We don't always wear body armour, that's why we have breast and hip/waist pockets. The
only change I would offer would be to have those sleeve pockets put on our shirts. A flat breast pocket would be useless, as was seen in that God Awful shirt with no pockets. I get it that the pockets used to be magazine pouches; however, they are actually a bit larger now (the pockets, I mean). And that "pen holder" in the pockets was actually not designed for pens, but for some dosimeter-thingy (pardon the tech-speak) and is now used to hold pens. So, given that we are actually doing things smart, IMHO, in having but one uniform that we use for both garrison and field duties, it has to be "good enough" for both, with the emphasis on field use. Losing the pockets would add no utility to field use, nor would it detract from field use. Keeping them has utility in garrison. So, since there's no utility lost for field use, but there is merit in them for garrison use, I say keep them.
Speaking of which, since adding sleeve pockets (as we do with Deserts for operations) add utility for field use, then I say "make it so". My :2c
itching them would add no utility for field use. In fact, as stated elsewhere, those strings are there to cinch the shirt to the body in specific environments.