Because it looks cool and some senator and or admiral has a family member who designed it and they get a kickback for having it issued. Dungarees and the blue chambray shirts were the best.
Went into the navy in 1969. There was a period were we were required to change to the "new" uniform made from synthetics. Some sailors paid a high price when the Navy found out what melted clothing did to human skin.
I think Rifleman Moore did a video about uniforms worn by the Royal Navy in the Falklands war, and the RN had recently at that time switched from pure cotton to a synthetic working dress and a lot of sailors suffered burns as a result. Newer working uniforms are required to be flame retardant. th-cam.com/video/wEPo-acivsY/w-d-xo.html
I remember those stupid things. I, like most, stuck with the dungarees. Got out before they were required, but don't know if they ever made the switch completely.
When I joined in 1985, they made sure to let us know not to wear artificial fiber underwear. One of the guys in my department insisted on wearing plastic underwear anyway...not so bright. Not an area you want melted plastic. It was probably actually after I got to my ship and went through firefighting training (I was on the in-port emergency team), when they showed us al sorts of horrifying stuff, including footage from the USS Forest Fire. Also explained at the same time why recording video aboard ship was strictly forbidden...someone sent footage of the Forrestal home, before the government had decided what to tell the world. But I have a tape I recorded from the ship's closed circuit TV...someone in my office made a deal with one of the ETs, so his VCR got tagged as being disabled, but wasn't.
I had those in boot camp, then they changed while I was in nuke school. The fabric was indestructible, but the stitching thread would wear out in no time.
In about 2012, I was taking a military history course at a big state university with both Army and Navy ROTC programs. One day we were talking about the evolution of military uniforms circa World War I, how most of the major combatants in that war moved away from bright identifying colors to drabs and proto-camouflage schemes during the war, and the professor asked an NROTC student who was wearing his blue NWUs that day, "What's the deal with that camo pattern, anyway? Do you know?" "I think they're the colors of paint you're most likely to get on yourself aboard ship," the student replied, with a perfectly straight face.
@@nonamesplease6288 The Marine Corps is not a part of the Navy, that's a myth/common misconception. What we are is and independent branch of service in the Department of the Navy. This means that the Commandant of the Marine Corps is not subordinate to the Chief if Naval Operations but is equal to them and both answer to the SecNav and both have a permanent and full time seat at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As for the Army stealing MARPAT, that's not entirely true. When the Army was looking to adopt a new camouflage pattern they were considering MARPAT, but the Corps wasn't willing to share it with the Army and they couldn't simply use it without permission because the Corps was being petty and trademarked/copyrighted the MARPAT pattern. So what the Army ended up doing is using the MARPAT screens, which were derived from the Canadian CADPAT and used their own colors.
I wore Dungarees my whole time in the Navy. They never should have gotten rid of them. To be honest, they were pretty comfy as a real working uniform. Also, cheap enough to readily buy replacements.
I was in the Australian Navy in the 70's and we had a similar uniform. It was called no 8's and it worked perfectly well. This new stuff is just a fashion statement.
@@TheWareek ...You know, another thing that really worries me, is the type of fabric these camo patterns use. I hope it's not Rip-Stop fabric, which is used in the Army. It's meant to be more durable for field use. The beauty of the old Dungarees, is that if it got snagged on something sharp, or caught in a rotating piece of equipment, it would tear more easily, preventing you from getting sucked in and losing a finger, hand, or a whole limb. The worst thing to have around operating machinery, is baggy Rip-Stop fabric. It's a severe injury waiting to happen.
@kaijudude2445 ...out at sea, definitely. I prefer coveralls too. But in Port we wore the dungarees as a working uniform, which looks more traditional imo.
10 years in the Navy on submarines. I was proud to wear dungarees daily. They made sense and were comfortable. In my opinion the Cracker Jacks look great! This new digital uniform doesn't promote being members of the Navy. They look like soldiers.
I agree….I was in the Navy back in 1985 and the uniforms were comfortable (I especially liked the peacoats I wish I could have kept mine)and like everything else about the Navy….traditional, you knew what branch of the service you were in but today they look all the same ….like you’re in the damn Army. The need to return to the traditional uniforms
@@anthonylowder6687Why weren't you able to keep your peacoat? They were boot camp issue and you paid for it. If you are talking about the green foul weather jackets, yeah those were great and you were "supposed" to turn them in.
😊now peacoats have gone by the wayside. They remain authorized for wear, but they are no longer issued or prescribable. If you want one, you need to go out of pocket for it. At the time, note that the iconic statue of the lone sailor on the National Mall in Washington is wearing a peacoat with the collar turned up - go figure?
I was in the Coast Guard for 31 years as both an enlisted and officer. As an enlisted I loved the Cracker Jax uniform. Aside from their classic look, they were designed to turn inside out and neatly roll up for storage in a seabag. When you needed to wear the uniform you take them out of your seabag, unroll them and they still look great. Semper Paratus!
Digital camo was not adopted because it works better against digital sensors, because it does not. Digital was invented because it is easier to make multi-scale camouflage in a digital pattern. An important aspect to any camouflage is that the various blobs of colour will be perceived differently at different ranges. With older camo's, the blobs of colour might work to break up an outline at medium range, but blend together at longer range and stand out as a distinct flat colour at close ranges. Multi-scale camouflage uses many sizes of colour blocks and blends them in such a way that the camouflage works optimally in large range of distances or scales, giving better protection against perception.
Okay that's all well and good for soldiers and a forest. But can you tell me why sailor's board ship need that? Is it for like the world's greatest game of hide and go seek?
To add to that, digital camouflage doesn't have to pixelated. All digital camouflage means is that the pattern was developed digitally, using a computer. An example of a non-pixelated camouflage pattern is Multicam, it was developed on or with the help of a computer yet it isn't pixelated.
I was told by an active duty officer a few years ago: "The reason for the camo was: It's easier to get people to join the Navy if you have a cool-looking uniform"
one of the DUMBEST was when I went in in 1979 the enlisted wore suit Dress uniforms just like Chiefs but with different patches.....we went back to cracker jacks in 1980 at OUR expense
The Navy has wasted a lot of trying to find a good replacement for the dungarees for a while and have not got it right yet. All they really had to do is adopt the Coast Guards (I think they have are are getting new ones, also don't know if is better or worse) or just go back to the dungarees.
@@michaelkendall662 -- I was issued Cracker Jacks in 1979. They were issued, we didn't have to buy them. I'm not saying you didn't have to buy them in 1980, but when we got them issued we stood in long lines down a row of tables around the hanger elevator (which was down) and they asked size and handed them to you off of folding tables.
I was Army. Never understood the blueberries until someone told me about the heavy greases and oils so many Sailors work with. Dark colors are essential to allowing the uniforms to still look servicable when working with that stuff. Mad respect to Sailors; it's not easy duty.
Blueberries? What about the strawberries? At last night's mess, we had 5 quarts of strawberries, and I authorized a second portion but were short one portion today. I'm going to find out who took that extra portion, as Captain of the Kane!
Army soldiers mostly get messy with mud. They can launder that out. Navy sailors get messy with heavy grease and paint. Even tar, once upon a time -- which has a connection with the American manner of hand salute, which we Yanks learned from the Royal Navy. It's because of tar all over your hands. And it's no easier to launder now than it was then.
I was privileged to serve in the U. S. Navy from 1964-1968, and one of the things that drew me to the Navy was the uniform! The only things I would've changed was to reintroduce the flat hat for the dress blues, and maybe a dress white jumper with blue collar and white piping and stars. NOT the current goofy dress white jumper with blue piping and stars! Perhaps a button on collar for the jumper. The cracker jacks were distinctive. The other branches not so much.
I collected all of my family's Navy uniforms when I was a kid and loved the bell bottom pants with 13 button flap in front. 13 for original colonies and each had an anchor on the front.
