# US Army announces selection of new — blue — Class A’s



## big bad john (5 Jun 2006)

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1850022.php

Army announces selection of new — blue — Class A’s

By Matthew Cox
Times staff writer


The Army is going blue. That’s right — within five years, the dress blue uniform will replace the dress greens as the new Army Service Uniform, the Army announced Monday.

“World-class Soldiers deserve a simplified, quality uniform. The blue Army Service Uniform is a traditional uniform that is consistent with the Army’s most honored traditions,” said Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston, in a press release.


Last summer, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker tasked Preston to begin work on a plan to replace the 1950s-era dress green uniform and the white mess dress uniforms with a version of the service’s dress blue uniform.

“We have all of these variations of uniforms – green, blue and white,” said Schoomaker in the release. “It makes sense for us to go to one traditional uniform that is really sharp and high quality and which soldiers will be very proud to wear. And that’s what we’ve done by adopting this blue Army Service Uniform that reflects simplicity, quality, utility and tradition.” 

The new blues will be available at Military Clothing Sales Stores by July 2007.

New recruits should begin receiving the new uniform as part of the Clothing Bag issue by the first quarter of 2009.

All soldiers will be required to own a set of the new blues by the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011.

A wear-out date for the Army Green Class A and white mess dress uniforms will be determined at a later date, the release stated.


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## tomahawk6 (5 Jun 2006)

Another bad idea.


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## Infanteer (5 Jun 2006)

Any pictures?  The closest I could find was this....


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## navymich (5 Jun 2006)

So, in the U.S. they are taking away the greens from the Army and in Canada they are trying to give greens (albeit cadpat) to the Navy.  Sorry, off-topic I know, but I just find it sort of ironic is all.


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## big bad john (5 Jun 2006)

Isn't there an americain army song, "We say farewell to cadet gray and don army blue" or some such?  Tradition?


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## Danjanou (5 Jun 2006)

More info on it here;

http://www.army.mil/symbols/uniforms/


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## Scoobie Newbie (5 Jun 2006)

How are the service members handling this?


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## Kirkhill (6 Jun 2006)

So Sherwood, does this make you all Cav now or all Rangers?  >


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## Kirkhill (6 Jun 2006)

Cheers Pilgrim....


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## Trinity (6 Jun 2006)

I think they look quite smart.

I'd wear it... however, I'm not in the US army.

Asking some of them to wear it is probably like asking me to turn in my kilt, to
which the response would be over my dead body.  

So, it will be interesting to see how many people take a huge interest in this so 
much so that they don't re-enlist.


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## tomahawk6 (6 Jun 2006)

In the old days the Class A uniform was the uniform for wear for those on staff and other indoor type jobs. In the last 10-15 years I have seen more wear of the BDU than Class A, even in the Pentagon.So perhaps the need for a Class A uniform has changed. Hoever, by substituting the green Class A for what was the Army Blue uniform is extremely dumb. The Army Blue uniform was not an issue item and was purchased by senior NCO's and by all officers. Outside the Old Guard privates had no use for the uniform.

The USMC and USN seem to get along with with a wide variety of uniforms, so why is it so important for the Army to copy what the USAF has done ? If you want to save money eliminate the Class A uniform and continue to require officers and senior NCO's to own a set of Blue's. A future CSA will no doubt rectify the mistakes of General Schoomaker, I am just glad I dont have to deal with BS anymore.


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## Britney Spears (6 Jun 2006)

Blue US Army evening  dress (mess dress, I guess) with tiara, 1952, from http://www.army.mil/symbols/uniforms/timeline.html








I think it looks quite nice, the coat and blouse looks better than the waiter's jacket used today. Bring it back with a jewled tiara with unit insignia, and of course a matching handbag.


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## George Wallace (6 Jun 2006)

Watch it Brit!

