Soldier Operational Clothing and Equipment Modernization

[Halifax Tar]

Found a picture online today:

View attachment 83646

That looks a lot like the cut of the NECUs. Especially the top.

 

[lenaitch]

The cut looks good. TBH it looks good in brown.

I agree. It looks better on a human than the mannequin photo.

The better question is why was blousing required in garrison? The idea was not to have stuff go up your legs - that’s unlikely to happen in an office setting.

These rules should be based on practical reasons, not “we’ve done it since 1930s after we stopped wearing puttees”.

Some think it "looks cool". There are many general patrol police officers who want to have bloused pants. I've never heard a straight answer why, other than 'they do in Europe' or some fantasy/once-in-a-career scenario.

 

[quadrapiper]

The cut looks good. TBH it looks good in brown.

Do a version in brown, in a non-exotic fabric, for garrison?

 

[dimsum]

Navy never bloused their pants. I’d think the Air Force would mutiny if they were forced to blouse their flight suits.

You’re probably being facetious, but there are practical reasons why flight suits aren’t bloused.

1. There are zippers down the legs from the knees down, which close the bottoms
2. The lower leg pockets reach to the bottom of the seams. Those are (IMO) some of the only functional pockets in our flight suits aside from the chest and sometimes the sleeve ones. I personally don’t like the hip (pants) pockets, or at least hope that they had a zipper closure too, like every other pocket
3. The pen pockets are on the lower legs

Blousing the flight suits means you lose most of the pocket, the pen pocket, and the whole point of the zipper.

 

[dimsum]

Which is a pain. I wish the full dress manual had a chapter on environmental dress where each element put their relevant info. Would make it much easier especially for supervisors that have people from different elements under their command.

Can’t say for other services, but I think the RCAF just did that.

The RCAF CWO released it in RCAF Hangar and it’s been a while since I saw it, but I think it’s a chapter in the Dress Manual.

 

[daftandbarmy]

You’re probably being facetious, but there are practical reasons why flight suits aren’t bloused.

1. There are zippers down the legs from the knees down, which close the bottoms
2. The lower leg pockets reach to the bottom of the seams. Those are (IMO) some of the only functional pockets in our flight suits aside from the chest and sometimes the sleeve ones. I personally don’t like the hip (pants) pockets, or at least hope that they had a zipper closure too, like every other pocket
3. The pen pockets are on the lower legs

Blousing the flight suits means you lose most of the pocket, the pen pocket, and the whole point of the zipper.

Typical Air Force... there you go again... snubbing tradition and 'uniform appearance' in favour of operational effectiveness

 

[Maxman1]

Do a version in brown, in a non-exotic fabric, for garrison?

A new work dress?

 

[quadrapiper]

A new work dress?

Yes, and not as amenable to starch and nonsense as the garrison dress.

All garrison duties that aren't No. 3x office roles, CIC (and cadets too, for that matter... would be cheaper than continuing to produce a smaller batch of what's basically the old OG combats), and anyone/any role that doesn't actually need all the bells, whistles, and expense of a combat uniform.

 

[dapaterson]

I recall the Army G1 as CADPAT was rolled out being upset that at meetings he'd be in OD while others already had the new uniforms, so he ordered the rollout plan changed so he'd get it earlier.

 

[dimsum]

Yes, and not as amenable to starch and nonsense as the garrison dress.

All garrison duties that aren't No. 3x office roles, CIC (and cadets too, for that matter... would be cheaper than continuing to produce a smaller batch of what's basically the old OG combats), and anyone/any role that doesn't actually need all the bells, whistles, and expense of a combat uniform.

But then the RCAF would want it in blue, and the RCN in darker blue…

The only place that wears DEU on a day to day basis is Ottawa.

 

[quadrapiper]

But then the RCAF would want it in blue, and the RCN in darker blue…

The only place that wears DEU on a day to day basis is Ottawa.

Still, a common (let's say NECU/these trial things) cut with different colours, as with the goretex jacket, should lead to some savings.

Wonder how much the NECU fabric costs compared to a "normal" fabric with similar comfort and durability.

 

[Kilted]

Do a version in brown, in a non-exotic fabric, for garrison?

A blue version of that uniform would be a good uniform for the Air Force. I'm still not sure what they are actually trying to blend into while wearing CADPAT. To my knowledge, that's not the colour scheme of most offices, hangers, and hotel rooms.

 

[markppcli]

Yes, and not as amenable to starch and nonsense as the garrison dress.

All garrison duties that aren't No. 3x office roles, CIC (and cadets too, for that matter... would be cheaper than continuing to produce a smaller batch of what's basically the old OG combats), and anyone/any role that doesn't actually need all the bells, whistles, and expense of a combat uniform.

What’s the cost off set of stocking a second set of brown everything as well as their CADPAT versions vs printing your daily wear in CADPAT?

If you read into the CCUE, there’s specifically field pants and shirts already.

 

[quadrapiper]

What’s the cost off set of stocking a second set of brown everything as well as their CADPAT versions vs printing your daily wear in CADPAT?

If you read into the CCUE, there’s specifically field pants and shirts already.

If it would boil down to costing the same (or more) than not worth doing.

Wonder how the cost dynamic would shift if combat/field clothing was treated like more widely distributed flying clothing.

 

[Maxman1]

A blue version of that uniform would be a good uniform for the Air Force. I'm still not sure what they are actually trying to blend into while wearing CADPAT. To my knowledge, that's not the colour scheme of most offices, hangers, and hotel rooms.

At least it's not as bad as the RAAF.

 

[Furniture]

A blue version of that uniform would be a good uniform for the Air Force. I'm still not sure what they are actually trying to blend into while wearing CADPAT. To my knowledge, that's not the colour scheme of most offices, hangers, and hotel rooms.

Well... Not all air DEU people work on airfields for a start.

Also, the CAF at one time had different working uniforms for each element, and discovered it was cheaper to stock less variety of uniforms. So the air force switched to relish, with some blue accents to make it less "army". The only reason the navy has NCD/NCEU is because the uniforms need to be fire resistant, otherwise they would likely also be wearing relish to save money.

 

[dimsum]

At least it's not as bad as the RAAF.

I really want to meet the person who pitched that to see what fever dream spawned the cloud camo.

 

[KevinB]

I really want to meet the person who pitched that to see what fever dream spawned the cloud camo.

I’d blame the Navy…

 

[Maxman1]

I really want to meet the person who pitched that to see what fever dream spawned the cloud camo.

Probably huffing the same paint that brought us this:

 

[dimsum]

Probably huffing the same paint that brought us this:

…and now except for some folks onboard ship, most USN folks wear this pattern that just screams “Navy”

Also, the CAF at one time had different working uniforms for each element, and discovered it was cheaper to stock less variety of uniforms. So the air force switched to relish, with some blue accents to make it less "army". The only reason the navy has NCD/NCEU is because the uniforms need to be fire resistant, otherwise they would likely also be wearing relish to save money.

Since aircrew (probably techs too) and RCN folks need FR uniforms, they could have teamed up on the NECU, or expand the flight suit order to include RCN folks.