Re WW2 era uniforms, interesting how the DRESS blue jumper (with cuffs) and UNDRESS white jumper (no cuffs) have become today's dress uniforms. Anyone miss the undress blue jumper?
Over a 26 year career in the Navy, I hates the uniform changes, I came in with the button fly dungarees, went to a pull-over utility uniform and then back to dungarees, Salt & Pepper was in there also with the stupid cap. Every time, it cost me money I would have rather spent on my wife & son. Finally made Chief and the madness sort of calmed down, though I did have to buy a set of Choker Whites which I wore once for a change of command in the 11 years I was a Chief.
I was in the Marines and remember most of the Navy hated the salt and pepper/milkman uniform and was happy when the cracker jacks came back. The Marine Corps went through it own problems with dress uniforms to the extent one Commandant fired the entire uniform board. Only good thing they did was get rid of that cheap, relatively useless awfully looking rain coat and replaced it with a London Fog type in the 80s.
@@carlanderson7618 -- Even worse than the salt-and-peppers was when we had to wear the tropical whites aboard ship... White uniforms should not EVER be required aboard ship, even for just a couple of hours... The ship seems to *sweat* JP-5 and it was impossible to get from our berthing compartment to the flight deck (for manning the rails or an inspection) without getting a bit of grease / JP-5 on the bottom of your pants... The tropical whites were also called the "Good Humor man" uniform... It was cotton, so it was comfortable, but it just seemed to attract JP-5... I remember when we went back to the Crackerjacks and they had the synthetic tropical white Crackerjack uniform... Damn, that was an ugly uniform...
The coat and tie with combination hat was the absolute worst. I was on a 637 class fast-attack and there was no place to hang that POS. For deployments we stretched 1" line between a few pad eyes in the aft end of the torpedo room and the crew hung them there. Of course eventually the line would stretch and sag. This would require removing all the uniforms, tighten up the line, and rehang them. As the torpedomen accessed the area they would knock a uniform off the line. Eventually it would get hung back up and hopefully not torn or dirty. As soon as we were allowed to go back to crackerjacks everyone ditched that uniform.
I was in from '06 to '11. followed the uniform design board closely. The main selling point of the blue and gray digital pattern was to hide paint and grease stains. Having stood a school house uniform inspection in a year old, worked in set of NWU's it worked as advertised. The fading to orange when in contact with sea water is just sea stories that spread among the lower enlisted.
The story that I was told is that the blue camouflage pattern was at least partially intended not to camouflage you but instead camouflage the grease stains that you get on your uniform working onboard ship.
This is the real reason. Dungarees seem to stain whenever exposed to air and fade unevenly. Nothing seems to stain digital camo, not even "tomato sauce" and "charcoal"
Its the biggest bull , any one though of , i worked in the navy a real navy not that muppet one that is called us navy . and the ones working in engine rooms had their own coveralls . for the real dirty jobs and we had something called a laundromat . grease stains on your daily work clothes nots accepted as its a fire hazard , as engineers , deck personell are also part of the damage control and fire fighting parties . Now what would happen if you got a greasy or oily uniform not recommended , that is why every one was required to have a fresh uniform every day or 2x a day . Comoflaging grease staines great ways for accidents and injuries to happen.
Canada NO - "we" tried one uniform and it was so bad half the career sailors quit (I may have exaggerated there). At 76, I confess to being the only 'Army Guy' in my family - even my son went Navy. But my dad, in the 1950's through 70's NEVER wore or even owned a pair of Levi type pants. When he was shore based the first thing he did when he got home was to change out of his dungarees - only then did he greet us. For real. I was 20 before I wore my first pair of jeans - again for real. Thanks for your work!!!!
As a Navy vet there is no reason for sailors to wear camo on a ship. The dungarees were very comfortable to work in. If a sailor falls into the water the last thing they need to be wearing is camo. The only con on the dungarees was they were sometimes worn in prisons and thus might be associated with criminals. For this reason many bases prohibited the wearing of dungarees off base.
I asked an active duty naval officer acquaintance about the camo a few years ago, he replied with a straight face that it was so they couldn't spot you if you went overboard.
Are you really all that much more visible in the water than you are wearing blue cammies? It's not like dungarees were blaze orange or florescent green like a safety vest, they were blue on blue with a blue ball cap, not all that much different from blue cammies in my opinion. As far as going overboard goes, the main advantage of dungarees is that you can get your pants off to use as an improvised floating device quicker. Maybe kick off your shoes quicker too; I don't know what kind of footwear was issued with dungarees but combat boots aren't good if you go overboard.
They had the same rule in Canada during the green uniform days. But the reason was that work dress was usually worn looking, and dirty with grease and paint stains.
I drove past a British Army base a few years ago, the soldiers on gate duty had rifles (quite rare here), and they were wearing urban camouflage dress, with fluorescent overcoats.
That's because you need to be camouflaged from the terrorists or near peer enemies and yet visible to the piss heads driving home when the pub closes. Perfect military logic.
I also observed the same thing in their naval bases guarded by Gurkhas armed with rifles. Their aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth had like 2-4 duty personnel armed with rifles stationed at the ship's entrance. I found it weird since the ship was in their homeport and still required armed duty personnel.
The branch with the best camouflage uniform is the Marine corps MARPAT. It works and the Marine corps been using it the past 25 years. Army (OCP) comes in second. Navy (NWU III) comes in 3rd.
@@atpyro7920 Yeah, that whole Army sleeve thing was so annoying when I was in. I always pointed out as much as the Marines took pride in their personal appearance, they had no problem rolling shirt sleeves up the simplest way. For a gang that eats crayons they can be smart when they want to.
Ryan, there were actually 3 different NWUs. The "blueberrys" were NWU I, and NWU II & III were a digital woodland and desert pattern similar to, but not identical to MARPAT woodland and desert. The woodland pattern was meant to be worn by anybody who regularly served ground side and in the field that weren't Marine Corpsmen, people like chaplains, Sea Bess, etc. The desert pattern was supposed to be reserved solely for the use by Navy Special operations like SEALs.
NWU Type II is the same pattern as AOR1, NWU Type III is the same as AOR2. What is used depends on where you would be operating. NWU Type I was the general purpose anywhere uniform. Now the NWU III has become the general purpose anywhere uniform. The NWU Type II would be for personal needing to operating in desert areas.
Most sailors hated the blue digital camo uniform but a couple told me they liked it because it tended to not show grease and paint stains. Totally makes sense if you're assigned to that kind of work.
I remember hearing a story of the development of the fade to orange uniforms. The first few iterations would turn orange simply from the salt spray or being in salt air for long enough.
I find the Navy’s newest uniform very entertaining. Especially when they realized that the camouflage worked so well that they could not distinguish each other’s ranks. Now everyone has a big blue square in the center of their chest so we know their rank. To answer Ryan’s question there should not be one standardized uniform. Each branch builds their uniforms around their specific missions in mind.
You think our camo tabs were bad, you should try reading the rank tab of an airman. Not only is the tab the same color as their uniform, but the actual insignia is also the same fucking shade of tan as the rest of their uniform. I've walked past so many officers and not saluted because I couldn't see what rank they were until they were standing right next to me
My dad was in the Navy in WWII. He said if you fell overboard, they did not come back to pick you up. I guess making it difficult to see you in the sea makes their mission easier.
I'm surprised they didn't just make orange camouflage uniforms. Just say that "We're thinking of reintroducing grog into the fleet for morale purposes so we want to find the drunks who fall off the boats."
I always thought the aqua-flage should have been florescent orange, bright lime green, and safety yellow. It would make man overboard drills a bit easier.
