According to these photos, it appears the AF is getting some new uniforms.
A little too similar to the Marine Corps Dress Blues?
New AF uniform vs Marine Dress Blues (thanks gogators)
According to these photos, it appears the AF is getting some new uniforms.
A little too similar to the Marine Corps Dress Blues?
New AF uniform vs Marine Dress Blues (thanks gogators)
Comments
18 responses to “New Air Force uniforms?”
everybody wanna be like us
From Stars and Stripes:
ARLINGTON, Va. — After hearing a planeload of complaints about the “bus driver†look of the Air Force’s dress blue uniform, Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley has launched a project to find out what airmen might like to wear instead.
To start the discussion, the Air Force Uniform Board has created two prototypes for airmen to critique, each based on the garb favored by two of the service’s most famous men: Billy Mitchell, who is often called the “father of American airpower,†and Hap Arnold, the modern Air Force’s first general.
Airmen have almost universally loathed the dress uniform since 1991, when Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Merrill McPeak overhauled the jacket to reflect what he said was a “cleaner†appearance.
The most common complaint is that the resulting uniform looks “like a cheap business suit,†Senior Master Sgt. Dana Athnos, a member of the Air Force Uniform Board.
“When a Marine walks through the airport, everyone knows he’s in the military,†Athnos told Stars and Stripes on Thursday.
“But when [airmen] walk through the airport, people think we’re wearing business suits, or we’re flight attendants — it just doesn’t have a military appearance, compared to the other services.â€
After Moseley was sworn in as the Air Force’s chief of staff in September, he directed the Uniform Board to begin the long process of adopting a new uniform, “using our heritage as a starting point,†Athnos said.
The resulting Mitchell prototype includes a distinctive stand-up collar, similar to the collar on the Marine Corps dress mess uniform and reflective of the World War I, Prussian military influence that dominated U.S. military uniforms in Mitchell’s time.
The Hap Arnold prototype has a belt, a vented back, wide lapels, and is “stitch-for-stitch identical†to the World War II Army Air Corps’ “pinks and greens†uniform, Athnos said.
The Uniform Board will select a new dress uniform using the same process it used to choose the new Airman’s Battle Uniform, Athnos said.
The next step is send a survey to hundreds of airmen, asking for their opinions on the dress uniform. The survey should be out within the next 60 days, she said.
The Air Force is also planning to set up a Web site that will be open to anyone who wants to comment on the issue, either inside or outside the service.
In the meantime, the Air Force has set up a special feedback e-mail address just for Stripes readers: uniformfeedback@pentagon.af.mil (see more details at end of story).
This fall, the Uniform Board will meet and discuss all of the feedback, Athnos said. The prototype uniforms will then be changed accordingly, and the results sent to a select group of airmen for wear testing, and the feedback process will begin again.
Like the utility uniform, the dress uniform will go through many changes before Air Force leadership decides to adopt a final look, Athnos said.
“The important thing for people to remember is that nothing is set in stone yet,†she said. “Absolutely everything is on the table,†including the precise color of the fabric, the color, shape, and design of the buttons, pocket placement, the belt question, the collar – “gazillions of details.â€
“We can go anywhere or nowhere with this,†Athnos said. “Gen. Moseley is very concerned with making sure this us what the service wants.â€
It might be a snazzy pick for a uniform but how can we tell?
Someone thump the AF public relations folk. Next time you want to showcase a uniform concept, have on hand a tailor that can actually fit a uniform to the body in question and a body that can dress itself a bit better than a slob.
Square away that line and get that rumple and errant crease crap cleaned up.
I really hope they don’t go with this uniform. Our new ABU look gay enough as it is and now this. It Looks like a cheap star trak unifrom.
You have to be kidding right? I mean the Air Force are nothing but pencil pushers in my case. They should of stayed under the Army instead of breaking off — BAD MISTAKE!!! Roughly about 75% of the Air Force are over weight and they want them to fit into a Marine Corps looking blouse! What’s wrong the Air Force couldn’t come up with a new uniform that they had to steal the Marine Corps uniform.
