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Obama Admin to Femanize U.S. Military Combat Uniform

As is his want Apache plays fast and loose with the real story.

The 'twills' were replaced in the Korean era with 'sateens' which we grunts called 'starchies'. No self respecting junior NCO stateside would dare not to 'break starch' every morning while in garrison. After Vietnam the army returned to a modernized variation of the starchie that was a blend, thinner and far less durable we called wash n wear. far more comfortable in the summer they were however very easy to wear through the knees and elbows.

Now why grunts went commando- my reasons were the baggie army issue drawers were HUGE and bunched up bad between the legs on long marches, and another layer surrounding my junk just wasn't helpful.

The older cotton uniforms had two problems- the biggest knock against the old starchies was they were suffocating in hot weather- and they were organic. That means a grunt's sweat and grime build up like a tropical petri dish IN the cotton. Jungle rot occurs no matter the uniform- stay wet for 3 days and you have it.

The nylon rip stop uniforms were very breathable- no idea why Apache thinks otherwise, they also didn't harbor bacteria and fungus like the organic cotton uniforms and dried MUCH quicker than the organic based uniforms.

I NEVER in all my years of service passed through any gate or hallway where a sign was hung claiming the best dressed... :roll:

More like best trained, best lead, best armed.... but not best dressed. WTF was that all about???

I see the constant wearing of the combat type uniform as an attempt to make all soldiers look like warriors... back in my day only 1 in 10 men served in combat arms- these days I doubt more than 1 in 100 do, but the armyspeak has gone heavily to 'warrior' this and that. I also see the bigger butt uniform as a cover to give the more sedate MALE soldiers back manning the laptop or 'logistic center' a bigger uniform to be comfortable where it counts! So I see the new uniform sizing for the 100 REMFS to look a bit 'smarter' than the 1 grunt to feel constricted.

When it comes to a unit commander ordering his troops to buy the modified uniform or the standard- as ANYONE ever seen this? Back in my day we could buy the supply point's uniform, the PX uniform or the off post import uniform. I think it is BS to think a line company commander would order his grunts to wear ONLY the modified uniform.
 

No, I'm complaining that the unisex uniform exists at all, because there is ZERO reason for it. You and redress have completely avoided answering the WHY. You're so busy defending your boy obama that you don't even realize I don't give a flying **** who started it.

There's no reason for unisex clothing, other than PC bull****.


If that were the case, the title of the article would be "Women get new female uniform." The problem is that a unisex uniform exists at all. That isn't even a cost saving measure seeing as how all of the individual male and female exclusive uniforms will still exists. If anything it's more expensive because now they have to have a 3rd clothing line to maintain, and constantly tweak.
 

How very "libertarian" of you....
 
RabidAlpaca;1062123739 There's no reason for unisex clothing said:
And the only reason not to have it is to seem un-PC. Very popular among some.
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rocket88 said:
And the only reason not to have it is to seem un-PC. Very popular among some.
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The only reason not to have it is what? So the burden of proof should be to prove why something shouldn't exist, not the other way around? There were already female uniforms, and male uniforms. Why do unisex uniforms need to exist? Nobody in this thread has even attempted to address that. Just constant whining about obama and other bs.
rocket88 said:
How very "libertarian" of you....
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It actually is pretty libertarian. Libertarians believe in equality. Women want to be equals, so they should be signed up for the draft as well. It's only fair.
 

I am not 100 % sure why there is a unisex uniform, except maybe ease of supply. The uniform has been unisex for quite some time. Since this story is not about changing to a unisex uniform, but a story about a new unisex uniform to supplement the old unisex uniform, I did not address it when I was showing the OP to be factually wrong.

Since the uniform being changed was unisex, they are doing exactly what you suggested.

People need to stop throwing around the tem PC for doing anything remotely involved with race or gender. It is stupid. Making uniforms fit better != PC.
 
Let's just address this part...
RabidAlpaca said:
The problem is that a unisex uniform exists at . That isn't even a cost saving measure seeing as how all of the individual male and female exclusive uniforms will still exists.
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The never has been individual male and female exclusive combat uniforms. There has only ever been one style that both sexes wore. So it's always been unisex. Now there is an alternate style that better fits most females and some males.
 
If the uniforms allow for female soldiers to be able to do their job more efficiently, with out worrying about extra clothing bunching up or snagging on something, it is a great idea. If the uniforms make female soldiers better workers then why not support it. It will help keep more people safe in action. Also it is proven when clothes fit and we feel good in the clothes we wear, we are more productive.
 

Well it is true the females have never had a woman only COMBAT uniform. It isn't until now that women had combat roles. My wife and I are old, she was one of the last WAC platoons to go through Basic. We men used a fatigue uniform as a combat uniform in temperate climates. We were issued a heavier cargo pants 'combat' trouser for colder weather and the rip stop 'jungle' fatigue in tropical climes. In my day we routinely referred to any 'combat uniform' as fatigues.

Women had two options, one uniform had buttons down the side of her hips rather in the more traditional front fly, the other was men's 'starchies'. My wife wants to say the side button pants were discontinued in the mid 70's. Women were allowed to wear either uniform interchangeably.

But you are Redress are correct- there has never been 'boys' and 'girls' ACUs. They are unisex and the new modified ACU is unisex.

One modification I like is moving the cargo pocket up the thigh. For office workers the lower pocket might be handy but for a grunt out humping those hills and dales, any weight- as in anything worth having- in the lower cargo pocket beat around the knee and was annoying/painful depending on the weight and nature of the objects.
 
That is completely incorrect. Females have their own, both dress and combat uniforms. There really is zero reason for unisex uniforms to exist.

Having unisex uniforms = PC.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
Having unisex uniforms = PC.
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Why? Woman wear men's jeans. Is that PC too? Flight deck jerseys are unisex, is that PC? Do you have any clue what PC is?
 
Your own link says soldiers will choose which to wear, the ACU or the ACU-A.

Your bait thread has failed.
 
Just wait until APACHERAT hears about how the body armor is being changed.
 
Redress said:
From the article:
Apparently there already was a unisex uniform, and they sucked if I read this maybe some one on active duty can confirm or clarify.
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BDUs were made for men, and women had to deal. The ACU was made to try and accommodate women a little more, but not very much. Male and female soldiers of the same height and width are issued the exact same uniform today. Having a female-specific duty uniform will be a first, and a welcome change.
 
Redress said:
And I was in the navy, where we were assumed to be able to think to a point of determining which uniform was appropriate for the situation.
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See the Army doesn't work like that. We just wear ACUs all the time and call it good. If we ever need to wear anything else it's for a special occasion and we'll be given a head's up.
 
I've never had to pay for any uniform piece unless I wanted something extra (like compression shorts or better fitting boots from the approved-brand list), or lost something, or just didn't want to deal with DX'ing the stuff. I paid for my new dress blues to be tailored but that's because I was attending a wedding and didn't want to wait for the Army to do it for me.
 

We got a new woman in our unit and the buzz for the first week was, "She even looks good in BDUs!".
 
I think they aim to make the enemy die by laughter. . .

 


My 6th week of boot check was for 200 which I was told was the balance against the cost of uniforms. I did get a few free pairs of dungarees on trade in cause I lost allot of weight. In the fleet, had to buy everything out of pocket. (Got our first ballcap free, but...)
 
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