Uniforms

First day in Uniform

Today was a day of a lot of firsts. It was the first day that we reported to formation in uniform. It started out with the new issued PT wear, which was just entering the service when I was getting out, and we did the new Standardized PT, which has replaced all of the old stretches with a standardized set of exercises aimed at building strong core muscles and preventing injuries. It was rough for some folks, especially those who could barely squeeze their new larger civilian bodies into their new shorts and running pants, but most of us got through the training. It was more of a teaching session than a “beat your face” type of haze and we all looked pretty clumsy trying to practice these new maneuvers. After a quick shower, we changed into our new ACUs, or Army Combat Uniform. As officers, we have to buy all of our own gear. Apparently, the Army thinks that officers don’t do any real physical work so they don’t believe in issuing uniforms to the “O” ranks. While I will agree that most of the enlisted ranks do more dirty labor, I don’t think its grounds for not issuing any uniforms to the officers until we get our issued gear for whatever theater we’ll be going to (and I’m not talking about a choice between Cinemark and Tinsel Town either).

In any case, there was something strange about donning the new uniform. It wasn’t the first time I ever put it on because I bought a set of ACUs back in November for this deployment. This was, however, the first time that I ever wore the uniform around a lot of other folks who, like me, were called back into active duty. It made it all more “official” for some reason, as if wearing my civilian clothes and attending military classes this last week was just a dream and somehow the Levi’s blue jeans and Old Navy t-shirt kept me linked to the civilian world. Because it was a new uniform for majority of us, we spent most of the morning picking over each other and making sure we looked somewhat squared away for the next formation. The new ensemble requires new polyester/cotton moisture wicking shirts, no-polish suede desert boots, and the ever controversial black beret. Controversial only because the Army kind of took the black beret away from the Rangers and there are still some bitter feelings that the men with the tabs hold onto. There is also a LOT of Velcro on this uniform, or to use the military vernacular, hook and pile fasteners. Leave it to the Army to take a simple word and make it more complicated. The idea is that it will save money by not requiring anything to be sewed to it since all the nametapes, rank and unit insignia can just be slapped onto the pre-sewn Velcro patches. In fact, it is against the regulations to sew, alter, press, iron or dry clean this uniform. Overall, it’s pretty comfy and doesn’t require much in the way of care, but it’s going to take a while to get use to since the last time I was in uniform, I was sporting the standard Battle Dress Uniforms, or BD-huahs, black leather boots, and patrol cap. I have come to be that guy who finds himself always reminiscing of yesteryear and saying “back in the old army…”

I wanted to take a moment and thank those who have commented on the blog. Because I only have limited access to the computers, I try to do most of my writing in the bays at night and transfer the stuff to one of the 4 computers in the pseudo day room that we have at our disposal. Unfortunately, my time on the machines is severely limited and I have to jump on and jump off in order to not hog the machines. I did want to say thanks to everyone who comments on them, and if you haven’t yet, please do. I like reading the things that others put on there just as much as people like reading the things I post and I hope to be able to read more of them once I get settled.