So it would appear that the other branches of the military (mos notably the army and air force), prefer to immulate the US Marine Corps uniforms. The Marines were the first to have a distinct cammo uniform, of their own. Just because the uniforms look close to that of a Marine. It is the heritage and pride inside the person wear9ing the uniform counts.
I honestly don’t see the problem, I’ve been serving with the air force and the other services as part of a joint task force over seas, can’t say where, you know why. Now my big stink is that from what I have seen, the air force doesn’t even like wearing the cammo uniforms in a combat enviroment. It’s bad enough that their new PT gear sound like thunder when ever they walk anywhere, they want to take a MARINE uniform and butcher it too. The air force butchered their cammies by making a tiger stripe digital cammo, why do that. Even worse, some of these “airmen” that are complaining, are wearing tacky, bright red baseball caps in a COMBAT zone with their cammies. Real tactical. From what I heard from the real air force personel actually serving their country, most of the MOS’ are being cut back, airmen are being kicked out because there are too many airmen. If the air force wants something to fix, get rid of the college dorms the recruits stay in during BOOT CAMP, I stayed in a squad bay with close to 100 other men in my boot camp. If they honestly want to fix something, fix one thing that plagues the air “force”, have some of these fat bodies you plan on putting into MY DRESS BLUES, lose some of that weight. It’s a joke seeing a fat bod wear any uniform close to the one I EARNED. SEMPER FI
It looks good, I was in the Marines until 2006 and I think we have the best uniform and since this is similar i actually like it. It’s not really a big deal its only a uniform for those who are getting an attitude or whining. We all serve this country in one way or another and its bad enough we make jokes and bash other branches of the military when we all are connected by the same commander in chief, the same UCMJ, the same pay scale and various other similarities.
Having served in the USAF from 1970 to 1974, I have a few novel suggestions.
1. What’s wrong with going back to the old “Cold War” uniform? I found mine in the attic a few months ago and, compared to what the Air Force is wearing now, it looks great.
2. Don’t try to copy the USMC. It’s disrespectful. Stick with your Army/Air Force heritage.
3. Finally, the uniform isn’t nearly as important as the person wearing it. Improve yourselves and any uniform you choose will look better.
I’m all for a uniform change. I was on active duty when the AF came up with the pilot jacket uniform. I thought it looked awful. However, I do agree that the Marine’s have the best uniform in the world. To copy their uniform is wrong. I do wish to see more pride in the Air Force uniform. Futhermore I wish the AF would get more serious. My case is this. I was a basic training instructor, and I worked long hours and gave all I had to train the airmen correctly. After they get to their duty station it all goes down the drain. One of the reasons I ended my career was because of this. I was serius about my DUTY. People who had more rank than me was NEVER called by their first name. I was thought of as ate-up, hard core, need to step back and take a deep breath. I hope that this has changed since my honorable discharge. If the Air Force wants to emulate the Marines, do so in duty, attitude, dedication, and with pride. When this is accompllished, pride will be at an all time high and standards will rise AF wide. Please don’t get me wrong the Air Force is great and we do a great job but I do wish to see these changes.
I dislike this new concept. If anything I’d say that the USAF go for a modern look, not an old look. I’m not an expert on fashion or uniforms, but the old style pockets and belt don’t appeal to me and I do not think of WWI uniforms when i think USAF. I don’t know, it just seems contradictory that the newest branch of the military goes for the older look
Let’s set the record straight here fellow veterans. First off, the AF is NOT ripping off the Marine blood stripes. The uniform shown here is a modernized style of what Billy Mitchell wore back at the dawn of airpower, which was what the Army’s uniform was at the time. The Marine uniform has changed very little since the early days of the Corps and THAT is what is appealinig about the uniform. It is a design that is the signature of the Corps. As a DIE HARD Security Force NCO I whole heartedly agree with some of you Marines. But in being the youngest service and most underated the Air Force HAS TO find its own identity, uniform, and spirit. As you jarheads say “Once a Marine ALWAYS a Marine” and THAT is your identity. You all have worked very hard in your history to earn your reputation both bad and good. The Air Force will do the same…..eventually. I must say that I do hope for a more “military” looking uniform but there are bigger concerns out there. Afganistan, Iraq, now Libya. Osama is dead but Pakistan “could” have been helping him. The economy is crap. The politicians are hacking away at the military bit by bit, downsizing important areas/job, and up sizing the ones we really don’t need (civillians) and not upgrading our VERY old equipment across the services. We all take the same oath, we all salute the same flag, and WE ALL would die for one another and THAT is what our uniform is.
