Any thoughts from you current service guys?
I have no idea what's with velcro.
I have mixed feelings on the beret. We weren't allowed to wear it in Basic, so one part of me sees symbolic meaning in the damnable piece of crap. OTOH, it is one of the most impractical pieces of headgear ever conceived.
I have mixed feelings on the beret. We weren't allowed to wear it in Basic, so one part of me sees symbolic meaning in the damnable piece of crap. OTOH, it is one of the most impractical pieces of headgear ever conceived.
That's because it's French!
I remember when the only two groups allowed to wear berets were the Rangers (black) and the Green Berets. Hope they won't have to change their name.
I have mixed feelings on the beret. We weren't allowed to wear it in Basic, so one part of me sees symbolic meaning in the damnable piece of crap. OTOH, it is one of the most impractical pieces of headgear ever conceived.
That's because it's French!
I remember when the only two groups allowed to wear berets were the Rangers (black) and the Green Berets. Hope they won't have to change their name.
Yeah...
Back when the Army decided to go to berets, the Rangers made a bit of a fuss because they were the sole wearers of the black beret at that time. They ended up with khaki.
But hell, the uniforms and equipment have changed A LOT since I was in, oh... about 20 years ago...
And they are still using the overpriced digi btus? Ugh.
While not a serviceman, from my understanding the current uniform costs the soldier more $ than the old style camo?
Beret's are stupid and for girls :p
And they are still using the overpriced digi btus? Ugh.
While not a serviceman, from my understanding the current uniform costs the soldier more $ than the old style camo?
I can't speak for cost per uniform (the old BDUs were almost completely gone when I came in), b ut the ACUs only have a "life expectancy" of six months. Which is bad, because you only get a uniform stipend every year, and it isn't enough to cover all of your uniforms. Hell, in my first unit we generally had one or two uniforms we wore all the time to the office, and a couple that we used on FTXs (field training exercises) because they were in horrible shape with a bunch of stains that wouldn't come out.
The old BDU, from what I heard, was a royal pain. The ACU doesn't require starching and ironing like the BDU did. The ACU also has a royal crap ton of pockets. Two breast pockets, two shoulder pockets, 3 pen mini-pockets; and the pants have two back pockets, 2 hip pockets, 2 cargo pockets, and a shin pocket. Hell, the ACU patrol cap even has a small pocket inside of it. If it had any more pockets the pockets would have pockets... Pockets.
Anyhue, yeah, I think I prefer the relatively low maintenance needs of the ACU.
Well, I've officially been out since January of last year, so this doesn't impact me. However, I definitely see it as a step in the right direction. I had two ACU tops stolen in Basic, if there was a name sewn on them the odds of them being stolen would have been pretty close to zero (though the thief might have stolen socks or t-shirts instead).
I have mixed feelings on the beret. We weren't allowed to wear it in Basic, so one part of me sees symbolic meaning in the damnable piece of crap. OTOH, it is one of the most impractical pieces of headgear ever conceived.
I went to basic when we still had sew on name tapes, it didn't deter theft in the slightest. Hell someone even stole my dirty drawers.
Anyway, I really like the velcro optional idea. Some people love it and some hate it. This gives them the best of both worlds. Personally, I love it. If I **** up my uniform, I can grab a brand new one and have it ready to go in 5 minutes. I've been an individual augmentee where I had to change my patch to whatever unit I was supporting at the time. I've often been in situations where it was best to sterilize the uniform. Velcro made all that a lot easier. Not to mention that then all your gear started coming with velcro too so you didn't have to get your nametape sewn on your rucksack, your assault pack, your camelback, etc. The only thing I hated velcro on was the pockets. It wore out way too quickly and then the pocket flaps just hung open.
However, I always hated the pin-on skill badges. I will be happy to see sew-on returning for those. I haven't been wearing any of my badges since they switched away from that.
