Silent Drill Platoon and their Blues.

[itzs4m]

does anyone know if the silent drill platoon take out the shoulder pads from their blues? in the pics I find it looks like they don't have shoulder pads.



and I like the way it looks.

[8th&I Marine]

There are NO shoulder pads in the Blues. At least when I was there we didnt have them and I had 3 sets of them.

Cantrell

[hillbillyjar]

There are NO shoulder pads in the Blues. At least when I was there we didnt have them and I had 3 sets of them.

Cantrell

A well cut Marine in a well cut Uniform; that's all it is. No padding needed.

The picture you show of the Silent Drill Team, shows the lead Marine with his right shoulder dropped. His left is still squared. I was never a member of an Elite Drill Team, but in my place, I did learn to take visual instruction.

Perhaps that is what you are seeing?

[Sgt Leprechaun]

No padding. None in the blues today, none in the blues of the 1960's, none in the blues of WWII, nor the 20's, nor WWI. The Field service uniform, that our 'blues' are descended from, didn't have any, either.

Trust me...I can lay my hands on, within hours, blues from EVERY one of those eras, and I have a set of 1920's blues that are partially coming apart in my kitchen right now, NO padding. Some batting but not enough to be considered 'padding'.

The 'Alpha' blouse of today does have some padding in the shoulders. Not much, but some.

[usmc3521]

do you not have a set of blues??

[itzs4m]

do you not have a set of blues??

I do. there's a small piece of white cloth around the epaulets, my shoulders are broad so I was thinking about take that white piece of cloth out would give me a better fit and a cleaner look.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

That small bit of batting, if you remove it, will likely cause the blouse to 'droop' in the wrong places. Realistically, you also stand the chance of having the sleeve(s) fall off or the seams come loose.

If you are going to have it done and you feel it's that urgent, then have a professional tailor do it.

It's not 'padding' per se, but there to assist in joining the seams and sleeves as well as give a 'squared off' look.

You might just consider having a tailor work on your blouse, it almost sounds to me like it's fitted incorrectly.

[jms22]

No padding. Although the blues are out of regs, there are a few adjustments we get done here at 8th & I.

They put hooks on the back, for the belt to sit on. Also, I know I have mine like this (not everyone gets them) but there is a small section of dark mesh/elastic sewn into the armpits. We are able to raise our arms over our head, instead of the normal no flexibility.

[Supersquishy]

No padding. Although the blues are out of regs, there are a few adjustments we get done here at 8th & I.

They put hooks on the back, for the belt to sit on. Also, I know I have mine like this (not everyone gets them) but there is a small section of dark mesh/elastic sewn into the armpits. We are able to raise our arms over our head, instead of the normal no flexibility.

I heard you guys duct tape the cover to your head. Makes sense with all the sh1t you all throw around.

[jms22]

I heard you guys duct tape the cover to your head. Makes sense with all the sh1t you all throw around.

Haha. I'm not in SDP, but we do keep rolled up masking tape (called "shot tape" here) in the front and back of our covers normally. Leaves the worst cover bite imaginable too - get some nice lines that last for a couple hours on your forehead.

[8th&I Marine]

If I remeber correctly that small piece of cloth covers a hole in the blouse. the hole is there to aid you in taking the brass off for when you have your uniform cleaned.

Cantrell

[8th&I Marine]

The tape we used on our trousers. We would tape our trousers to our under shirt so your trousers were where they needed to be at attention.

Cantrell

[Hotel4341]

No padding. Although the blues are out of regs, there are a few adjustments we get done here at 8th & I.

They put hooks on the back, for the belt to sit on.

My understanding was this alteration is actually in regs, even if you leave MBW.

[itzs4m]

this was what i was talking about, this is a picture of me in my blues and as you can see in the red circle there kind of like a dip, i'm trying to figure a away to get the nice straight flow, without that dip.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Interesting. More interesting (to me, anyway) is that epaullette...is that a REAL one? (i.e. Not sewn down but a functional strap??)

Realistically....if you are in the FMF very few...if any...people are going to comment on the 'dip'. Heck, if you hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn't have even noticed it.