Everyone who’s upset about the copycat imitation of the Marine Corps’ beloved uniform, just calm down. If you remember a while back, the Navy tried to do the same thing. I was stationed in Miramar (3MAW) and my wife is a sailor. She was going to meetings while the Navy brass were talking about “how sharp Marines look” and they need a more “professional looking uniform.”
Turns out, it’s not the uniform that makes Marines look as sharp as they do, it’s how the Marines wear it. I guarantee that if you put a Marine in his dress blues standing next to a zoomy wearing the EXACT same uniform, you’ll clearly know who the Marine is.
The same thing happened with the Navy. I’m now out of the Marines (God, I miss it so much) and stationed here in Great Lakes. Every sailor I see wearing their “Marine wannabe” uniform, I can tell from a good click away they’re not a Marine. Shirt’s sloppy. Usually creases are everywhere. May or may not be wearing a cover. They don’t even know what a good shoe shine is!
So, fear not my fellow Marines. They can imitate us, but they’ll never be us. The title is not in the uniform, the title is earned from hundreds of years of exemplary service to this wonderful country. Marines are, and always will be, the discipline & professional appearance (among other things).
The Army wants our MARPAT, the Air Force wants our Dress Blues, whats next?
@L34th3rn3ck
That’s where your wrong, the uniform is from an old army air corps. design rightfully belonging to the af while the Marine Corps. dress blues are a knock off of the army’s service dress of the 1910’s because the original Marine Corps. uniform looked like crap so I don’t blame the change just like our AF service jacket’s LOOK LIKE CRAP
The only type of uniform I ever associated with the Air Force with (besides the Bus Drivers they wore since WWII), were the leather bomber jackets & flying jackets. Leather jackets (WWI & WWII); Bus Drivers (SAC, Cold War, etc). Rather than scalp the Corps of their uniform, perhaps the USAF should have issued a leather bomber jacket like Colonel Hogan wore on Hogan’s Heroes. Of course it wouldn’t go good with the 700 medals & ribbons the AF hands out on a weekly basis. If anything, they should steal the Army uniform, not the Corps. Semper Fi….
@Maria
the airforce has adapted a height and weight chart so the ones who are over weight have recieved an OTHER THAN DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE
I am currently serving in the air force and yes I agree that our current full dress uniform looks like cheap business men wear. But all this bashing on the fact that air force is pencil pushers, and chair force, while in some cases is correct but just means that we serve a different purpose in some AFSCs. We earn our stripes and do a lot of the same jobs that the other branches do. The only “pencil pusher” jobs are technical jobs involving highly advanced technology and cyber work that you will not understand and definitely won’t ever learn anything about. I currently am an aircraft maintainer, by no means a “pencil pushing” job. The stigma surrounding the Air Force being desk jockeys is completely irrational because 1. We all fight for the same cause 2. We all need each other to complete the mission 3. Most jobs in the Air Force you spend zero time at a desk 4. All branches have “pencil pushing” jobs. I believe that it is time for a new Air Force dress uniform and that although something to admire, resembling the Marine’s dress uniform is not the way to go. We need our own and it needs to look more military related. We all earn our stripes, we all fight the same fight, we all need each other, so why fight about something so stupid and immature. Also, there is a cut down in personnel in the Air Force, anybody who is overweight or has disciplinary paper work (LORs Art. 15 etc.) is being cut.