I don't think the blues would look right for say a Pentagon worker unless they change the service stripes. By the time I retired, I had service stripes on my Blues halfway up to my elbow and I only did 21 years. Seems a little too formal for everyday wear.
I liked the Khakis, but only the TWs. The cotton ones looked great starched for about 10 seconds in Fort Bragg's heat and humidity.
I retired before ACUs and I think they are fine. I think I would prefer sew on unit patched, rank, etc. Have not heard any bitches about the ACU.
6:43 am on June 1st, 2009 21
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10:33 pm on July 25th, 2009 22
GET RID OF THE BERET
7:29 am on August 30th, 2009 23
I understand that serving in the military is not about fashion but the new uniforms will look ridiculous just like the beret looks ridiculous.
1:29 pm on November 5th, 2009 24
Navy wears khaki's at sea? When did they start doing that? When I was in, and on my few trips on smallboys the last couple years, the entire crew, from the old man to the mess specs were in blue coveralls, with the exception of engineers who wear green. That lasted from cast off to tie up. Once in port again, UOD would shift back to CNTs for E-7 and above. Are the at-sea khaki's you're talking about CNTs? or working uniform? same for enlisted and officer? I'm curious, didn't know that was a current navy uniform option.
12:13 pm on December 16th, 2009 25
The poster above most be color blind. The Army Blue uniform is a very sharp uniform. Could there be some tweeks with the blues, sure! But the Army is heading in the right direction.
2:36 am on February 7th, 2010 26
So in order to save space and reduce the number of uniforms the soldier has to have, they make the dress blues replace the regular class A's. Don't tell me that a soldier will be encouraged to wear their regular uniform to dress balls- no, they will have to purchase and maintain a "best set", used only for fancy occasions.
My favorite was the khaki class B, phased out in the early 80's. I agree with bringing back that one or replacing the green class A's with a khaki version. Boo on wearing dress blues to the office!
7:01 am on August 30th, 2010 27
Another insight, my wife has a Alterations shop and the dress Blue Uniforms are very labor intensive, example, to add a service stripe and do it right, the seams have to be taken apart and resewn. A lot of labor and substantial charge.
Everyones clothing allowance goes up, taxes go up.
Hopefully, as soon as the wars wind down the Army will be back to wearing Dress uniforms more often.
My vote is for the Khaki TW.
Ken Preston seems to have gone the way that the more $$ a soldiers spends on his uniform the better soldier he/she is. maybe trying to go down in history like Gen Shinseki and the beret.
I remember spending a lot of time, ironing and starching my uniforms just to look as good as the married guy who sent out to dry cleaning. Oh, I forgot about that care label that said BDU's are not to be starched.
8:44 am on August 30th, 2010 28
I agree that the new Army class A uniform is better looking than the current olive DRAB uniform although many civilians are going to ask 'Are you in the air force?' GI Korea had the best idea, bring back the old Army khakis (class B uniform) which was a very comfortable uniform but it looked sharp as well. The old cotton Army fatigues that were issued before the bdu's & the old permanent press fatigues were really comfortable if you wore them without starching them up out in the field. The permanent press fatigues that were issued after the cotton fatigues were not comfortable to me and although they were permanent press you had to iron them anyway. The current Air Force class A uniform looks like an airline pilots uniform to me. The Marines class A uniform of course looks the best.
12:51 pm on August 30th, 2010 29
I think if the US Army wants a good class A uniform. They should take a look at those khaki ones they used to wear during WWII. You can still see them in Texas A&M, they look sharp, cool and practical, plus they are more appropiate for a daily basis use, besides using the Army Blues will take away that touch of a special occasions uniform.
11:50 pm on January 2nd, 2011 30
This is from today's Army Times. It took them 6 years to figure out that the ACU doesn't work. Lets fix this now so we all don't spend more time and money on another bad uniform.
I think we all agree that the Army has made several uniform mistakes in the last decade [“Army dress uniform(s),” ArmyTimes.com, Dec. 20]. The one-pattern-fits-all idea is a failure. But specifically I would like to address the Army Service Uniform. It is not a bad idea, just an idea gone wrong. The cut is ridiculous and looks frumpy. The white shirt looks horrible in Class Bs. I propose the Army issue World War II dress uniforms with their corresponding WWII-era standards. I also propose the Army consider allowing soldiers to wear dress uniforms more in garrison. NCOs who don’t anticipate getting dirty during duty should wear longsleeve shirts with the option of the “Eisenhower” waist jacket in colder months. Officers would wear the Class A dress uniform. Also, let the Rangers, airborne and Special Forces soldiers keep their berets. Let drill sergeants keep their campaign hats and cavalry scouts do what they want with their Stetsons.
We have a history with the blues, but some of our finest hours were with the WWII uniform. Instead of spending countless tax dollars on the latest trend, would the Army please pick something proven and stick with it.
1:08 am on January 3rd, 2011 31
Why not wait until DADT is fully lifted before going ahead with any uniform changes?
Set some gay guys to the task. You'll learn to really appreciate them after they hook you up.
8:55 am on January 3rd, 2011 32
JoeC #31, "Don we now our gay apparel fa la la, la la la, la la la."
10:08 am on January 3rd, 2011 33
#31 We could televise it on network TV! Call it something like "Queer Eye for the Infantry Guy" or something…
10:16 am on January 3rd, 2011 34
My pants weeere sooo tight! My squad leader was inseamly jealous
10:29 am on January 3rd, 2011 35
We could have new pink camouflage fatigues with lacy epaulets, knee pads, & a zipper in the back. For the summer uniform we could have a speedo with some black fishnet stockings. Naturally high heels would be with the class A & B uniforms. Either all that or we could dress up like the Village People, Boy George, or Lady Gag, excuse me Lady Gaga. For some reason I feel the need to puke.