You'll put Sailing Instructor out of work.    ;D


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## Infanteer (6 Jun 2006)

http://www.socnetcentral.com/vb/showthread.php?t=60520

http://lightfighter.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5436084761/m/7931045242

Many of the US Army types on other forums don't seem to mind it; there is value in simplicity and I think it is a neat idea as there is real history behind it (the Army blue has way more heritage than the Army green)

They also admit that the USMC is the best dressed organization in the world.... :warstory:


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## geo (6 Jun 2006)

USMC Blues ... UK/Cdn Patrol blues...... nice looking suit...


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## geo (6 Jun 2006)

a little bit like our DEUs I guess.... for the amount of times you are actualy required to wear em... Thank god we work with a point system so we don't have to cough up $ for replacements


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## Michael Dorosh (6 Jun 2006)

S_Baker said:
			
		

> Ahhh...well not to usurp my U.S. Army Brethren but, the Blues are a great idea ... they aren't something new (similar to U.S. Army uniform , circa 1860s) and any parallels with the CDN experience (unification) aren't really valid



If Canada went back to khaki, it would be the same sort of thing and probably get the same reaction here. Does this mean shoulder boards for officers now, too?


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## geo (6 Jun 2006)

Believe the "old guard" at Arlington wears shoulder boards.


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## GAP (6 Jun 2006)

geo said:
			
		

> USMC Blues ... UK/Cdn Patrol blues...... nice looking suit...



Hey...meester....wanna buy nearly new set of Dress Blues....why, deys only worn 5 times in 35 yearss... ;D


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## geo (6 Jun 2006)

GAP said:
			
		

> Hey...meester....wanna buy nearly new set of Dress Blues....why, deys only worn 5 times in 35 yearss... ;D


LOL.....


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## big bad john (6 Jun 2006)

From todays Stars & Stripes.


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## geo (6 Jun 2006)

not sure but.... think it's gonna be a B!+@H to keep dust off and just plain clean.


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## Michael Dorosh (6 Jun 2006)

I suspect this is being done to help flagging morale - along with the mandatory denials that this is being done to help flagging morale?

Seems very dressy - even the Marine Corps has a green DEU-like uniform.

Oh, and I don't see any shoulder boards on the tunic, just gold-piped shoulder straps. I was thinking of the Civil War type ones they use on their mess dress.

Having said that this looks dressy, am I correct in that Class A's are not used often for parades, the way DEUs are in Canada?


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## ExSarge (7 Jun 2006)

[You might have a large knowledge of CDN military historical facts but your lack of professional military courtesy to Allied services is severely lacking!  My morale is fine, as is the vast majority of the U.S. military]

For crying out loud guys, lighten up! It's a uniform for C***t sake! From experience my guess is the average trooper/soldier in a combat unit will wear the Class "A" uniform about a dozen times during the course of his/her career. I know that I never wore it again after the Airlines stopped requiring its wear to qualify for fare discounts when flying!


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## Michael Dorosh (7 Jun 2006)

S_Baker said:
			
		

> DOROSH, I gotta tell you this is the kind of stealthy mocking response that gets my Dander up.  Since when does a professional CPL in the CDN reserves have insider information about the U.S. military's morale?  I suppose if you read all of the liberal rags and watch all of the liberal T.V. programs you might come to that conclusion, however, you sir need to have a big swig of Kool-aid.  You might have a large knowledge of CDN military historical facts but your lack of professional military courtesy to Allied services is severely lacking!  My morale is fine, as is the vast majority of the U.S. military.



I hope you're not from Guyana!  Now, now, no offence intended, and I phrased it as a question.  So why the change after 50 years? Honestly, uniforms ARE a morale issue. Our DEUs certainly were a huge one. After the army languished in the 1970s in the post-Vietnam era and post-Unification, going back to different coloured uniforms I think played a huge part in revitalizing the CF, as well as renewed sense of purpose when Yugoslavia went south. I don't think it is unreasonable to at least ask if this is not somehow tied to morale. The whole point of having a nice uniform is for morale, no? Seriously, I don't see a lack of courtesy in the suggestion. The hypothesis has been proven incorrect in the past, incidentally - ie some suggest the German Army issued more medals and decorations for the uniform when it was losing, but that was coincidental I think to the amount of combat they were seeing. Nonetheless, new uniforms and morale go hand in hand.

