If you were inspected by yesterday's Marine, would they approve of what you wear?

[William Hardy]

SSGT Petzold - You are preaching to the chior....the one's that you are trying to get through to are sleeping in the pews.

I have learned that it is very hard to get through to the younger generation...personal appearance in uniform or in civilian attire reflects that person's personality. You can show personal pride and confidence in yourself or tell everyone you could care less. You can show you are a mature adult or in immature imbecile. PERSONAL APPEARANCE IS IMPORTANT.

LT - I take it you meant over and not of?

[Petz]

gunny, I am pretty sure the photo on the right there is of you in the nam... but I have to say... it's reminiscent of the beverly hillbillies.....

[Isrowei]

LT - I take it you meant over and not of?

Aye, oops.

[jerryk]

when i was in you better look right on liberty or the mp,s would take you back to base and you shore didnt get lippy with one either

[William Hardy]

SSGT Petzold - You're not too far off....As I recall, they (the writers) said Jed was from Tennessee...since I live in Tennessee...guilty as charged....LOL Truth be said, while were talking about appearance on this thread,...I needed a haircut...that is probably the longest my hair had been before or since....even now I sport a extra close cut.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Yep. I recall those days as well. At Subic Bay, PI, if you tried to come back in the main gate after a nite 'on the town', out of 'proper civilian attire', you got 'gigged' at the gate (I still have the old offense reports on Marines to prove it LOL) for not wearing a belt, improper shirts, cut off shorts, etc. They got their Libo cards yanked after getting picked up by the DNCO. That was a pretty bad punishment THERE for sure.

Stateside I can recall plenty of Marines getting a 'talking to' out in town by SNCOs for improper civilian attire, although we didn't have liberty cards.

This debate has been going on for well nigh 20 years (or more).

And yes, I'd pass a liberty muster when I 'go out in town'. And yes, as an NCO I corrected Marines who looked like they were 'back on the block', and most of them were none too happy about it, either. But it's what we are supposed to DO, and who we ARE, dangit.

[redman1]

Good Thread, Ellie
Being a Marine took for me and I still act and look like a Marine. I owe everything to the Corps.
Semper Fi Redman1

[Marine1955]

The one thing I loved and remember was the liberty card, cause you had to be squared away before you could get one and they would inspect you prior to going to town. If you didn't have the civilian clothes to where you wore your uniform and it had to be the right one for the day and time of the year.I may not look like I did but I remember what went on there.

[Warbyrd13]

This is incorrect.
It is a security issue to be wearing your cammies out in town.

You are allowed to wear cammies when dropping off children at daycare.
As to the proper wear of a cover, that falls on the personal discipline of the Marine in question.

Someone needs to wake that Cpl. up.
If she wants something done it needs to start with her.

I don't dress like a slob, but it isn't 1960 and the USMC needs to realize that.
I get the particular feeling that most of the USMC doesn't pay attention when they do the Terrorism Awareness MCI.

Pete brought up some good points on this subject.

Marines can wear jeans and a shirt and have a normal squared away apperance. You don't need a collared shirt to be squared away. I wear pants that are a little baggy but then again I like to have a comfortable feel in my pants. I wear button down shirts or t-shirts when i go out. I have only recently began to were slacks and a collared shirt becuase that is what we wear at the office. I do not wear oversized clothes or let my boxers hang out. I did correct the idiots who did. Fashion fads is not what we do in the Marines. Wearing of civy clothes out in town is a privilage not a right. There has been several Marines restricted to thier service uniforms beucase they could not adhere to proper standerds.

The Cpl who wrote this article needs to do thier research more on where we can wear utlity uniform at. But then again it seems to flip flop every couple years.

And Pete brings up a good point. We should be aware of our surroundings and how we dress and how we act becuase you realy never know who is watching you. In today's day and age we should blend in our area more and make it harder for people to know we a military if they are targeting military personal. Just food for thought.

[Wheels123]

Ever hear the term, "Raggedy Assed Marines." Check your history back to WWII, Guadalcanal.
The guys at 8th and I are paid to look and march pretty.
In the FMF we were paid to fight. I think that's still the standard.
I was inspected by MOH winner Gen. David M. Shoup, one mean Marine, when he commanded the 3rd MarDiv on Okinawa. It was about 100 degrees, our khakis (look up khakis) were soaked with sweat. He thought we were fine because the 9th Marines was the toughest outfit in the Far East. That was what we were paid to do.

The Medal of Honor isn't something you win. It is something you are awarded.

[Rowdy1948]

Looks like a lot of things have changed since i was in 60s and 70s seems like the dress code has slipped a little which i don't agree with. semper Fi.

[William Hardy]

If it's not one thing, it's another..I already posted how I felt, but just to give a few examples....
Back in the 60s-70s haircuts were a big issue with all the long hair hippies running around...it was easy to tell military from civilian. Today it's different...lots of civilians wear short or bald styles.
There was also the issue too - short trousers...lot's of Marines use to get gigged for it, but the civilian fashion was high quarters so you could show that your socks matched your shirt.
Point is..times change and proper civilian dress changes with it.....

A Marine has to draw the line and not go overboard...sagging paints and showing your butt crack...goes for female Marines also..don't dress the tramp...make yourself and the Corps proud so that 30 or 40 years down the line you can log on tell your story of how squared away you were.

[Warbyrd13]

The Medal of Honor isn't something you win. It is something you are awarded.

Maybe the Cpl who wrote this has not have the privlage in meeting Col Fox yet and asked that question. like i said the Cpl needs to do more research on the subject.

And to be honest we are talking about what soceity deems proper wear for men and women. i am afriad to think what people will be wearing 50 years from now. Considering men used to have long hair and wear earings. grooming and clothes keep changing during time so people shouldn't get too worked up about it.

We can always look at the fashion designers and the people who promote those people. Just think about all the gay men that design the clothes for men and women. All the rich people who have too much time and money on thier hands that debate what looks good. to be honest these people are a joke.


A good pair of pants, shoes and a shirt is all you need. Nothing more or nothing less.

[nvusmcsgt]

I think a lot of this has to do with the leadership in the Marine Corps. If our leadership allows for these Marines to get away with it then we need to do something about the leadership. We all know that some people push the limit just to see where the limit is. If they keep getting away with it they will continue to push further and further. NCO's and up need to start laying the smack down a little more and reel in the knuckleheads. Semper Fi

[jdelapaz]

I have found even recruiters while in uniform violating all our protocols and traditions. That is sad.