Where Are Their Priorities?

[fontman]

Where Are Their Priorities?
By Paul Connors

The United States is a nation at war and it is a war with no fronts, one that doesn't respect the differences between combatants and innocent civilians. The war we find ourselves in is one that has already made tremendous demands on our personnel and the financial treasures that pay to maintain our defense establishment. In the midst of this all-encompassing conflict, we also have senior uniformed leaders and their staffs who still manage to find the time to dilly-dally with rather unimportant issues like uniform re-designs.

Recently, the Air Staff of the United States Air Force floated an idea (again) that the junior service's dress uniform just wasn't military enough and that the dress coat needed further review and/or replacement. This new project came hard on the heels of the still "not quite finalized" redesign of the Air Force's new battle dress uniform. Two potential designs for the dress coat were submitted and were recently available for viewing courtesy of major coverage in AIR FORCE TIMES. According to Air Force Chief of Staff, General T. Michael Moseley, both coat designs were being considered as a nod to the service's heritage. The first coat harkens back to the days of the Air Service of the Signal Corps during WW I and features a high "choker" collar that will immediately remind viewers of the dress uniforms worn by the Marine Corps and the choker whites worn by officers in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. The second uniform, in the same color, is somewhat more modern, with lengthened lapels and a belt and is a tribute of sorts to the uniform worn by members of the Army Air Force during WW II. Of the two, it would be my preference because it does look more military and doesn't have a high choker collar that would not be comfortable in hot weather. In addition, it looks more like a uniform coat than what the service wears now, what one airman called a "cheesy suit coat, rather than a uniform."

The problem with the suggestions for a new look at the service dress coat is that it comes at a time when there are other, more pressing issues facing the Air Force. Some of them include another major downsizing, proving once again, that of the five services, it is the nation's youngest that just can't seem to manage its workforce relative to such other issues as weapons systems acquisitions, maintenance and expeditionary deployments. In the meantime, while generals with too much time on their hands squander valuable time and money trying to determine which uniform makes a better impression, approximately 56,000 airmen, officers and civilian employees in the active Air Force, Guard and Air Force Reserve Command may be looking for other places to work. As a result, a nation at war in numerous locations around the world will have to make do with a smaller, less potent Air Force.

Lest anyone think that I am singling out or picking on the Air Force, rest assured that I am not. The nation's Army has also been experimenting with fashion design and it was also recently announced that Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker has ordered the phase out of the existing Dress Green service uniform in favor of the current Dress Blue uniform. Announcing his decision with the qualifying statement that most members of the Army already own "dress blues," General Schoomaker stated that the recent reduction in the number of uniforms will ultimately make it easier for soldiers and officers to stretch their uniform buying dollars. Yes, the Army has eliminated the woodland and desert BDUs in favor of the new Army Camouflage Uniform (one that still has too much green in it for effective use in the desert), but the establishment of the dress blue uniform as the service's everyday service uniform means that currently serving soldiers will have to lay out significant funds to purchase it.

Prior to the announcement, the Army had considered a return to its World War II service dress uniform, one that was inherently more practical and reflective of the nation's republican origins. The WW II "pinks and greens" were far more attractive because they were simple and unlike the green disaster inflicted on the Army by folks who favored the look of the German Wehrmacht, with its high crowned dress cap, badges all over the place, the older uniform was also more functional. During WW II there was a difference in the quality of uniforms worn by officers and enlisted members, whereas today, members of the U.S. Army in fully decked out greens look more like characters from some poorly staged Sig Romberg operetta.

I do not mean to disparage my comrades in the Army because it was the service I started my military career in. Likewise, I do not mean to disparage my brothers and sisters in the Air Force, because that is the service where I will finish my career (in the Air National Guard). As a taxpayer (and citizen) what I find most distressing is that too many Chiefs of Staff and their supporting staffs seem to feel an overbearing need to leave a legacy of their own imprimatur on the service they lead. Over the last fifteen years, the USAF has had more variations in its service dress uniform than it did from the day of its establishment in 1947 until General Merrill A. McPeak started the process while the Air Force was engaged in Operation Desert Storm.

But the silliness, abuse and waste did not end with McPeak's retirement. The constant changes continued with his successors and they continue to this day under General Moseley. For its part, the Army's service uniform, unchanged but still a gaudy caricature of its Wermacht antecedents remained constant from its introduction in the 1950s up until General Schoomaker's recent announcements.

Active duty members of the military do not get much of a say in the high level considerations that have a daily effect on what they do, where they serve and what is in store for their careers. Now, when the country is fighting what amounts to a war for its very survival, we have senior officers who have nothing better to do than make fashion statements for their subordinates. Oh sure, the Army and the Air Force have these "focus groups" and websites where service members can comment, but is there anyone out there so naïve, that they think the Chiefs of Staff listen to the more vocal critics of bad ideas?

I've never been a Marine, but I have served with a lot of them and respect that service and its traditions. One of the things I admire about the USMC is their "true" respect for their traditions and that they don't try to fix things that aren't broken. A case in point are their uniforms. The dress green uniform has remained basically unchanged since its introduction in the early days of WW II. The dress uniform is also unchanged. Where the Marines do experiment is with their field uniforms and equipment, but that is an area where they also excel. The current Marine BDU comes in two versions, one for woodland climates and one for desert. There is that allowance for differences in climate and vegetation, something the Army and Air Force denies in principle with the selection of a "multi-purpose, do-it-all battle dress uniform.

In the meantime, the other issues faced by both the Army and Air Force remain unsolved as the two services continue to stretch the limits of good will and the paychecks of their members. It is unfortunate that members of the Congress and the civilians who ultimately call the shots in the Pentagon just don't put a stop to the wasteful and costly pet projects of the few who will not have to live with the folly of their decisions.

[rproctor922]

"Announcing his decision with the qualifying statement that most members of the Army already own "dress blues," General Schoomaker stated that the recent reduction in the number of uniforms will ultimately make it easier for soldiers and officers to stretch their uniform buying dollars."

Yeah right. When I was in even our 1Sgt didn't have a set of Dress Blues. The only enlisted that I knew had a set was our CSM.

[Mike McIntyre]

You are so right, Fontman!

My father was in the Corps from 1940 through 1946 (Enlisted). He went to OCS in 1947 in the Army Air Corps. He retired from the Air Force in 1964 as a Major. He loved the Marine Corps Uniform, tolerated the Army Air Corps, and hated the “Business Suite”, as he called it, Air Force Uniform. He was buried in 2005 as Marine by Marines.

He was RIFed (reduction in force) even though he put in for NAM and had combat experience, something they GREATLY lacked in the 60’s. The Air Force wanted to be high tech and all college grads. Like today, they were very young.

I too think that new uniforms are a HUGE waist of money. Where is the money to rearm the Humvees? Where is the needed battle armor? Why not increase the pay and bring in a few new boots to give the men and women in the field a break?

We keep downsizing just as the rest of the world is facing chaos!!!!!