ExSarge - so this is more of a ceremonial uniform then, as opposed to a form of working dress for office troops?


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## ExSarge (7 Jun 2006)

Depending on the Unit or Command, it may be a working uniform. Troops assigned to DOD or other higher headquarters will propably wear it. Troops assigned to Divisions generally wear (or at least did in my day) fatigues or BDU's (Battle Dress Utilities). Other then that you may wear it for one parade a year. And then you had to be a pretty sad or unlucky trooper if you couldn't find something else to do that day! I once volunteered to clean bat s**t out of a pre war gun position in Panama to avoid a "Class A" parade. The and I suspect now, there was nothing the average GI was worse at then D & C!


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## Red 6 (13 Jun 2006)

Mark Flowers here. I just signed onto Army.Ca. I retired in May of 2001 with 22 years active and reserve component in the US Army. The dress blue uniform in my opinion is an outstanding idea. A revamp of the Army uniform is long overdue and this is a real winner.  The Army green uniform is way too busy in terms of patches, badges, crests, etc., and I won't even start on the color. Army blue is the traditional color and the dress blue uniform has existed in its current appearance since before World War II. Another plus for this uniform is that the black beret isn't worn with it.


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## geo (13 Jun 2006)

Interesting..............
who says they won't start throwning patches on them though?

If the CF and the Brits are any indications, the forage / peak caps are being dropped in favor of the berets.... which, to most members of the CF, is a good thing.


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## Red 6 (14 Jun 2006)

Boy, I sure hope they keep the blues simple. The Army could authorize unit crests to be worn on epaulets by enlisted soldiers, or on the lower lapels. They were worn that way before WWII. I read on the informational web site about the changeover that the beret will only be worn with the ACU's in garrison.We'll see what happens…


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## geo (14 Jun 2006)

Years ago, the CF went with a "simple" green uniform.......... didn't stay simple all that long.

Command badges,
brigade badges, 
trade qualifications, 
shooting proficiency
wound badge
unit shoulder titles
unit collar badges,
etc,
etc................


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## Red 6 (15 Jun 2006)

We'll have to see how it turns out. I would think since blues are an existing uniform combination with many years of service, the Army won't mess around too much with them. The whole idea is to have a traditional uniform and blues definitely fit the bill. We'll see though...


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## Michael Dorosh (15 Jun 2006)

geo said:
			
		

> Years ago, the CF went with a "simple" green uniform.......... didn't stay simple all that long.
> 
> Command badges,
> brigade badges,
> ...



Some of the changes were a relatively long time in coming; the Brigade badges and wound stripes weren't introduced for over 20 years after the CF uniform came out...unit shoulder titles about 10 years, according to Grant Tyler in _Drab Serge and Khaki Drill_

The other badges were not new; they had been worn on Battle Dress and Service Dress up to Unification; I've not seen the introduction of the CF Uniform attributed to "simplification" so much as simply the desire to have a common standard. It was a unique situation where uniformity was desirable but different functional Commands still had their own necessities and desire for tradition.


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## geo (15 Jun 2006)

I wore the bus driver suit...................
It wasn't all that uniform and it certainly wasn't desirable.... or functional

IMHO


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## Michael Dorosh (15 Jun 2006)

geo said:
			
		

> I wore the bus driver suit...................
> It wasn't all that uniform and it certainly wasn't desirable.... or functional
> 
> IMHO



Probably better than Garrison Dress; I wore both the bus driver jacket and the Garrison Dress jacket. Both were ugly and both required the collar of the shirt worn over the jacket collar like a 1970s lounge lizard...ugh


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## geo (15 Jun 2006)

1st uniform issued was Battledress, Bush, TWs & Patrol bules...............

Lagoon green shirts, garrison dress boots.............. Yetch!!!


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