Army to Revisit "Pinks and Greens?"

[seanmc1114]

Just a few odds and ends

[seanmc1114]

And now a little humor. 

[Fratlanta]

not sure if it's been discussed here or not but could these "pinks" be close enough, in term of color and shape, to be used by WWII reenactors?

[seanmc1114]

Command Sergeants Major of the Judge Advocate General Center. I believe the CSM in the first photo is the same CSM in the center in the second photo. Note he is only wearing the ribbons of his decorations and Good Conduct Medal in the first photo while the CSM in the third photo is wearing his decorations, GCM and National Defense Service Medal ribbons. I'm starting to like tha trend as it really cuts down on the clutter of badges and ribbons that so many soldiers have on their uniforms now. 

 

I also assume that name plates are not being worn on the new uniforms. 

[McDermut99]

I found these photos recently of General Milley wearing what appears to be the service visor with a traditional full stiffener instead of the horrible looking "crush-style" everyone else is wearing. I've yet to find any other examples of GOs or lower ranking with this variation so it seems he's the only one bending the rules. It looks infinitely better IMO than what is issued. Why this wasn't the standard to begin with still baffles me because I'd imagine they had something like this sitting next to the crush-style, compared the two and STILL opted for the latter. Additionally, this would look even better with polished brass insignia and chinstrap buttons.

 

Also note in the fourth photo how much better and professional Milley's uniform looks with the traditional style visor compared to the Major in the background wearing the issued crush-style.

 

 

 

  

 

[Brig]

On 8/1/2021 at 10:11 AM, seanmc1114 said:

And now a little humor. 

It's good that you Army dogs haven't lost your ability to dream

[McDermut99]

Found a couple of a MG Winski wearing a overseas cap with piping.

https://studiumgenerale-eindhoven.nl/nl/programma/lezing/liberation-lecture-2019-75-years-of-freedom-full-16829/

 

[kammo-man]

Did he sleep in it when it was wet after a rain storm 

[Martinjmpr]

Yeah, the problem with Army uniforms has never been the design as much as it's been the execution.  They pick a decent design but then when it comes to actually issuing out uniforms, they go with the lowest bidding contractor and then they compound the error with no effort made to tailor the uniform to the wearer. 

 

So the uniform that starts off looking sharp and distinctive ends up looking like a hobo wearing a burlap sack.  

[seanmc1114]

Major General John B. Richardson IV, Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division. Note that he is only wearing two rows of ribbons showing his personal decorations, but three rows of unit awards including foreign wards from the Philippines, South Korea and the Republic of Vietnam. Have the uniform regulations been rewritten to go allow soldiers to wear foreign unit awards again? I think since the mid-70's, the only ones authorized were the Philippine and South Korean Presidential Unit Citations, and even then only while serving in the awarding country.

 

Also, note the color of the border of his 1st Cav SSI. I don't think this is the same color as the borders authorized and worn on the old Army green uniforms.

[FriarChuck]

As far as I know, all of the various foreign unit awards he is wearing were authorized for wear. I looked him up and he is not a Vietnam vet. I believe he is wearing all of the unit awards earned by the 1st Cav throughout history, which makes sense as the commander of the division. 

[seanmc1114]

33 minutes ago, FriarChuck said:

As far as I know, all of the various foreign unit awards he is wearing were authorized for wear. I looked him up and he is not a Vietnam vet. I believe he is wearing all of the unit awards earned by the 1st Cav throughout history, which makes sense as the commander of the division. 

I'm not questioning whether the 1st Cav earned the unit awards. I was just under the impression that sometime during the 70's the uniform regulations were changed so that the wear of most foreign unit awards by members of the unit who were not assigned when the the award was earned was no longer authorized. I may be wrong, but I do think I saw those changes somewhwere. This extract from the March 2019 Army Awards And Decorations regulations says that only the French Fourragere and Republic Of Korea Presidential Unit Ciatation are authorized for temporary wear (by members presently assigned to the unit but not assigned when the award was earned), and temporary wear of the Korean PUC is limited to members assigned to units in Korea. Under those criteria, the wear of the Philippine, Korean and Vietnamese unit awards is not authorized for the General. I was just wondering if the regulations have been recently amended or is there some local variance allowed for the division commander?

[FriarChuck]

Ah sorry, I thought you were asking if foreign awards earned while the member was part of the unit could be worn. I’m pretty sure you are right about temporary wear of foreign unit awards not being authorized as cited in the guidance above. My guess the General is doing so in a special capacity as the division commander as you suggest. Sorry I could not provide an actual answer. Interesting case though for sure.

