Miloch wrote in
:

more at
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/u...s-uniform.html

By Dave Philipps
May 5, 2019

The United States Army wanted a spiffy new service uniform, one that
would stand out in a tough recruiting environment and polish the
Army’s image after a generation of grinding and divisive wars.

So it turned the clock back. Way back.

It chose a new uniform that looks almost exactly like the old green
gabardine wool field coat and khaki trousers that officers wore in
World War II. Probably not by coincidence, that’s what the Army was
wearing the last time the nation celebrated total victory in a major
war.

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“We went back and asked, when is the most prominent time when the
Army’s service to our nation was universally recognized, and the
answer came very quickly,” said Daniel A. Dailey, the sergeant major
of the Army, the highest-ranking enlisted soldier in the service.
“That victory, that impact on the nation, is still felt today by the
sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters of the ‘Greatest
Generation.’”

The troops who beat the Axis powers in the 1940s gave the service
uniform, with its slightly rose-hued trousers or skirt and distinctive
belted olive coat, an affectionate nickname: “pinks and greens.” This
time around, the Army has decided to just call them Army Greens.

At a White House event for veterans in April, President Trump praised
the style.

“Those beautiful new uniforms with the belt — it was a big deal, the
belt,” he said. “And if you think those uniforms were inexpensive,
they were very expensive. They were very. But they wanted it, and we
got it.”

Army Greens will be the military equivalent of a business suit, which
the Army largely stopped using during the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Just as civilians have been dressing more casually in
professional and social settings, troops have been wearing camouflage
fatigues in situations that used to call for a jacket and tie, like
office work or travel between bases. Even in the Pentagon, officers
spend a good deal of their time in combat boots.

With far fewer troops deployed in combat operations now, though, the
Army has signaled that it wants to get back to the old spit and
polish. It is hoping that reintroducing an iconic service uniform from
the days of the Band of Brothers and Rosie the Riveter will help
reframe its public image.

The new service uniform is currently in field tests with a few
military bands, recruiting battalions and other highly visible troops.
With Sergeant Major Dailey overseeing the process, the Army plans to
roll out the new uniforms to all soldiers starting in 2020. Soldiers
will even be given the option to buy a retro-styled leather bomber
jacket to go with the uniform.

The Army says that while the new service uniform will cost more than
past models to make, it will also last longer, making it cost-neutral
overall.

In recent years, when the Army has wanted to look sharp, troops have
been wearing blue. The current dress uniform (which will be retained
for ceremonial use) includes a dark blue coat with light blue trousers
or a skirt — colors chosen to evoke the Continentals who fought under
George Washington and the Union Army of the Civil War.

If that uniform has not caught your eye, it may be because Army Blues
can be hard to distinguish, not just from similar Navy and Air Force
uniforms, but also from a sea of blue-clad civilians: police officers,
firefighters, commercial pilots, even doormen, said Kenneth O.
Preston, who served as sergeant major of the Army from 2004 to 2011.

“People think you’re a cop,” Mr. Preston said. “They are always
stopping you and asking you for directions.”


more at
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/u...s-uniform.html



I would prefer getting back to the old
combat helmet and not the current very Nazi
looking one.

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