As for the beret, I hated that thing. It was the most worthless piece of headgear. It was too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, offered no protection from sun or wind. Let the guys who want it (airborne, ranger, etc) wear it, and leave everyone else alone. It's fine for class As or Bs or even for semiformal stuff (like division review or ceremonies where you're still in ACUs) but other than that it just doesn't fit with a utility uniform. I was in before we started wearing that crap and I'm surprised it took this long to get rid of it. We thought it would change back as soon as Shinseki retired. Then again, when you have a Chief of Staff who insists that he can count on one hand the number of soldiers who have complained about the beret (because at his level he always deals with the average soldier, not to mention that I'm sure so many people he meets are actually willing to tell him he's ****ed up, oh and let's not forget that his aids used to enter the room ahead of him to tell people what questions they were allowed to ask), well what do you expect?
I'm still waiting to see what camo pattern we go to next, since the UCP is useless. It's funny how even the Natick camo lab recommended against it and said it scored near the bottom in every category, yet the Army still chose it over more effective patterns. Now we're issuing multicam for Afghanistan only but because it is a proprietary pattern the Army has said there is almost no chance of it being permanent. So now we have to wait for them to pick something else.
There has been talk of taking the marine MARPAT, but the Marine Corps is throwing a hissy fit and saying it belongs to them and no one else can use it. I'm sorry, but if it can help your fellow servicemembers, that's the wrong time to be acting like a spoiled child. Not that it matters, the Army has already said if they settle on that they'll use it regardless of what the marines say, but it's kind of ****ed up that they would even try to play that card.
However, I always hated the pin-on skill badges. I will be happy to see sew-on returning for those. I haven't been wearing any of my badges since they switched away from that.
Do you have any ides how disturbing it is to see a 1SG from the Corps of Engineers with an Expert marksmanship badge for GRENADE LAUNCHER?! That dude seriously scared the piss out of me...
There has been talk of taking the marine MARPAT, but the Marine Corps is throwing a hissy fit and saying it belongs to them and no one else can use it. I'm sorry, but if it can help your fellow servicemembers, that's the wrong time to be acting like a spoiled child. Not that it matters, the Army has already said if they settle on that they'll use it regardless of what the marines say, but it's kind of ****ed up that they would even try to play that card.
What do you expect? The USMC is the same branch that (literally) dragged the M-16 through the mud in Vietnam so that they could go back to their trusty M1.
Well the M16 does infact Suck. And so does the M4 family.
It's very accurate. But compared to a lot of its competitors it's heavier, uses a smaler round, is more prone to jamming, is more difficult to maintain, and is more expensive.
I'd rather have a weapon that misses abit more often, but will actually put a target down when it hits, and won't jam the second dirt even looks at my weapon funny.
So, it does infact suck :-p
I'd rather have a weapon that misses abit more often, but will actually put a target down when it hits, and won't jam the second dirt even looks at my weapon funny.
Actually, when it was designed, it had knock-down power. LBJ dumbed it down. I used to know a guy who was at Ft. Benning when they test-fired it for him. A 20-round clip detroyed a 2x2x2 ft solid concrete block.
The weapon is just vastly overcomplicated for what it needs to do which is what makes it so utterly failure prone.
They are best off just ditching the M4, and M16 families and starting over.
Do you have any ides how disturbing it is to see a 1SG from the Corps of Engineers with an Expert marksmanship badge for GRENADE LAUNCHER?! That dude seriously scared the piss out of me...
Wrong uniform. I'm talking about pin-on badges on the ACUs. Marksmanship badges are not worn on the ACUs. And seriously, why does that scare you?
What do you expect? The USMC is the same branch that (literally) dragged the M-16 through the mud in Vietnam so that they could go back to their trusty M1.
I don't think I blame them. Not a fan of the M16. The M4 is slightly better just because of weight and mobility, but still not very impressive.
I hated them damn things...
The black boots.
I hated them damn things...
I am so glad they are gone. I hope they stay dead. Some of the old crusty bastards that haven't been forced out yet (they are still just starting to phase QMP back in) are already calling to bring back starched uniforms and shined boots. According to them, that's how you tell someone is a good soldier. In my experience, it's been a way for people that couldn't do anything else to brown nose their way up the ranks. Why actually bother to learn your job when the 1SG can see his face in your boots?