I think the connection of orange jumpsuits and prison inmates might not be good for Navy PR... 😂😂 And Yellow and Orange also dominate civilian construction. They should have just modernized the dungarees and shirts. Enlisted Navy are all mechanics, techs, and laborers running around a large floating "building" or doing lots of the same stuff on land bases. They have no business or need to be wearing camo or BDU clothing. The infantry should be in camo. Everybody else needs clothing matching their jobs.
@@nordoceltic7225, I really don't think they think about PR. "WASHINGTON - The Navy's appointment of an active-duty drag queen to boost recruitment is drawing backlash from some Republican senators who contend the sailor promoted the use of Chinese-owned social media and inappropriately represented the service."
Oh, finally, explanations for this bizarre trend! And it's good to know it's not in use at sea. Actually, now that I think about it, I never saw Navy sailors wearing NWUs at sea when I worked fleet support. They wore the same coveralls we did, except nobody ever slipped them olive-colored ones. Also, the commenters on this video have raised a lot of other interesting assertions, it's very satisfying! I still have a few sets of milspec coveralls that I got from slop chests on various ships, it took me a while to figure out what sizing to ask for, for each manufacturer, but I admit that I sometimes only brought one pair of coveralls with me aboard a new ship, to save traveling weight (I also never took a foulie jacket home with me, or brought anything quite like that jacket). I still use the coveralls, both for crawl-space work or other dirty jobs, and for working outside on very hot, sunny days, because I absolutely loathe sunscreen. I wouldn't call them my favorite anything, but they're a valued and permanent part of my wardrobe.
I wore dungarees for the vast majority of my Navy career at sea, with the addition of coveralls a bit later. When they phased out the bell bottom dungarees, I wore mine until the very LAST day they were authorized. I even got chewed out briefly, because I was still wearing mine that day, until I was able to state the Naval instruction that stated that the dungaree uniform was authorized until 23:59 that day. I didn't get into any real trouble BECAUSE I knew the uniform regulation and the instruction that delt with the transition to the new utility uniform. That individual was still not happy that I was still wearing dungarees, but there wasn't anything they could do about it!
I was in the Marines when we went to jungle cammies. We had worn the green sateens for years. I too was chewed out several time still wearing my authorized sateens. I even wore them when I checked out of my last unit in 1977
@@steveanderson9290 I got out in '76 and dungarees were still the working uniform. The changes were the ball cap from the old floppy type you see Admiral Halsey wearing in some photos and the work jacket where a nearly black jacket replaced the old blue jacket.. The real hated change was the moronic dress uniform that always looked bad. Glad I never had to wear that, I got out before the changeover date.
@@glennrishton5679 Interesting. 1973 was a year of upheaval, and perhaps it did not propagate to all commands with the same intensity, or at the same rate. I remember us losing our dungarees and blue chambray shirts at that time in favor of dark blue trousers and a lighter blue shirt. I managed to never buy the new dress uniform before I got out in '74...good thing, because the Navy reversed the dress uniform change again and went back in 1980 I hear. I found this quote about the '73 changes on a historical site: _In 1973 the most sweeping change in the history of enlisted dress occurred. Based on a survey conducted in 1970 it appeared that there was some fleet desire, principally among the more senior petty officers, for a different, more distinguished garb. Based on these findings, the sailor was removed from his traditional uniform and placed in a suit and tie which corresponded to the officer/CPO style. The intention was to create a single uniform appearance and present enlisted men in a uniform which was thought to reflect the increasing complexity of the modern Navy. The action to utilize a suit style for all enlisted has been one of the most controversial changes to effect the Navy in its uniform history..._
My favorite Navy dress uniform was the button down dress blues. My favorite utility uniform was the the Marine fatigues with a black beret that were issued in the riverine units.
I was a civilian shipbuilder that worked on a variety of Navy contracts. Denim jeans and leggings underneath were my prefered uniform along with a long sleeve flame retardant top, year round. Sometimes I wore the blue jumpsuits (same as the sailors), which were comfortable and offered protection! I thought the digital camouflage was for urban environments, but khaki seemed to make a comeback during the Iraq war.
I enlisted during the days of dungarees (1994), endured the switch to the gas station uniform (utilities, 2000-2010), and retired wearing the NWU. NWU would still be the uniform if it wasn't so flammable. The NWU was sold to us as more comfortable, less wear and tear, and more uniform across the service. It was supposed to hide paint spots well, but typically when a sailor spilled paint on themselves it still left a noticeable spot. I always said that the Navy should have switched to something like the NWU in 2000, instead of the utilities, which I _hated._ NWU was winterweight cotton, so it was hot as hell to wear during the summer. The camo in the water gripe is mostly crap, as a swimmer in the water only has their head showing anyway, what clothing you are wearing is irrelevant.
I would think that you actually would want your sailors to be as visible as possible when they're in the water. To give the SAR team the best chance they get.
The camo in water isnt completely crap. True only your head is visible but in a situation with a helicopter searching I would want any small advantage I could find for being spotted.
Nah. Google photos of people swimming or treading water. The shoulders are absolutely visible in a bunch of them. Wearing a bright orange shirt or something would 100% make a difference to visibility.
The fade to orange thing is a complete myth I wore the NWU for 6 years and trust me I did my fair share of sweating in that uniform especially when I was on Guam. The uniform never changed colors or really even faded much over my entire enlistment. I even fell in the water once at Gab Gab Beach, and the uniform is still blue to this day.
That’s what I thought as well when I first heard this information. It would be the biggest pain in the butt keeping a uniform like that looking good during inspection on a hot day or accidentally getting salt water on it. Thanks for confirming that it is indeed a myth.
The one uniform item I regretted giving a way upon leaving the USN many decades ago was the peajacket, a perfectly designed and sewn protection against cold foul weather. Impervious and tough as shoe leather.
Growing up in a navy family where my father joined in 1960 and my mother joined in 1970, I was always very curious why it is the Navy got rid of bell bottom dungarees, button down shirts and sailors caps. Do you know that if a ship goes down every single one of those items of clothing is a personal flotation device? And not only that, they were comfortable to work in and provided ease of movement. I remember when my mom retired in 1994 and she was an active duty reservist for her last I think 12 years. And when she retired from Willow Grove they were just starting to introduce those weird blue jumpsuits into the Navy. I thought those were horrible and then they came out with the camouflage ones and I was like oh wait there's always somebody waiting in the wings with a dumber idea.
@@jhonyermo the blue denim ones? I know they were definitely worn through the 80s and at least until 94 when my mom retired. Watched her leave for work every day wearing one. She was an aviation store keeper. Maybe they had different stuff
@@jhonyermo That's news to me, because I wore button down shirts in the Navy for over 20 years. (1975 - 1995) And so did every last manjack I served with, since our clothes were, you know, uniform. From Tropical White Longs, "Salt and Peppers", to Summer Whites, to Winter Blue and Winter Working Blue, to the Seafarer Chambray Shirt (Dungaree Work Uniform), the Zumwalt-era E-1 to O-10 Dress Blues (Shirt, Tie, Jacket and Trousers, with Combination Cap), the Utility Uniform (a brief variation from the Dungaree Uniform), to Khakis (E-7 and above), to the White Dress Shirt for the Dress Blue (E-7 and above), I was always in a button down shirt, other than in the Jumpers for (Crackerjack) Dress and Working Whites and Blues. Or when I was wearing my flight suit.
Hi, Michael! We have talked before. I was at Willow Grove for 3 tours (1st, 4th, and 6th), and remember your Mom. How is Mom (Brenda)? And for some reason, I want to say her middle initial is K. Can you confirm?
Canada unified its three services into the Canadian Forces in 1968, and one common green dress uniform was issued. In practice, they wore different daily uniforms that were practical for their daily duties. However, this was never popular and the unified services model was never copied by other countries. In 1987, the CF "Commands" reverted to their historic titles of RCN, RCAF, and the Army, and updated "Distinctive Environmental Uniform" were issued.
