Do People in the fleet wear shirt stays?

[Road Program]

I guess it's an aviation thing then. I'm on my second ship and I didn't know anyone on my last ship who wore them, and that included a lot of pilots on disassociated tours, and no one on my current ship wears them.

I think it's really a bit much to ask if you have to wear khakis every day (like we do in port). My last ship you could wear coveralls in port, so it was sort of a moot point. Now...if I wore my khakis for an hour two a week, that would be a different story, but for now, comfort wins out. Also keep in mind that most of a SWO's time is spent driving a desk.

 

[beau]

Man, I feel like they are a part of the uniform.....I look like total ass without them.......I still have to adjust my shirt everytime I stand up, even with them on.

 

[VAmookie]

****stays blow. you have to adjust your shirt everytime you stand up whether you wear them or not

 

[hooyah199]

Get your shirts tailored

Here's the deal with shirt-stays....at least from the SWO side. Underway, the whole crew shifted into coveralls, so shirt-stays only apply inport. While inport we were required to wash khakis for the normal day to day business and were not allowed to wear coveralls unless we (the officers) were doing dirty work, such as tracing out engineering systems or doing some serious "field day" cleaning with our guys. Only a few officers I've known have ever worn stays with their wash khakis. Granted alot of them probably should have, but it just wasn't enforced on my ship.
Now me personally haven gone to a military college, I wore them from day 1 all the way to graduation at school, so once I got to the fleet, I had to find another way to keep my shirt looking half way decent. What worked for me was to get my shirts tailored by having the sides taken in and that way you get the tapered look without the aggravating snags on the ol' hairy legs (which will become unhairy in a hurry if you wear the stays everyday). If you got a gut, this probably won't help, but then neither will stays.
Now if you're wearing CNT's you're probably gonna want to wear the stays b/c CNT's means you're going to be off the ship somewhere and representing your command. And don't think that looking sharp doesn't get recognized. An officer should always look sharp regardless.
Hope this helps.

 

[Thisguy]

It seems like the big complaint is that shirt stays rip your hairs out. Sounds like you're using the "stirrup" style shirt stays. I posted this elsewhere, but what works really well for me, is the white elastic ones that clip on to your socks. I'm not talking about the crappy ones at the NEX that pop off all the time, these come in a yellow box and are made by officers' equipment company. Try 'em out, sometimes I forget they're there.

 

[nittany03]

It also helps if you have the plastic part of the clip towards your skin instead of the metal. And yeah, the "Y" shaped ones will definitely chafe hell out of your legs. I remember getting sores on my legs from wearing that kind in college.

 

[ea6bflyr]

Ah...here's the problem: "Your last ship"
Most SWO types wear WASH KHAKI's on the boat...and you'd never wear shirt stays with wash khakis (note: Aviators wear flight suits). But I have been in the Navy for 20 years and I have always worn shirt stays....It just makes you look more professional. Your choice.
ea6bflyr

I guess it's an aviation thing then. I'm on my second ship and I didn't know anyone on my last ship who wore them, and that included a lot of pilots on disassociated tours, and no one on my current ship wears them.

I think it's really a bit much to ask if you have to wear khakis every day (like we do in port). My last ship you could wear coveralls in port, so it was sort of a moot point. Now...if I wore my khakis for an hour two a week, that would be a different story, but for now, comfort wins out. Also keep in mind that most of a SWO's time is spent driving a desk.