[McDermut99]

11 hours ago, seanmc1114 said:

Major General John B. Richardson IV, Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division. Note that he is only wearing two rows of ribbons showing his personal decorations, but three rows of unit awards including foreign wards from the Philippines, South Korea and the Republic of Vietnam. Have the uniform regulations been rewritten to go allow soldiers to wear foreign unit awards again? I think since the mid-70's, the only ones authorized were the Philippine and South Korean Presidential Unit Citations, and even then only while serving in the awarding country.

 

Also, note the color of the border of his 1st Cav SSI. I don't think this is the same color as the borders authorized and worn on the old Army green uniforms.

 

I can't speak to the border color of the 1st Cav SSI, but it looks like a cut-edge instead of a merrowed edge which if I'm correct looks a lot nicer IMO. The merrowed edge on that uniform looks too much like a costume. It also looks like his CAB and jump wings have a type of aged finish instead of the high-polish finish seen on other uniforms, which the aged seems to look better against the fabric.

[KurtA]

Had to look up what the “C” on the general’s LOM ribbon was.  earned under combat conditions.  First time I have seen that 

[McDermut99]

From a recent Instagram post on the US Army Recruiting Command profile. I realize the two generals are a bit tall and lanky but those "Ike" style jackets are not the best looking. The complete ribbon racks also just don't really look right with that uniform, the two-row stack the general on the left has seems to work much better.

 

[seanmc1114]

7 hours ago, McDermut99 said:

From a recent Instagram post on the US Army Recruiting Command profile. I realize the two generals are a bit tall and lanky but those "Ike" style jackets are not the best looking. The complete ribbon racks also just don't really look right with that uniform, the two-row stack the general on the left has seems to work much better.

 

So is the Ike jacket an authorized version of the uniform or just a case where general officers choose their own uniform? I actually prefer the look of the Ikes in this photo to the other jackets, but you they do tend to look better on thin framed soldiers. I think we have almost an entire generation of soldiers now who are so bulky - not necessarily fat - that any kind of uniform jacket looks awkward on them.

 

And I agree with the ribbons. There are simply too many these days. Maybe a good solution would be to create smaller sized ribbons like George Marshall wore in WWII so they take up less space on the uniform.  

[seanmc1114]

A group of officers receiving a French medal along with the article describing the event. Notice that the colonel in the first two photos has his unit awards ribbon bar upside down. 

 

And I still don't like the crushed service cap the Aviation colonel is wearing.

 

https://www.ftleavenworthlamp.com/community/2021/05/20/french-military-honors-warfighter-leaders/

[kaliman0352]

They just look like the dollar store version of the real thing. 

[268th C.A.]

That overseas cap is horrible. I don't like it either the uniform. Its not WW2 standards. but I guess its not supposed too be....

[Nack]

6 hours ago, kaliman0352 said:

They just look like the dollar store version of the real thing. 

Indeed.  It’s quite horrible.  

[doyler]

6 hours ago, 268th C.A. said:

That overseas cap is horrible. I don't like it either the uniform. Its not WW2 standards. but I guess its not supposed too be....

 

Heres your package..please sign here.....

 

[easterneagle87]

9 hours ago, 268th C.A. said:

That overseas cap is horrible. I don't like it either the uniform. Its not WW2 standards. but I guess its not supposed too be....

 

Shouldn't his overseas hat have gold piping? 

 

Give it time folks. They've only been in existence for a short while. Surprisingly how quick they came up with an IKE version. The Class "A" green uniform got a rumpled - crumpled look pretty easily as well. 

[FriarChuck]

Headwear aside, every time i’ve seen this uniform in person i’ve been impressed with it. Would I have preferred they stay a little truer to the original (gilt buttons, different colored chevrons, etc) of course. But it’s a very handsome uniform and I love that it brings back all the heritage associates with SSIs. 

Others may differ but having been forced to proudly wear Gen McPeak’s modified travesty my whole career, I can safely say i’m quite jealous of the Army right now. And as the proverbial Blue Bus Driver, I certainly don’t think they look like delivery men...though let’s face it, we all wish we could bust out some knee socks and shorts and go fight Rommel (or deliver Christmas gifts).

 

But quit stealing our heritage and put a stiffener back in your damn wheel caps! (And yes, I know others besides the AAF sometimes adopted the famed 50 mission crush).

 

Friar

[Spathologist]

It's nice seeing the 3d Cav DUI on a lot of those uniforms.