Also, Canadian geography splits their Navy between multiple bodies of water separated by a continent, something that severely limits a nation's naval power (the US only avoids it by being being huge in both, and even then it only acquired its stats after the Panama Canal was built), which means their Navy is a glorified Coast Guard (they handle anti-smuggling etc.) and the Canadian Coast Guard is just an unarmed safety organization, while there are no Canadian marines. There's a lot fewer branches to cloth.
It was August 2011 that the Canadian Forces commands reverted back to their original predecessor names. We defiantly called the RCAF the Air Command in the late 90's early 2000's
The Canadian Forces service dress uniform currently consists of an environmental pattern jacket, long- or short-sleeved dress shirt, necktie, trousers (skirt optional for women), and black oxfords or ankle boots. Jackets, trousers, skirts, neckties, sweaters (for No. 3C), scarves, raincoats, overcoat, and parkas are in the specific environmental colours of navy blue (actually black) for the navy, rifle green for the army, air force blue for the air force, and olive green for the special operations branch; shirts are white, linden green, light blue, and tan, respectively.
I served in the "Green Navy" and my Veteran buddies make fun of me all the time for that. I will say, though that they switched to a particularly gawd-awful polyester green and green/grey work dress (with a ridiculously shaped ball cap . We wore our green berets, instead of that joke). The polyester didn't breathe like the old dungarees and they were too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter and the polyester soaked up, held and bonded with any kind of petroleum oil like a magnet. The old natural fibre dungarees did none of that. They also didn't burn. If you had to fight a fire in the old polyester work dress, you were done for. Fog yourself instead of the fire! There are stories of super-heated steam leaks melting the uniforms into a sailor's skin and flesh. By the way, Canada went back to separate uniforms per service a couple of decades ago so you need to update that part.
The Chairforce almost got a much cooler version of its ABU digital tigerstripe. The cooler test version was in the same colors as the marine MARPAT, instead they ended up getting it in the shades of grey Army ACU colors.
The grey-green camo pattern that the Army wore after the Crops adopted MARPAT is not called ACU, that's the name for the overall uniform pattern/cut and stands for Army Combat Uniform. That god-awful grey-green camo pattern is called UCP or Universal Camouflage Pattern.
@@stoutyyyy That's not true because air crews don't wear ABUs, they still wear flight suits in either OD green or tan. The Air Force developed the ABU pattern & uniform because when they saw everybody else coming up with me patterns & uniforms to replace the old M81 woodlsnd camo & BDUs they didn't want to be left behind and so they came up with ABUs. The uniform was meant solely for ground based personnel, just like the BDU was.
There are some AF personnel that deploy with Army (and other branches). TAC-P's, Combat Controllers, Pararescue, Spec Ops weather (now Spec Recon), some others.
Canada started 8it with CADPAT. Marines then copied it to become MarPat. PuzzlePalace types then got "camo envy." At the same time, there was a legitimate grip in the Navy about a lack of fire-resistant uniforms. And, that the "nukie-poo" boiler suit then rampant in the Fleet was causing more gripes (it was becoming a very expensive "dressy" thing to be worn ashore ($49.95 overalls ought not require $150 in embroidered stuff on them). Turns out, it's easy to get aramid fiber into "BDU style" clothing, and two-part clothing can be made to fit more people better easier & cheaper. Thus, "blueberries." But, the brownshoes got 100% of the fire-resistent production, which led to shortages. Then, all the deployed people, like SeaBEES and the like, needed "in country" attire, and there was no way to use MarPat for USN jobs with all the EGAs in it. Enter in the AOR II and III uniforms. Well, all the AOR III uniforms were aramid fiber included from the get-go, which is how the avocado (aka "guacamole") green digital supplanted blueberries. Because the Navy has always "been like that" there's a long list of no-go places in NWU, no matter how comfortable they are.
In my 21+ years of service in both the USAF and MI Army National Guard, I have two favorites. Back in the mid 1970s, the USAF switched to a permanent press green fatugues. They were comfortable and easy to clean. In the Guard, my favorite was the DCU, desert uniform I wore in Iraq 2003-04. It was light, breathable and easy to care for. Granted, with both I missed the sound and feel of "breaking starch" in the USAF early green fatigues and the BDU, Battle Dress Uniform, I was first issued in the Guard. The digital ACU, in the Guard did have nice pockets, the Velcro closures were not liked, nor was this uniform breathable. The later made then hot to wear. A small trivia with the ACUs. When I was going through the horse barns at the county fair, horses were spooked by the uniform. I guess with the old BDUs, we just looked to the horses as walking bushes. The horses just were not sure what we were in the ACUs!
I like the matching dark blue shirt and pants that sailors are currently wearing. They are functional, yet present a sharp, professional look to those serving aboard ships and submarines at sea.
But we aren't... OH! You mean the 2POCs (Two-Piece Organizational Clothing). Yes, it's not as good as wash khakis and dungarees were, but still a far cry better than NWUs. I do wish they would allow us to replace the flight-suit patch with sewn-on name tapes and warfare pins. As an aside, one joke is that the 2POCs only come in two sizes - Biggies and Smalls.
After the regrettable 2000's era service and battle dress uniforms, Army seems to have gotten its shit in order. Now, if only the Navy would follow suit.
A have a set of undress blues that I wear for re-enactments aboard the Alabama BB-60. I always thought they were unique. They are like the dress blues but without the piping. They were the daily work uniform before they came out with the dungarees and blue shirt if I’m correct.
I never heard that the blueberries were supposed to turn orange if they made contact with saltwater. Also, the purpose of dungarees was so that if a Sailor went overboard, s/he could get his/her shirt or pants off, tie the ends, flip them over their head to catch some air, and use them as a basic floatation device. Very difficult with bloused trousers and boots, believe me I know.Does everyone who works on deck get a float coat nowadays? Also, being 100% cotton, the dungaree shirt and dungaree pants couldn't catch fire. Anyone?
When i served in the Navy, early part of the 1070s, was issued a blue uniform similar to the officers blue, the hat was replaced by and officer type hat. And the summer one was also replaced by the white's officer style uniform. Our ship was issued small lockers with the proper size to fit those uniforms only, left in 1975 and was told a few years later the Navy dropped those uniforms because the cost it would cost to retrofit the ships with the lockers for those uniforms.
Best milsurp pants ever! They were pretty much all I wore in college in the early '90s. ... I mean, the only kind of pants. I did also wear shirts and stuff.
Nice thing about the dungaree working uniform was that if you were at sea you could tie a line to them and drag them for a few minutes. Rinse them out in a deep sink, hang them in a fan room to dry and they were good as new. And besides, you took a gamble when using the ships laundry if you would.get your stuff back or not.
It was proposed that it was actually a reverse camo for paint splatter. I remember talking about this around 2004 or 5. I only saw ship duty. Since all sailors onbourd will eventually have to paint something, especially deck division, and most painting involved allot of splattering various shades of grey that always found there way on the blue coveralls, that splatter would just get lost on the digi-blueberry uniform.
When I was in the Seabees in the 90's we still had the utility greens while the Marines had camouflage. When we did get camouflage it was a generation behind the Marines. Now the Seabee's finally get their own camouflage and the rest of the Navy adopts the Seabee's uniform. The Seabee's normally make do with hand-me-downs and when they get get something new it gets taken from them.
I was in the Seabees in the late 70's. We wore utility greens within the Seabee Battalion. Once I got station at Camp David, we wore Dungarees which I really liked.
100% cotton working dungaress, was the best functional & surviveable emergency uniform, in the water, or during shipboard fire. USS Whipple DE-1062, & USS New Jersey BB-62, in my experience. R,D. Milligan, C.O. on both occasions. Great vessels, same Skipper. I am very blessed.
