Uniforms while Traveling on Leave

[HueyCobra8151]

A month after 9/11 I flew in my service Alphas, I didn't get anything except being singled out while boarding for an "extra" search. They let some pretty shady looking guys on, and meanwhile, there I am taking off my Alpha blouse while they freak out over my tie clasp and shooting badge...

 

[ChuckMK23]

IMHO - Wear your uniform, proudly, when you travel. It's totally OK - people appreciate it and it signals who you are.

Yes, wear a leave or liberty uniform. Army and Air Force can and do travel in BDU/ACU - very common and for them it's well inside the norm. For the Sea Services, the Summer Kahki (not wash Kahkis), Summer White or SDB is totally appropriate. Marines know what to do - I always thought the Kahki shirt and blue trousers were the way to go - very sharp for the warmer months.

Make sure you wear all your ribbons and wings and such, and don't be afraid to tell people what they all mean when people ask (they will).

People will be generous with service members in uniform, in public. Don't expect it, but don't be surprised either - simply be gracious and say thank you!

Edit - the local news here covered a family welcoming a young marine home from Iraq - on leave. He was on tv, filed getting off the Delta flight here at CVG in his desert utility uniform (the digital desert cammies). He was clearly USMC - so I guess there is an excpetion for Marines traveling from a combat zone.

 

[zab1001]

A month after 9/11 I flew in my service Alphas, I didn't get anything except being singled out while boarding for an "extra" search. They let some pretty shady looking guys on, and meanwhile, there I am taking off my Alpha blouse while they freak out over my tie clasp and shooting badge...

No doubt. I saw an Army Sgt forced to hand over anything with a pin and frog clip on his uniform at security. Being the Army, that was A LOT of knick knacks. Total BS, but whatever (luckily he had some civvies to change into). No way I'm going to risk something like THAT for the chance at a free cocktail.

 

[Fly Navy]

No doubt. I saw an Army Sgt forced to hand over anything with a pin and frog clip on his uniform at security. Being the Army, that was A LOT of knick knacks. Total BS, but whatever (luckily he had some civvies to change into). No way I'm going to risk something like THAT for the chance at a free cocktail.

That's sad. My top two are still:

A) Not knowing what the Medal of Honor was and trying to take it from its recipient.

B) Taking a 2 inch long plastic replica of an M-16 from a boy's GI Joe because it "looks like a gun".

Makes me want to go crazy with hate.

 

[wink]

No doubt. I saw an Army Sgt forced to hand over anything with a pin and frog clip on his uniform at security. Being the Army, that was A LOT of knick knacks. Total BS, but whatever (luckily he had some civvies to change into). No way I'm going to risk something like THAT for the chance at a free cocktail.

Ya ya, we have all heard the security stories and they have been gotten plenty of cover here at AW. That was then. Give me a break, anything that happened right after 9/11 doesn't compare with now. Different people, different procedures. Give me one recent story of someone in uniform being singled out or mistreated by security at an airport and I will give you ten examples of special treatment to military.

And zab, you surprise me. I thought you would do anything for a free cocktail .

 

[Brett327]

And zab, you surprise me. I thought you would do anything for a free cocktail .

That's why they give us these funny green papers with $$$ signs on then, no?

Brett

 

[A4sForever]

Airline security and the TSA is absolutely crazy, but it's slowly getting better because the non-thinking, one-size-fits-all approach costs too much money. As always ..... security .... it's the money.

I have had many occasions where I had to stand my ground instead of getting the full body cavity search WHILE IN UNIFORM and ASSIGNED TO FLY THE FLIGHT!! Even to the point of calling in the security supervisors and on one occasion, the FAA. I'm still batting 1000.

I would not recommend wearing your military uniform when traveling and most (nearly all) of the military folks who travel on my airplanes do not. Of course, all I fly is international --- no domestic. It's easy enough to identify USGI types as it is --- fit, tanned, rested, high and tight's. And we ALWAYS take care of them on my ships.

I usually corral 3-4 of them prior to boarding and inform them that they are my "onboard security detachment" and may be called upon to assist during flight. I'm actually 75% serious and they always respond in the affirmative. I have personally upgraded USGI's for "weight and balance" considerations. I always instruct the F/A's to "take care" (?) of the boys and they always do.

 

[Super18Ordie]

When I transferred from the Roosevelt I had two months school in Lemoore, CA. I went from Norfolk Intl to La Guardia to Atlanta to LAX to Fresno. Stupid Government travel orders. I wore my Summer Whites (you know the ones that make you look like the Good Humor man). I was sitting in this bar in La Guardia when all of the sudden this old guy slaps me on the back shakes my hand and says to the bartender "His glass is empty fill it up again. It turns out he was a retired army colonel and he was bound and determined to get me and him sloppy before we boarded our flight (it turned out he was going to atlanta too) It was kinda nice I didnt buy a single drink

 

[zab1001]

Ya ya, we have all heard the security stories and they have been gotten plenty of cover here at AW. That was then. Give me a break, anything that happened right after 9/11 doesn't compare with now...

And zab, you surprise me. I thought you would do anything for a free cocktail .

It actually happened last Feb. Whatever. I see your point.

I guess I¨have "mil guy" written on my forehead (even without a "high and stupid", a yut yut t-shirt, web belt on my jeans, and queer issued sunglasses). Even in civvies, I've had plenty of people strike up conversations with me about my job. So I still get the free drink...