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Adios Bluberries

squorch2

he will die without safety brief
pilot
The cohort that’s now in the command triad?

I dunno, your question seems framed on false pretenses though
 

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Serious question, how much of the uniform changes are driven by either complaints from the millennial cohort , or proactively trying to appeal to them?

I think it was a mix of some legitimate complaints that many folks had that the good idea fairies at the Navy Uniform Board took and ran with right off the tracks. Someone here mentioned a while ago that the NUB has at least one full time person, a retired E-8/9 type, that likely has to justify their existence with regular changes to Navy uniforms. Why we can't just adopt a version of the USCG blues, like the USAF just did with the new Army camo uniform, I have no idea.
 

Pags

N/A
pilot
Serious question, how much of the uniform changes are driven by either complaints from the millennial cohort , or proactively trying to appeal to them?
NWUs were, at their heart, an attempt to design a cool uniform that appealed to the Sailors and POGs who wanted to look like "warfighters." But this was back in the late 90s/early 00s when urban camo was cool and you could tell NSW guys by their shoulder pockets. Unfortunately NWUs completely missed the basics of what a working uniform should be for the fleet. When they said "working" uniform they meant "office work." Turns out Sailors doing dirty work didn't want to spend good money on buying these things when coveralls or deck jersies did all the things you'd want a working uniform to do but better. It was also supposed to reduce the seabag but that never happened because Sailors still needed another new "business casual" uniform.

There were lots of complaint from the Fleet about things like working khakis and utilities and restrictions on their wear out in town. A lot of those complaints stopped when the alternative was shown to be NWUs. Now you had a uniform you couldn't work in but that you also couldn't dress up in.
 

Treetop Flyer

Well-Known Member
pilot
The Blueberry Camo is one of those items I like to keep in reserve, for when my Navy/Marine brethren point out one of the many stupidities of the USAF (and there are many)... and when I feel I need to keep things in perspective with a rebuttal.
Now that aquaflage is dead, the AF cammies are the dumbest uniform in the DoD
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
It was also supposed to reduce the seabag but that never happened
That jogged my memory about another NUB failure- the flight suit T-shirt thing.

I mean when the NUB decreed that we should all wear one color shirt. On the surface it was fair enough as a policy, notwithstanding the naval aviation traditions of colorful heraldry, even though it was a solution in search of a problem. But then the NUB punted it into the stands* by picking black instead of navy blue- which were supposedly already in everybody's sea bags for the smurf camouflage NWU T-shirts. But yeah, if you're living out of a coffin locker on the boat then let's stuff five more T-shirts in there at the whimsical stroke of a pen.

the NUB has at least one full time person, a retired E-8/9 type
Very fitting description of said individual.


* polite term for F'ed it away once again
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
The Blueberry Camo is one of those items I like to keep in reserve, for when my Navy/Marine brethren point out one of the many stupidities of the USAF (and there are many)... and when I feel I need to keep things in perspective with a rebuttal.
<silently clenches fist in acknowledgment and shakes it at computer screen in frustration>
 

xj220

Will fly for food.
pilot
Contributor
The tiger stripes are going the way of the Dodo, just like the blue NWUs. Thank goodness I didn't have to buy that uniform too!

giphy.gif
 

GroundPounder

Well-Known Member
The cohort that’s now in the command triad?

I dunno, your question seems framed on false pretenses though

What I meant was do you think the uniform was designed in order to appeal to the younger sailors as an incentive. It seems as if most people viewed them in a negative light, probably because they were not the target audience.

My organization is involved in a similar evolution, in that we are trying to change uniforms to suit younger officers that most of our tenured guys hate. We've gone through two very expensive changes over the last 7 or 8 years, and I think we are chasing a goal that can't be met.
 

Recovering LSO

Suck Less
pilot
Contributor
Serious question, how much of the uniform changes are driven by either complaints from the millennial cohort, or proactively trying to appeal to them?
Very little. Figure out who runs the uniform board out of Millington, then ask yourself who stands to make money from frequent changes, then look at the old men running the Navy circa 2003-2005 who didn't want to miss out on the "war fighter" fad. Insert ADM Mullen, IAs, and NWUs. Nobody asked for those, but nice work trying the old "pin a bad idea on a millennial" trope.
 
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RobLyman

- hawk Pilot
pilot
None
We need a law that resets the uniform regs back to 2000, and then bars any changes for 10 years. Sort of like the law that bars any new camo designs unless all the services adopt them.
Or back to the 1940s.
Don't get me wrong. It's nostalgic and kind of cool, but Army dress uniforms change all of the time, and they are not cheap. We have more buttons, badges, stripes and other accoutrements that it is A) expensive and B) a royal PITA to get everything setup right on a new uniform. Oh yeah... C) we only wear these uniforms for our DA photos, as a test to see if our uniform assembly skills are IAW the ever changing, outdated, inaccurate, and poorly written uniform regulations.
 

xj220

Will fly for food.
pilot
Contributor
Or back to the 1940s.
Don't get me wrong. It's nostalgic and kind of cool, but Army dress uniforms change all of the time, and they are not cheap. We have more buttons, badges, stripes and other accoutrements that it is A) expensive and B) a royal PITA to get everything setup right on a new uniform. Oh yeah... C) we only wear these uniforms for our DA photos, as a test to see if our uniform assembly skills are IAW the ever changing, outdated, inaccurate, and poorly written uniform regulations.

It's a ruse.
 

GroundPounder

Well-Known Member
Very little. Figure out who runs the uniform board out of Millington, then ask yourself who stands to make money from frequent changes, then look at the old men running the Navy circa 2003-2005 who didn't want to miss out on the "war fighter" fad. Insert ADM Mullen, IAs, and NWUs. Nobody asked for those, but nice work trying the old "pin a bad idea on a millennial" trope.

Nice try, but I was asking a legitimate question, without an adgenda. I'm old enough to be making decisions and I think my age group is to blame for making poor choices trying to appeal to what we think millennials want. I think we spend too much time trying to produce answers to unasked questions.

I'm well aware that every generation since the start of recorded history has complained that the kids comming up are going to lead to the end of progress. The group that we get are different than when I began, but its up to us to make it work. They will have the same challenge when they are in leadership positions.
 
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