@@revenantrex1957Really? I served in the first half of the 1970s and some of us were issued the old uniforms and some were issued blueberries in boot camp. After boot camp and in the squadron I never saw the blueberries because when people had a choice they went back to the traditional blue jeans and chambray shirt.
@@revenantrex1957 No, they had dark blue pants and a medium blue shirt. We didn’t call them blueberries. The shirt was heavier than the chambray shirt so no one wanted to wear it.
Canada has a common land combat uniform for all three services which comes in temperate, arid, and winter colour schemes. The current shipboard working uniform is Naval Combat Dress, which consists of a flame-retardant blue shirt and black pants, and a ball cap or beret.
I think a big part of them picking a camouflage was to reinforce a kind of war fighting mentality. Especially with sailors performing more duty on land with the GWOT. I think the Navy wanted to reinforce that expeditionary mentality with the entire force, not just the traditional combat forces. The Air Force did the same thing with the ABUs. They wanted to reinforce the idea that even airmen in traditionally support roles could be called upon to combatants in the GWOT. As the war on terrorism is closing down and we refocus on more traditional battlefields, I suspect we will move away from that. Or we may not, as the strategy we might use against China is to have smaller forces dispersed around the Pacific, forces with personnel who will be expected to perform support type jobs and as well as be ready to engage in combat.
@@jasoncarswell7458 eh I think it was more an effort to get non-combat arms type jobs to have a more "warrior" mindset. The Air Force really pushed hard at the "expeditionary airman" concept and I imagine the Navy did something similar as well.
@@jasoncarswell7458 it wasn't that they wanted the "cool" jobs on land. They were having to do the jobs on land that they always did. The problem was now they were being done with an insurgency going on. Jobs that were done on bases that were typically safe had to be done on bases that were exposed to danger and the culture of the services was not conducive to that, so they had to change it. It really had nothing to do with the Air Force or Navy wanting to be "cool" or be more like the Army. They just realized that they still had to do the support jobs they did before, but now those people were going to be more likely to get shot at and they were not prepared culturally for that. Sure they went through some training, but it was just a formality to them because of the mindset.
The whole idea of changing the work uniform from bell bottom dungarees and chambray shirt, to a darker blue work uniform and eventually to the absolutely stupid Blueberries, is there are anal retentive senior enlisted, captains and admirals (in the puzzle palace) that can't stand to see a single speck of ground in dirt or oil on work uniforms. In 1968 there was a (supposedly) Navy wide uniform survey asking about pros and cons on the then current uniforms and suggestions for improvements. I was stationed on a Fram 2 destroyer in Newport, R. I. and with a few exceptions, no enlisted personnel had a problem with dungarees. What almost everyone hated was Summer Whites and the stupid dixie cup hat. I filled out my form, returned it with a suggestion for lightweight (lighter blue) summer cracker jack uniform and a return to the ww2 era flat cap. I later found that over 75% of the survey forms stayed in the Pentagon and permanent shore station commands. Thus in 1972 the Navy stated issuing stupid uniforms to appease the pencil pushers. I was discharged two days before the jacket, blouse with tie and trousers uniform became mandatory, so i never purchased any of the new uniforms.
Actually, it went from dungarees & chambray shirt to the darker blue work uniform (utility blues?) and then back to dungarees & chambray shirt (around 1980)... Then to the "blueberries"...
An't this like the whole history of the USM since WW2? The military wants one thing, the nearly politicians themselves and the actual politicians in DC want whatever insanity they cook up. And whatever it is, it somehow HAS to be not at all what the actual service asked for. So they tell the service to shove it, and then the actual working men of the military are left trying to make do with whatever the latest boondoggle crap DC forced on them. Congress shouldn't be involved in military procurement, bid drafting, or research, or really ANYTHING AT ALL when it comes to do with what the military has for uniforms and equipment. They can allocate the money and STFU.
I grew up in Pensacola, so when I was a kid, I saw Navy uniforms a lot--especially officer and soon-to-be officer (pilot) uniforms. The NavCads HAD to wear their striking white uniforms whenever they left base. You talk about GIRL magnets! I loved those uniforms and the Navy's commissioned officer uniforms. But I have to say I also loved the Navy's dress enlisted (Cracker Jack) uniform. Though I loved cracker jacks, too, I never though the Navy uniform to be silly. In fact, I thought it to be a great uniform, commendably different from and not just a less fancy/stylish uniform from what the Navy officers wore as is typical of the other services. Makes me REALY proud, now, watching a Navy ships entering/leaving port and seeing all those sailors 'manning the rails'. As for a Navy work uniform, the dungarees, chambray shirt, and boon dockers were perfect--though I always wondered how they would be expected to keep a white 'dixie cup' clean. Though I'm a Marine, I've always loved the Navy, too.
I was in 73-76, in boot camp we were issued the pull-over shirt with 3 buttons and polyester pants, BDU's. After I got out to the fleet on a DDG, the Chief Bos'n mate told me I was still authorized t wear the old style dungarees. Took a few paydays to to build up enough Seafarers to never have to wear the BDU's again.
I was in from 2007 to 2011. Personally I liked the nwu 1000x more than the Dungeness or utilities as the were called from the mod 90s till phase out. The biggest change was the pants went from bellybutton jeans to a sort of dickies type work pant. The NWU was way more comfortable had alot more pockets and you actually felt like you were in the military not a janitor or in prison. And the best part is YOU DIDNT HAVE TO IRON THEM. I personally never heard anything about them fading to orange when contacting sea water
The CadPat does a pretty good job of blending into the background, assuming you have the right colour for the environment. So the temperate woodland pattern works quite well in Canada and Europe but not so well in Afghanistan. Was definitely far more comfortable than the earlier Canadian work dress uniform that I was first wore in green and then in air force blue.
I’m retired Navy, 22 years. The Navy tried several times to get rid of the dungarees. We were never allowed to wear them off base because they were the same uniforms that were used in several penitentiaries. Truth be known, the ones we were issued were actually made in a penitentiary. Most of us went to the exchange and bought some Seafarers for a better fit and better look. In the mid 70’s they tried a new style. They were infused with a fire retardant (so they said) and featured a pullover shirt. The pants caused a lot of guys to break out in a rash on the inner thigh where they rubbed and the shirt made a lot of folks nervous because if they were to catch fire you’d have to pull it off over your head. They didn’t last, and we went back to dungarees. The next big move was to drop the crackerjack blues and whites and go to a suit and tie uniform. They said it was the result of a navy wide poll but nobody I knew ever met anyone who had seen the alleged poll. It, too, was dropped. I think that, more than anything, the navy just wants to blend in with the other branches a little better. I think that was the idea behind the suit. All the other branches are wearing camouflage , all the other branches wear a suit and tie, etc.
As always, great information! The switch to camouflage "BDU" style uniforms was, in my opinion, simply "keeping up with the Jonses" in a very expensive manner. First of all, the change was not sufficiently required for changing conditions. Dungarees are simple, inexpensive, and easy to produce in flame retardant denim. Coveralls are also excellent for general wear, though they can be hot in warmer climates and spaces. As stated, and with the exception of base support personnel, the SEALs and other land-based sailors, a simple uniform not inconsistent with civilian clothing seems the least expensive and frankly, most comfortable duty uniform for most enlisted rates. If you want departmental identification, take a hint from aircraft carrier flight ops and wear flashes or insignia with readily identifiable colors. Keep it simple, take care of the rates and you'll have a better, more efficient, and better motivated sea force. Keep up the wonderful work and all you do to keep the magnificent New Jersey a visible part of American history.
