SECNAV Criticizes 'Blueberries'

[kmac]

Maybe instead of spending more money developing new uniforms we could just eventually wear the type II and III instead.....?

If the Navy did its homework at getting the best camo at the time, then the results of the Army's research probably are the best camo possible currently. If that became the joint uniform, it would leave each service with 3 uniforms for camo: woodland/temperant, transitional, and desert/arid. Essentially it would be an improvement over the AOR 1/2 combo we have now.

http://www.hyperstealth.com/coyote/index.html

Having said that, the NWU Type I really have no functional purpose anymore if they won't be around grease/paint of ships (as previously mentioned). What then would Sailors wear out at lunch time to the mall?!

 

[Renegade One]

When men were men, and sheep were afraid!
The "Navy Tomcat Team" from the AIM/ACEVAL efforts of the late '70s:

The "sharp-eyed" among you will see that this was taken during the "no brown shoes" era…1975-1986 or so...

 

[usmarinemike]

No matter how this whole thing ends up, the Marine Corps is going to find a way to be different. It's not just the institutional insecurity, which is very real and probably warranted. It's also that there are enough anecdotal examples of the enemy picking up on inadvertent differences between this group of mean fuckers here and the not as mean ones over there. Whether it be black boots in an area where other units were wearing tan, or white rolled sleeves where everybody else had the silly looking yet functional other way of rolling them, or the white leggings turned yellow by the mud the enemy still picked up on who was who and it made a difference. I'm willing to bet (if even just a little bit) that the Marine Corps will come out of this newest mandate with the same uniforms we're going in with.

BTW, if not, I'm hoping for multicam and 8 point covers. I'll get out before I put one of those roundsided, flat topped hats on my head.

 

[squeeze]

This debate is so ridiculous. When I came into the Marine Corps, everyone in the DOD wore the same uniform. The MC had their 8-points and black boots, and the other services had whatever they wore. We rolled our sleeves one way, others did it another. It was never an issue of "but I don't look different enough..." The Marine Corps still had its reputation.

So we decide that one uniform (well, 2 with the chocolate chip deserts) weren't actually cutting it for, you know, camouflaging and we develop/modify something that works. Now, within the span of a few years, people (most of whom were never in a MC without MARPAT) somehow think we can't identify as Marines if we went back to the same pattern uniform across the board. WTF, over? No one is talking about taking away 8 points, or USMC boots, or wear particulars (sleeves/nametapes/velcro/embroidered EGAs/etc...). If your identity as an organization is only fabric deep, you have some serious issues you should be addressing long before 'what that fabric is'.

Yes, it annoys me to see non-Marine/non-Corpsman wearing USMC MARPAT, but that's only because we have a distinct uniform (and they generally look like a fat bag of ass). And yes, I'd like to keep it that way, but in a peacetime military where scrounging $'s is the name of the game, there are bigger battles to fight, and like I said in the 2nd sentence, we all wore the same uniform for years and it was never an issue. My only demand would be to bring back our sleeve rolls!

Navy - you guys should just wear coveralls. Your uniform musical chairs is even more ridiculous than the Army's.

 

[Renegade One]

My only demand would be to bring back our sleeve rolls!

THAT'S the hill you want to defend?

Navy - you guys should just wear coveralls. Your uniform musical chairs is even more ridiculous than the Army's.

"...I like all you Navy boys. Every time we've gotta go someplace to fight, you fellas always give us a ride." ~Lt Jonathan Kendrick, USMC, [probably a Platoon Commander with] Marine Security Company Windward, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

 

[jcj]

Let me see if I have followed this thread correctly:
The Marines got new cammies (which may or may not be a copy of a Canadian cammie pattern) which everyone likes, but they won't share.
The Army spend a shit-ton of $$$ and screwed it up.
The Air Force tried to outdo the Army and now has green boots.
Nobody likes NWU type I. Type II and III are pretty good but very few folks get to wear them.
The Marines don't like getting blamed for the other services being morons and now have crappy cammies.
Any uniform that someone brings up, someone else will bitch about.

Have I missed anything?

Only think I think there is to add is that as squeeze points out above before this circus started everybody in DOD who went to the field and most who worked on the ground had the same uniform with different insignia and covers and it was OK, and in addition to green boots the Air Force got a ridiculous looking Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) that can't be worn into battle.

 

[MIDNJAC]

The "sharp-eyed" among you will see that this was taken during the "no brown shoes" era…1975-1986 or so...

Which makes me think of a question I had.....why is it that N7 doesn't wear brown boots? Is it tradition? That was my guess, being born in an earlier day where perhaps they weren't worn (I don't recall seeing any brown boots in my dad's cruise boxes from the 1960's/70's, just brown shoes)

 

[Renegade One]

Which makes me think of a question I had.....why is it that N7 doesn't wear brown boots? Is it tradition? That was my guess, being born in an earlier day where perhaps they weren't worn (I don't recall seeing any brown boots in my dad's cruise boxes from the 1960's/70's, just brown shoes)

Not sure what/who you mean by N7, but I do recall that brown flight boots were very rare. I knew only one guy who wore them, and they were a pass down item from a former boss of his. They were never issued in my squadron flying time…not sure when they became authorized or available commercially.

 

[pilot_man]

Which makes me think of a question I had.....why is it that N7 doesn't wear brown boots? Is it tradition? That was my guess, being born in an earlier day where perhaps they weren't worn (I don't recall seeing any brown boots in my dad's cruise boxes from the 1960's/70's, just brown shoes)

Since N7 is a mix of Navy and Marine, the Navy bros compromise with the black boots. The Marine bros compromise is wearing the light blue t-shirts. If they still do.

 

[phrogdriver]

All right, I'll ask it. What is N7?

 

[pilot_man]

N7 = TOPGUN.

 

[squeeze]

Since N7 is a mix of Navy and Marine, the Navy bros compromise with the black boots. The Marine bros compromise is wearing the light blue t-shirts. If they still do.

Um... We wear brown boots in the USMC too. Hell, I don't even have a pair of black boots - traded them in for an extra pair of brown ones.

 

[RadicalDude]

I always assumed it was because they wanted to be different. Same reason a lot of bros I've seen don't roll their sleeves.

 

[wink]

Um... We wear brown boots in the USMC too. Hell, I don't even have a pair of black boots - traded them in for an extra pair of brown ones.

Yes, but are you not refering to the desert tan boots? I believe that the brown boots in question were the traditional chocolate brown leather boots of Naval Aviation history.

 

[RadicalDude]

Yes, but are you not refering to the desert tan boots? I believe that the brown boots in question were the traditional chocolate brown leather boots of Naval Aviation history.

All the Marines in my airwing wore the "chocolate brown leather boots of NA history."