The new "Brown Army"

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Typical military, always emphasizing eyewash and trivia to cover up serious problems. In 1958 or so they introduced the Army Green uniform as part of the "New Look" at the same time they adopted the Pentomic Division-a disaster-and the "up or out " promotion system for officers-another disaster.

 

[UncleEd]

Typical military, always emphasizing eyewash and trivia to cover up serious problems. In 1958 or so they introduced the Army Green uniform as part of the "New Look" at the same time they adopted the Pentomic Division-a disaster-and the "up or out " promotion system for officers-another disaster.

The Pentomic didn't last long as it was a mistake
but the "up or out" I believe was a way of getting
rid of dead weight officers who were repeatedly
passed over.

Perhaps it was wrong. But if an
officer, say a captain, expected to stay in until he
was fifty was also sort of ludicrous. Many younger
officers were there to take over companies, battalions,
regiments or just a grander clerking or staff job.

RIFing or
reduction in force was an age-old Army practice.

 

[straightshooter1]

The new brown uniforms look pretty cool, especially since I am now waaaaay too old to ever have to wear one again.

And I must say I never liked the greens, but the Khakis, either the long sleeved shirt and tie or the short sleeved shirt with no tie looked really good IF it was pressed well.

Bob

 

[bigwheelzip]

My FIL looked like this WWII.

I'm OCD about sepia tones. Edited the sepia tones out of the photo.

 

[UncleEd]

I doubled checked about something
that I thought was missing in the new
uniform and I guess I'm correct.

The Lt. Gen. at West Point graduation
had the new "crumpled" hat and its
visor seems smaller than previously and
no SCRAMBLED EGGS.

Other than MacArthur, I don't ever recall
seeing scrambled eggs on WWII Army hats
either. I like that plain touch. Wonder if
it'll hold up.

 

[ancient-one]

Obviously you are forgetting the Coast Guard transition from the traditional sailor's uniform to the "Bender Blues" in 1974. We went from being asked "What country are you from?" when we wore our flat hat to being asked "What time does the bus stop here?"

Give me the bell bottom dungrees and chambray shirt or the tropical white dress any day. I'd even take the 13 button fly and jumper on the Navy wool class A over the Bender blues!

The dungrees and chambray shirt were not bad but dress whites were a pain to keep clean and the dress blues very uncomfortable and a PIA when when you needed to drain your bladder.

 

[H Richard]

Most any of those uniforms would be better than the buss driver USAF Blues (back in the 60's). The summer 505 Bush Jacket was another waste. Once past basic, everyone gravitated to Army fatigues.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Last meaningful change in Army uniforms was when they dropped the Ridgway hat and then adopted the permanent dress fatigues. Veterans of that period said the only thing you could do

with a Ridgway hat was wear it, the permanent press fatigues were easier to wash and EM weren't being hassled and harassed over "breaking starch"-at their expense. Not that fond of BDUs, etc. Their camouflage value is "greatly exaggerated"-but they make it easier to hide a gut.

 

[ameridaddy]

The uniform article i couldn't stand was the Army green class A summer go to the office shirt. Made us look seasick.

 

[steveno]

In March 1972 there was 4 of us going back to Scott AFB for C-9A avionics training. We were deciding which uniform to wear as in dress blues or the khaki uniform. Supposedly there was a rule that in the cold months you had to wear blues and in the hot months you could wear khakis and but wasn't followed very closely at Rhein Main AB. We decided that we would wear khakis with the flight hat (I can't use the slang term here) that you could tuck under the belt.

We flew into McGuire AFB in New Jersey and we got a lot of strange looks because everybody else wearing blues. The next day we flew into Scott AFB. I think everybody and their brother wanted to write us up for being out of uniform. It didn't get any better because we were also wearing short sleeve fatigue shirts as well.

There always some TDY guys in the shop from other bases and they said we had it easy at Rhein Main AB. Before we went on TDY didn't believe them. After getting back I believed that and felt sorry for them.

 

[Rustyt1953]

The four years I was in, I wore mostly pickle suites or white coveralls. (Flight line).

I don't think I wore my dress blues or 1505's more than a dozen times.

 

[Donn]

Does that mean dress blues are gone?

Randy

No. Blues are class A, the new "Pinks & Greens," class B. My son's not happy about it, another $800-$1000 for not only the uni's, but all brown accessories, boots, low quarters, and belts. Corcoran still makes brown jump boots. He's airborne, so they'll be added to the list.

 

[UncleEd]

No. Blues are class A, the new "Pinks & Greens," class B. My son's not happy about it, another $800-$1000 for not only the uni's, but all brown accessories, boots, low quarters, and belts. Corcoran still makes brown jump boots. He's airborne, so they'll be added to the list.

I take it your son is an officer. It seems like there ought
be an "extra" clothing allowance since it's a new and I
suppose required uniform. Hate to think your son gets
stuck for the cost. Or is it the government just factors
in that that's part of the monthly pay for an officer which
he accepted on being commissioned?

 

[Rustyt1953]

Right after tech school, I embraced the world of Corfams.

No more Shinola stains on my khakis.

 

[Steve912]

I thought that the Khaki Class B, especially when well-pressed, looked much sharper, and I was sad when that was phased out.

Khaki's and bloused jump boots, sharp!

 

[Steve912]

Last meaningful change in Army uniforms was when they dropped the Ridgway hat and then adopted the permanent dress fatigues. Veterans of that period said the only thing you could do

with a Ridgway hat was wear it, the permanent press fatigues were easier to wash and EM weren't being hassled and harassed over "breaking starch"-at their expense. Not that fond of BDUs, etc. Their camouflage value is "greatly exaggerated"-but they make it easier to hide a gut.

The permanent-press pickle suits were good for garrison
troops. If you were a grunt, they were awful. Front pockets
would load with sand or mud, depending on environment.
The civvy style zipper would lock up with grit, since it only
had a half-inch wide flap covering it. Exposed buttons on
shirt front caught every twig and vine.

The BDU's (in original weight) were hot, but a big
improvement over the pickle suit. Buttons were
covered, pockets had flaps to keep junk out, and
the button fly didn't jam with grit.

And there was no comparison between visibility, wearing
the straight OG, vs. woodland camo. You could spot guys
in straight OG in a woodline from a hundred yards. With
BDU's, easy to miss from fifty yards or less.

 

[Muley Gil]

Marines always have the best looking uniforms.

 

[REM 3200]

Pinks and Greens for ever!! Dave_n

Y'all realize that Pinks and Greens was an Officers only uniform.
They were never worn by enlisted, until now.

IMO, the best looking uniform the Army had was the tan Tropical Worsted,
first worn in the brown shoe Army, then carried over to the black shoe Army.
It was an optional uniform that a soldier, Officer or Enlisted could purchase.
I wore the TW's in the mid to late 60s.

 

[UncleEd]

Regarding the "brown shoe Army" vs
the "black shoe Army," an officer told
me that the brown shoes could be a
joke. This was because so many shades
of brown could be worn though the
military favored a particular shade
of polish made by Kiwi.

 

[REM 3200]

Regarding the "brown shoe Army" vs
the "black shoe Army," an officer told
me that the brown shoes could be a
joke. This was because so many shades
of brown could be worn though the
military favored a particular shade
of polish made by Kiwi.

My Dad was in the Army from 1931 to 1961. First 10 years Enlisted, the next 20 as an Commissioned Officer. The "Brown Shoe" was no joke, but because Officers must supply there own uniforms a small latitude was granted. The Officers that I knew all bought their uniforms at the post clothing sales store because of price. The shoes there the same for all, Officers and Enlisted, therefore all were the same shade of brown.