I had a few issues with dungarees. 1. You weren't allowed to go off-base them. You could get gas, go to a drive-through etc. But, you weren't allowed to stop anywhere. I was on a bunch of joint bases, so if my co-workers wanted to go to lunch, unless I happen to be wearing my casual whites (Hawaii), I couldn't go. 2. They were cotton, so the tops would get very wrinkled within a couple of hours. You couldn't wear the same shirt twice without ironing it. Just a pain. One of the many reasons being deployed was a lot better.
I can authoritatively answer this question as my ship was part of the uniform test project and hosted the MCPON where he explicitly stated the purpose: to hide stains and grime from working on the ship! To roughly quote MCPON Smith, they wanted "a sailor to be able to crawl through the bilge, roll on the flightdeck, lean against something the boatswains just painted, and then be able to stand in formation and not be able to pick them out." That's the straight facts from a first hand witness to the whole thing. USS Iwo Jima LHD7, 2nd Division, 2003-2005.
Best uniform? Without a doubt summer whites! Fun story: We had to pull in to Port Everglades and send divers over the side to make some repairs following sound trials in the Caribbean. The Engineer Officer and I decided to go tour one of the cruise ships moored nearby, so we put on our summer whites. As we walked around the cruise ship, passengers kept coming up to the Engineer and complimenting him on what a fine ship he had, thinking that he was the Captain!
As usual, an interesting and informative video from the Battleship New Jersey. BUT - on the concluding comment "Canada has switched to one uniform for their whole armed services..." Ryan, you're referring to the Unification of the Canadian military back in 1968. Unification was enacted almost entirely for the benefit of the then-Minister of Defence, Paul Hellyer (not for the benefit of serving personnel) and it did an ENORMOUS amount of damage to the entire Canadian military as it also included using a single rank system (Army) for all three services and they were all renamed as commands only (Maritime Command for Navy, Land Command for Army, etc). And it was so universally hated by all sailors, soldiers and aviators that large numbers of military members got out, and the moral for those who remained was significantly damaged. The common rifle green uniform worn by the Navy and Air Force was REVILED by those who had to put it on. In fact, it was so hated that in 1986 distinctive environmental uniforms were brought back and in 2011 the names of the servives were restored, which is why we got back the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. So, thank God, we no longer have a single uniform for the Canadian Armed Forces.
@@jrdougan Utterly! The "Star of Military Valour", the "Medal of Military Valour", the "Cross of Valour". What bloody meaningless decorations. The DSM, the DFC, the George Cross - these meant something, not these new tin cut-out medals. And the Victoria Cross? Canada is the only Commonwealth nation to refuse to decorate any of our people with our highest decoration since WWII - that's 78 years and about three generations. If you look up "parsimonious" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of Canada. In this country there's lots of talk of "support our troops", but when it comes to action? - phht.
I put in one of my people for the "Medal of Bravery" as he saved his father's life while boating. My command refused to support it as they "didn't want other members risking their lives." For Christ's sake!
What you said at the end about the Canadian military going to on combat uniform isn't true. We have a common digital pattern (CADPAT) but the Royal Canadian Navy doesn't wear CADPAT except in specific circumstances. They have Naval Combat Dress (NCDs) which is black trousers and jacket with a "postman blue" shirt but are transitioning to the new Naval Enhanced Combat Uniform (NECU) which is all black with trousers, a t-shirt and heavy weight black overshirt. Both are worn with either a beret or ship's baseball cap as headdress.
Joined the Navy in 1972. Started out with "Cracker Jacks" then went to the "Bus Drivers" by the time they switched back I made Chief, so "Bus Drivers" became Khakis for me. The new "Cracker Jacks" were not the same quality of wool and were a darker (more black) blue. I am a Submarine Sailor so our underway uniform was the "Poopy Suit" which I loved. At boot camp working uniform was the "Utilities" but were found out to be dangerous around rotating machinery so Chambre Shirts and Dungarees came back in style.
As someone who grew up in a family of commercial fishermen who always wore bright warm collars from red to lime green I never understood why the navy's sailors didn't do the same or at least have something incorporated with their uniform that helps with visibility
Most of my 20 years was in Reserve harbor security units, so I mostly wore the old woodland camouflage. In 2011,preparing for mobilization and deployment (to Kuwait), we switched to the "type III" uniforms you show at 4:43. I liked them. They had lots of pockets, and the shoulder pockets were very convenient if you were wearing armor. Most of the pockets had both button and velcro closures. Then I left those units and switched to the "blueberries". I hated them. Not as many pockets, no velcro and a metal zipper. It always made me uncomfortable thinking about fighting a shipboard fire while wearing hot metal down there. And the boots! They were so stiff that I was getting sores on my ankles from the rubbing.
Navy ranks were so hard to remember, and the black rank insignia on the dark blue background so hard to make out, that as a cadet I just saluted every person in navy camo and hoped they didn’t mind being called sir instead of their rank
There was absolutely no reason for the Navy to go to the blue digital NWU other than they wanted to look cool like the Marines and Army. When I first got to an amphibious unit in the mid 90s all the services were using BDUs as their combat/utility uniform. The Marines had to be special, so they adopted a modified version of the Canadian CADPAT digital cammies and then put a patent on the design so none of the other services could use them. Shortly thereafter the Army adopted their wonderfully ineffective ACU in the UCP digital pattern. The Navy just wanted to look like the cool kids, so they came up with the digital NWU and two AOR patterns. NWU was a terrible pattern and color way for a shipboard working uniform, but at least they could say they had a digital camo pattern uniform. The only place that camo worked was if you fell overboard. I was hoping that the Navy would use the experimental 3-tone gray urban pattern that the Marines had tested at Fleet Battle Experiment-Echo in 1999. It would have been a far more suitable camo for use aboard ships and shore installations. Camo just got ridiculous after about 2005. It quickly became obvious that the Army, Navy and Air Force had chosen crappy/ineffective camo schemes. The MARPAT camo was good if matched to the right environment, but having two patterns was expensive. Things reached peak stupid sometime around 2010-15 with the profusion of different camo uniforms. I remember having lunch at the NEX food court at NAS North Island and counting at least 11 different patterns and styles of utilities or work uniforms worn by the various service members. It kind of undermines the whole idea of having a uniform when all the uniforms are different. I'm just fortunate that for most of the 14 odd years I spent in the Navy Reserve I was able to wear BDU/DCU uniforms. They are so much more comfortable, durable and conducive to working in than dungarees or coveralls.
I remember one argument was the dungaree look was also used for prisoners, so they looked like convicts. If I recall that was the biggest reason to move away from dungarees.
I still have my dungarees from serving in the 80’s and 90’s. When it’s time to do some possible dirty work, I put them on. They are durable and easy for a sailor to run through a washer, along with a pair of blue pants. Let’s not forget the connection to all the sailors from history and the value of tradition. Something a lot of folks seem to forget.
I was in the Army, and the entire history of the uniform and how it has developed is VERY interesting reading. Often you have to buy or be issued a uniform and headgear predicated of your job or unit. (Berets are for certain units) I wore whites when I worked as a medic and nurse. I wore a Flight suit when I was flying. Wore utilities of various patterns when I was with combat units. Issued more when deployed to Peace keeping, then combat tours. Some are fire proof or resistant i.e., Flight suits. Some uniforms have a coating that helps with avoiding heat sigmatures. Maybe that is why the Navy has a different uniform. No reason to make some give up the old dungeries...
In the early 90s my favorite thing to wear was the Coveralls. You could get your name and rank embroidered on them. Very practical and comfortable. Easy to wash. Easy to take off at the end of the day.
The NWU's were chosen to help hide the common shipboard paints and to hide on the white speckled blue PRC decks. But they did not breathe at all in hot weather and were quite uncomfortable in almost all warmer/tropical environs. They should've just adopted the USCGs all blue BDUs that were already wear tested and in sufficient production.
