Posted on 02/15/2014 7:48:03 PM PST by Red6
I know what you mean, but the basic concept of fitting out sailors with cammo is just absurd, but I think we are agreeing vigorously with each other.
Hubby wore nothing but whites as a firefighter for 33 years. They are expensive but last forever and can be ‘rebuilt’.
Yes, we are in agreement.
Which Congresscritter's spouse will get the contract ?
If all branches wear the same uniforms, very important people won’t feel as important, do you really want that? Common logistics, less chances of fratricide (ID of friend or foe), economy of scale, why would we want those things?
Talking about stupid decisions, I remember when the black beret became standard for all in the Army, because everyone was extra special. So we all paid a bunch of money for berets made in China (No BS, that became a scandal) that don’t keep the sun out of your eye’s or off the neck, are hot and itchy in the sun, cold in the winter, most people didn’t know how to wear them... Some of my peers took offense to the fact that everyone could now wear a beret that they had earned and something that had a meaning to someone was made meaningless by a politician in uniform (who coincidentally fell into the back of the past administration and is today head of the VA). The military often thinks more in terms of “form” than “function,” and at least the Army’s uniform is highly functional in design.
The old BDU IMHO had better camouflage patterns with woodland and three color desert (not the newest and coolest anymore, but definitely effective). If you want the newest fad which is to use some digital means to recreate something in an analog world, then go with the Marines cammo which like the old BDUs has a brown and green variant, but I truly see no advantage in “digiprint” (I think the Canadians actually came up with the idea), or whatever they want to call it. The old BDU uniform wasn’t as functional (It was OK) with, square pockets, a neck collar not designed for body armor rubbing against ones neck, no pen pockets on the arms (when wearing body armor it’s nice to be able to reach a pen or pencil without pulling everything apart, easy removal of patches/rank or application of glint tape (all Velcro or pin on) etc... They made a highly functional uniform that is great qualitatively, with a crappy camouflage.
My point was not that they should have gone back and tested; it was that all the testing was wasted because in the end, the color scheme that was chosen wasn’t even part of the original process, and hadn’t ever been proposed as a potential candidate.
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