Ever-changing uniform requirements can be frustrating. Just when you get your sea bag set, the U.S. Navy unveils a new or updated uniform to add to the list. In fact, there are more than a dozen changes in the works right now — an improved fire-retardant coverall, moisture-wicking warm-up suits, service dress blue jumpers, lightweight pairs of the Navy working uniform, a cold-weather parka, just to name a few. The U.S. Navy isn’t the only one doing this. The Royal Navy has unveiled its new working uniform, which will replace the duds they’ve worn since World War II. Now that’s old school!…
Browsing: Uniforms
A Navy flight instructor who found love online started off the new year with a ride in the Rose Parade, courtesy of the matchmaking service that linked him with his future wife. Lt. Cmdr. Rich Daniels and wife Kay, married in 2011, were one of seven couples on the eHarmony float that helped ring in the New Year in Pasadena, Calif. He wore his dress blues and waved while Natalie Cole belted out “Everlasting Love” and other songs from a float described in the official event program as “a beautiful floral extravaganza.” Some readers questioned whether Daniels was in violation…
The push for unisex uniforms is moving forward and led from the top — Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. Mabus believes it’s time for female sailors — and Marines — to wear the same uniforms as their shipmates so as to better blend into today’s Navy, where women serve in fleet units and shouldn’t wear different covers and uniforms in formation. “When we look out, we shouldn’t see male sailors or female sailors,” Mabus told Navy Times. “We ought to see sailors.” Intended as a step to reduce discrimination against females in the Navy, the effort could also spell big changes…
Sailors who need a full list of up-to-date Navy uniform regulations can head here. But be warned — a printout will take up about five full, single-spaced pages. And that’s just the table of contents. If you’ve ever wondered what led to all those instructions — the fleetwide message that would launch many, many fleetwide messages — you’d have to go back a few hundred years. On today’s date in 1776, the first official details for “Uniform of Navy and Marine Officers” were released out of the Marine Committee in Philadelphia. Uniforms for four officer ranks — captain, lieutenant, master…
The Navy’s seeking input on its uniforms from female sailors. About 16,000 of them. Those women were randomly selected to take part in an online survey, which went live May 15 and will last 90 days. It’s designed to provide a broader analysis of “female sailor uniform preferences and concerns,” according to the fleetwide message, NAVADMIN 127/13, that announced its launch. Such a sweeping survey was deemed necessary by Navy officials after small focus groups and interviews involving female sailors’ uniform concerns. The survey will focus on the female sailors’ level of satisfaction with the current uniforms’ “form, fit and…
The goat locker just got a new member: Michele Cole, who has been fitting sailors with uniforms for more than a decade. Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (AW/NAC) Mike Stevens made Cole an honorary chief during a ceremony at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C, according to a post on MCPON’s Facebook page. “Michelle’s complete dedication and devotion to our sailors is admirable. Thanks, Chief!” it said on Stevens’ Facebook post. Cole is the manager of the Navy Exchange Arlington Uniform Center at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va., and has been fitting sailors in Virginia for 13 years.…
The Navy’s uniform history stretches back centuries, covering everything from Revolutionary War-era garb to iconic World War II khakis to modern-day aquaflage. And don’t forget those dinner-dress tiaras. But while some of these seabag selections may have earned cultural prominence, one milestone isn’t as well known. According to one manufacturer and several history books, the modern-day T-shirt will turn 100 this year, after being first issued to sailors in 1913. The T-shirt was introduced by the Navy as a way to get sailors to cover up the chest hair revealed by their V-neck uniforms, according to the book “Elsewhere, U.S.A:…
The new flight deck jerseys we wrote about last month are on display at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space symposium outside Washington, D.C. A mannequin is wearing the new jersey, as well as a float coat, gloves and the new trousers at the Office of Naval Research booth. The new trousers have more secure pockets, with stitching to prevent anything from falling out while working. The trousers also fit better and are less expensive to make, an ONR news release said. The new flight deck gloves are commercially available and feature better knuckle and finger protection, increased ventilation and improved fire…
If you are a junior enlisted Coastie, you might have wondered if you missed the memo April 3 when you went in to work. Your chief was looking sharp in his or her service dress blues, and you were wearing your ODUs. But the chiefs wore their SDBs on Wednesday to bring attention to a serious issue: sexual assault in the Coast Guard, said Command Master Chief R. Shane Hooker, command master chief for the deputy commandant of mission support at Coast Guard Headquarters. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The service had 156 reported cases of sexual assault in…
Four men wearing enlisted service dress blues attended a Las Vegas expo filled with porn stars. And a Utah National Guardsman has the pics to prove it. The picture-taker, a 29-year old specialist who requested his full name not be used and attended the event out of uniform, said he was in the crowd Jan. 19 at the Adult Entertainment Expo at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino when he noticed the quartet. “There’s something wrong with these pictures,” said the tipster who sent the above image — and other pictures, including some less suitable for publication. “It’s awesome that…