The USCG version is called the ODU. Adopted in 2010. The ODU is in the process of being phased out. Why wear a dark color thick uniform on a boat. They are hot. And add boots. These uniforms are very expensive and hotter compared to the old work uniform.
I am a former sailor from 1974 and to 1979. In my opinion the principal reason of going to camo patterns of any sort was simple inter-service rivalry. Some tried to argue that standardizing all the various services on camouflage patterns, was supposed to standardize and simplify purchasing, stocking, and issuing of uniforms. Obviously untrue as each service had its own pattern or set of patterns. I personally think the simplest answer was nothing more than inter-service rivalry. The Marines were first to get digital, then the army, then the Air Force and lastly the Navy. It was a silly waste of time and energy, and resources.
My biggest decision every morning was what's the uniform of the day. In the late 60's and early 70's I was a Navy Corpsman ( medic ) with a Marine unit. We had the Navy's full issue of uniforms. Then we had the full issue ( Minus the dress uniform ) of the Marines. Two sea bags to carry ,one for each branch of service. Most of the time it was dungarees for field day's ( cleaning ) the clinic. Marine ( tan ) slacks and blouse with a white smock for duty hours and sometimes greens with combat boots. Always had to check the board to see what the uniform of the day would be in the morning.
As a former Navy vet, my favorite uniform was the Johnny Cashes (winter working blues). Least favorite was the enlisted dress uniforms, both dress blues and dress whites.
When the Air Force was looking at camouflage, they looked at the bluish grey uniform, which we called Smurf Blue since we would have looked like a Smurf. Thank goodness we did not take it. But the Navy was interested in it. But the Best Digi Camouflage Uniform developed was the Marine MARPAT Digi uniform.
I was in from 89-93 started boot wearing Dress Blues for QuarterDeck watch, graduated in Dress Whites 2 months later. The only good thing I can say about the Dress Whites is they didnt have the 13 Button closure the Blues have. Dungarees was the working uniform for enlisted on most of Amphib Base Little Creek. Phib CB2 and EoD/SEALs wore BDU's. I did most of my tour on Little Creek, 1st at ACU2 on Limited Duty, then USS Newport (LST 1179) til we decommed her in 92 and then at Amphibious SeaBee Unit 2 (just decommissioned in March of 2023). Since I was attached to Supply as I was considered a sea side SeaBee then I wore BDU to Muster and switched to Dungarees (thats what the entire outfit is called though technically its dungaree pants and a chambray shirt) to work in but when I stood watch on my duty days it was in BDU's. Had 2 sets of 'Flight Deck'/Combat boot work and watch set and a set that had the Toe cap and heel pieces mirror shined by this guy I found at a mall, he asked 15 I paid $20 and in a hour he produced the stand out boots. I then got rid of the 'chloroforms' patent pleather shoes bought a pair of the issue dress shoes and took them to the guy and he made them look like patent leather and lived in a bag. Everyone who asked I told who did them so my weekly touch ups became free. and while having all them pockets on the BDU you werent supposed to have really anything in them so when the Marines and their Ardvarks came aboard we'd trade with the marines for their green cotton 'tankeralls' because they had copious pockets and while thicker and heavier than the blue coveralls they werent polyester like the blue ones either so they didnt rip as easily and as a deck ape Id rather the dungarees over the blue coveralls even the short sleeved ones.
The classic long-sleeved knit jerseys with chonky horizontal black-and-white stripes favored by mimes, originated with French fishermen. They were garments intended to make someone who had fallen into the water highly visible. In context, a classic bit of anti-camouflage does seem completely practical and appropriate for serving on the ocean.
Dress uniforms, Marine Corps I prefer the dungarees the blue top Dixie cup. They are built for a purpose. Bellbottoms will help you get your jeans off with your Boondockers on better pants could be use a flotation device, the same with a Dixie cop. It can be used as a flotation device, maybe uniforms were good for a purpose. That’s why they were made like that.
USAF Vet here and I preferred the old cotton button fly fatigues. Then the AF went to a permanent press material that did not breath at all!! UGH Just as I was getting out they were switching to BDUs (woodland camouflage). Only real plus was the shirt did not have to be tucked in so that was great in hot and muggy climates.
Because it looks cool and some senator and or admiral has a family member who designed it and they get a kickback for having it issued. Dungarees and the blue chambray shirts were the best.
🎯 FACT!!
I'd also like to see females go back to wearing female uniforms. I'm not really a fan of the unisex Style.
Yep; that's what I wore back in the day ('67 to '71). Seafarer jeans and the blue chambray shirt. None of this 'Me, too' camo nonsense.
'twas ever thus!"
It was trendy and cool, and that's all it was.
Went into the navy in 1969. There was a period were we were required to change to the "new" uniform made from synthetics. Some sailors paid a high price when the Navy found out what melted clothing did to human skin.
I think Rifleman Moore did a video about uniforms worn by the Royal Navy in the Falklands war, and the RN had recently at that time switched from pure cotton to a synthetic working dress and a lot of sailors suffered burns as a result. Newer working uniforms are required to be flame retardant.
th-cam.com/video/wEPo-acivsY/w-d-xo.html
I remember those stupid things. I, like most, stuck with the dungarees. Got out before they were required, but don't know if they ever made the switch completely.
@Harrassing_Cyberbullyaint gonna lie asbestos is a god material if you ignore the health risks. its a monkeys paw situation
When I joined in 1985, they made sure to let us know not to wear artificial fiber underwear. One of the guys in my department insisted on wearing plastic underwear anyway...not so bright. Not an area you want melted plastic. It was probably actually after I got to my ship and went through firefighting training (I was on the in-port emergency team), when they showed us al sorts of horrifying stuff, including footage from the USS Forest Fire. Also explained at the same time why recording video aboard ship was strictly forbidden...someone sent footage of the Forrestal home, before the government had decided what to tell the world. But I have a tape I recorded from the ship's closed circuit TV...someone in my office made a deal with one of the ETs, so his VCR got tagged as being disabled, but wasn't.
I had those in boot camp, then they changed while I was in nuke school. The fabric was indestructible, but the stitching thread would wear out in no time.
In about 2012, I was taking a military history course at a big state university with both Army and Navy ROTC programs. One day we were talking about the evolution of military uniforms circa World War I, how most of the major combatants in that war moved away from bright identifying colors to drabs and proto-camouflage schemes during the war, and the professor asked an NROTC student who was wearing his blue NWUs that day, "What's the deal with that camo pattern, anyway? Do you know?"
"I think they're the colors of paint you're most likely to get on yourself aboard ship," the student replied, with a perfectly straight face.
Oil, grease, and and paint is the explanation I heard as well.
United States Marines, THE defenders of the U.S Navy!
Based answer.
@@nonamesplease6288 The Marine Corps is not a part of the Navy, that's a myth/common misconception. What we are is and independent branch of service in the Department of the Navy. This means that the Commandant of the Marine Corps is not subordinate to the Chief if Naval Operations but is equal to them and both answer to the SecNav and both have a permanent and full time seat at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
As for the Army stealing MARPAT, that's not entirely true. When the Army was looking to adopt a new camouflage pattern they were considering MARPAT, but the Corps wasn't willing to share it with the Army and they couldn't simply use it without permission because the Corps was being petty and trademarked/copyrighted the MARPAT pattern. So what the Army ended up doing is using the MARPAT screens, which were derived from the Canadian CADPAT and used their own colors.
not true...." haze gray and underway" was a saying BECAUSE the ships were gray from the sides and had a darker tone when seen from above
I wore Dungarees my whole time in the Navy. They never should have gotten rid of them.
To be honest, they were pretty comfy as a real working uniform. Also, cheap enough to readily buy replacements.
I suspect that's the scam. Someone(s) made a lot of money off of this change.
I was in the Australian Navy in the 70's and we had a similar uniform. It was called no 8's and it worked perfectly well. This new stuff is just a fashion statement.
