Free Republic

BAMBERG, Germany — The Army has selected the MultiCam as its new uniform for soldiers heading to Afghanistan, the Defense Department announced, following four months of testing by units in the combat zone. MultiCams will be issued to units heading to Afghanistan starting in July. Those units include the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Polk, La.; the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo.; and the 2nd Brigade, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa Army National Guard, according to the Program Executive Office Soldier Web site. Soldiers in Afghanistan had identified the need for a new...

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has told his military aides not to wear combat fatigues to work at the Pentagon anymore, reversing a symbolic change of protocol ordered in the harrowing days after the Sept. 11 attacks. There was no formal announcement about Mr. Gates directing his military staff to shed their fatigues in favor of business uniforms — the smartly pressed ones bedecked with combat medals and service ribbons that are the military equivalent of a civilian coat and tie, worn with dress shoes and not combat boots. But throughout the Defense Department, where every action by...

After a century of green uniforms, the last one is being retired from the U.S. Army. The new "Class A" uniform, as of August 21st, 2008, will be the current blue "Dress Uniform.". By 2010, troops graduating from basic training will be issued the "dress blues" as their "Class A" uniform. The "Class B" uniform will be the dress blue trousers and a white shirt with decorations (ribbons, combat badge and so on). For both enlisted and officers, rank will be worn on epaulets. The new uniform "system" is similar to the one the U.S. Marine Corps has been wearing...