U.S. Army Service Uniform
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Army Service Uniform will be the "newest" service uniform to be adopted Army-wide after Fall of 2011, replacing two uniforms already in use – the "Army Green" uniform and the "Army White" uniform. The "new" uniform was announced in 2006 by current Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker, and will serve as the U.S. Army's dress, garrison, and ceremonial uniform. Once phased in, the only green uniform that will see service in the U.S. Armed Forces will be the "Marine Green" uniform (a slightly darker shade of olive drab) worn for service/garrison duty by members of the U.S. Marine Corps, along with U.S. Navy personnel (hospital corpsmen, doctors, nurses, and chaplains) attached to the Fleet Marine Force.
Contents |
[edit] Description of New Uniform
As of 2006, it is complete speculation as to what the final uniform will look like, but using the current "Army Blue" uniform as a model the uniform will be somewhat resemble the dress and campaign uniforms worn by Army personnel during the American Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Spanish-American War prior to the introduction of khaki uniforms in the 1890's (phased out in 1985) and olive drab (OD) uniforms in 1902 (phased out and replaced with "Army Green" in 1955-57), making the blue uniform a dress uniform. As to distinguish enlisted personnel and NCOs from officers, the uniform will have some adaptations to reflect their status.
[edit] NCOs & Enlisted Personnel
The new "Army Service Uniform" for NCOs and Enlisted personnel will most likely consist of the current regulation "Army Blue" coat, which is a four-button open-front coat similar in cut to the current "Army Green" uniform, but trimmed with gold for the sleeve cuffs and shoulder epaulets. A white dress shirt and black necktie is worn with the uniform coat, as well as sky blue trousers with a gold 1¼-inch stripe down each leg; the stripes being reserved only for NCOs (Corporals to Sergeants Major) in a manner similar to that of the U.S. Marine Corps use of the scarlet "blood stripes" for their enlisted ranks.
The black beret and ribbon bars would most likely be worn for most garrison situations with the enlisted "Army Blue" combination cap (a blue cap with two gold stripes at the visor, and bearing a black-colored "chinstrap" and U.S. Army insignia on a disc), full-size medals, and a ceremonial "pistol belt" being reserved only for more formal events, and a black bowtie and miniature medals for dinner dress events. Rank chevrons will be worn on both sleeves, as well as diagonal service stripes indicating 3 years of service at the bottom of each sleeve.
[edit] Commissioned & Warrant Officers
Commissioned & Warrant Officers will wear a uniform identical to that of the NCO/Enlisted uniform, except that the sleeve piping is replaced with a broad gold stripe on each sleeve, with a narrower stripe of the Officer's branch-of-service in the middle. In place of the shoulder epaulets, officers will wear their rank on rectangular shoulder straps bearing the individual's rank on a branch-colored background. The shirt, necktie, and trousers are identical to that of the NCO/Enlisted uniform, except that the stripes will have a 1½-inch gold stripe instead of the narrower 1¼-inch stripes.
For garrison wear, it is anticipated that the beret and ribbons will be worn, with the officer's version of the saucer cap, medals, and "pistol belt" being worn for formal events. Similar in appearance to the enlisted cap, the officer's saucer cap differs in that the visor bears a gold-colored chinstrap, and decorative branch-of-service stripes simiar to the sleeve stripes of the coat. In addition, field-grade officers (Majors to Colonels) will also have the distinctive "scrambled eggs" on the visor itself. Dinner dress will also be identical, with the possibility of the more formal "mess dress" being retained for state occasions.
[edit] General Officers
General Officer uniforms will be identical in appearance to the Commissioned/Warrant Officer uniforms, except for the following changes:
- The sky blue trousers will be replaced with trousers in the same color as the coat and bearing two 1-inch gold stripes down each leg.
- The sleeve cuffs will have a solid gold stripe in place of the two-colored branch-of-service stripes. This is due to the fact that General Officers do not belong to a particular branch (exceptions including the Surgeon General of the Army and the Chief of Engineers, the former wearing the caduceus insignia and the latter wearing the "gold castles" worn by Army engineer officers).
- The combination or "saucer" cap worn for formal occasions will have an additional braid of "scrambled eggs" in place of the branch-of-service braid as used on the lower-ranking officers.
- All General Officer rank insignia will be on black backgrounds.
[edit] Female Personnel
Female personnel, from Private up to General Officers, will have female versions of their respective uniforms. Currently, the female "Army Blue" uniforms are worn with a skirt, unlike their female Marine counterparts who have access to slacks for formation wear. The new Army Service Uniform will have either a dark blue skirt or sky blue slacks available for female personnel to wear, depending upon the situation of the nature that requires either item to be worn.