@@TheWareek ...You know, another thing that really worries me, is the type of fabric these camo patterns use. I hope it's not Rip-Stop fabric, which is used in the Army. It's meant to be more durable for field use. The beauty of the old Dungarees, is that if it got snagged on something sharp, or caught in a rotating piece of equipment, it would tear more easily, preventing you from getting sucked in and losing a finger, hand, or a whole limb. The worst thing to have around operating machinery, is baggy Rip-Stop fabric. It's a severe injury waiting to happen.
I'll take my coveralls over wearing dungarees on ship especially since I'm an engineer.
@kaijudude2445 ...out at sea, definitely. I prefer coveralls too. But in Port we wore the dungarees as a working uniform, which looks more traditional imo.
10 years in the Navy on submarines. I was proud to wear dungarees daily. They made sense and were comfortable. In my opinion the Cracker Jacks look great! This new digital uniform doesn't promote being members of the Navy. They look like soldiers.
Here is the screamer , how does digital camo work when you are under water ?
@@marcusfranconium3392 Easy. It looks like someone left the screen door open ad splashed paint through it.
I agree….I was in the Navy back in 1985 and the uniforms were comfortable (I especially liked the peacoats I wish I could have kept mine)and like everything else about the Navy….traditional, you knew what branch of the service you were in but today they look all the same ….like you’re in the damn Army. The need to return to the traditional uniforms
@@anthonylowder6687Why weren't you able to keep your peacoat? They were boot camp issue and you paid for it.
If you are talking about the green foul weather jackets, yeah those were great and you were "supposed" to turn them in.
😊now peacoats have gone by the wayside. They remain authorized for wear, but they are no longer issued or prescribable. If you want one, you need to go out of pocket for it. At the time, note that the iconic statue of the lone sailor on the National Mall in Washington is wearing a peacoat with the collar turned up - go figure?
I was in the Coast Guard for 31 years as both an enlisted and officer. As an enlisted I loved the Cracker Jax uniform. Aside from their classic look, they were designed to turn inside out and neatly roll up for storage in a seabag. When you needed to wear the uniform you take them out of your seabag, unroll them and they still look great. Semper Paratus!
Thank you for your service. Semper Paratus from an Auxiliarist.
Digital camo was not adopted because it works better against digital sensors, because it does not. Digital was invented because it is easier to make multi-scale camouflage in a digital pattern.
An important aspect to any camouflage is that the various blobs of colour will be perceived differently at different ranges. With older camo's, the blobs of colour might work to break up an outline at medium range, but blend together at longer range and stand out as a distinct flat colour at close ranges.
Multi-scale camouflage uses many sizes of colour blocks and blends them in such a way that the camouflage works optimally in large range of distances or scales, giving better protection against perception.
Also digital camo comes from the early 20th century...
This makes more sense, I don't know what's true anymore :/.
Okay that's all well and good for soldiers and a forest. But can you tell me why sailor's board ship need that? Is it for like the world's greatest game of hide and go seek?
To add to that, digital camouflage doesn't have to pixelated. All digital camouflage means is that the pattern was developed digitally, using a computer. An example of a non-pixelated camouflage pattern is Multicam, it was developed on or with the help of a computer yet it isn't pixelated.
I was told by an active duty officer a few years ago: "The reason for the camo was: It's easier to get people to join the Navy if you have a cool-looking uniform"
As a former Air Force guy, I was always flabbergasted by the plethora of uniforms in the Navy. Thanks for helping me understand it a little better.
Outside of normal land-based used by corpsman or Seabees; this is one of the Dumber fashion trends naval uniform history.
one of the DUMBEST was when I went in in 1979 the enlisted wore suit Dress uniforms just like Chiefs but with different patches.....we went back to cracker jacks in 1980 at OUR expense
The Navy has wasted a lot of trying to find a good replacement for the dungarees for a while and have not got it right yet. All they really had to do is adopt the Coast Guards (I think they have are are getting new ones, also don't know if is better or worse) or just go back to the dungarees.
@@michaelkendall662 -- I was issued Cracker Jacks in 1979. They were issued, we didn't have to buy them. I'm not saying you didn't have to buy them in 1980, but when we got them issued we stood in long lines down a row of tables around the hanger elevator (which was down) and they asked size and handed them to you off of folding tables.
@@carlanderson7618I would agree that the Coast Guard working uniform makes sense.
best uniform on ship ever is a set of coveralls!
I was Army. Never understood the blueberries until someone told me about the heavy greases and oils so many Sailors work with. Dark colors are essential to allowing the uniforms to still look servicable when working with that stuff. Mad respect to Sailors; it's not easy duty.
Blueberries? What about the strawberries? At last night's mess, we had 5 quarts of strawberries, and I authorized a second portion but were short one portion today. I'm going to find out who took that extra portion, as Captain of the Kane!
@@williambrown3750 Strawberry ice cream aboard the Caine !
Army soldiers mostly get messy with mud. They can launder that out. Navy sailors get messy with heavy grease and paint. Even tar, once upon a time -- which has a connection with the American manner of hand salute, which we Yanks learned from the Royal Navy. It's because of tar all over your hands.
And it's no easier to launder now than it was then.
Yeah massive respect for the Navy. There is a reason for sea pay, misery. Old Marine here 1966-68
@@w.reidripley1968 Interesting. I had not thought of the tar, pitch, and pine from back in the day.
To camouflage man overboard
😆😆😆👍
Poor Oscar and we never saw him again
@@Leoluvesadmira
Oscar sleeps with the digitally camouflaged fishes.
My cousin who is incidentally a fighter pilot, said to they would have to physically drag him down to the bx to buy that stuff.
I was privileged to serve in the U. S. Navy from 1964-1968, and one of the things that drew me to the Navy was the uniform! The only things I would've changed was to reintroduce the flat hat for the dress blues, and maybe a dress white jumper with blue collar and white piping and stars. NOT the current goofy dress white jumper with blue piping and stars! Perhaps a button on collar for the jumper. The cracker jacks were distinctive. The other branches not so much.
I collected all of my family's Navy uniforms when I was a kid and loved the bell bottom pants with 13 button flap in front. 13 for original colonies and each had an anchor on the front.
As we use to say. It gave the girl 13 chances to say, "No".
@@giovannideventuri4506exactly.
The dinner plate! ;)
dress blues or dress white are NOT "bell bottom pants"
Re WW2 era uniforms, interesting how the DRESS blue jumper (with cuffs) and UNDRESS white jumper (no cuffs) have become today's dress uniforms. Anyone miss the undress blue jumper?
Over a 26 year career in the Navy, I hates the uniform changes, I came in with the button fly dungarees, went to a pull-over utility uniform and then back to dungarees, Salt & Pepper was in there also with the stupid cap. Every time, it cost me money I would have rather spent on my wife & son. Finally made Chief and the madness sort of calmed down, though I did have to buy a set of Choker Whites which I wore once for a change of command in the 11 years I was a Chief.
I was in the Marines and remember most of the Navy hated the salt and pepper/milkman uniform and was happy when the cracker jacks came back. The Marine Corps went through it own problems with dress uniforms to the extent one Commandant fired the entire uniform board. Only good thing they did was get rid of that cheap, relatively useless awfully looking rain coat and replaced it with a London Fog type in the 80s.
@@carlanderson7618 -- Even worse than the salt-and-peppers was when we had to wear the tropical whites aboard ship... White uniforms should not EVER be required aboard ship, even for just a couple of hours... The ship seems to *sweat* JP-5 and it was impossible to get from our berthing compartment to the flight deck (for manning the rails or an inspection) without getting a bit of grease / JP-5 on the bottom of your pants... The tropical whites were also called the "Good Humor man" uniform... It was cotton, so it was comfortable, but it just seemed to attract JP-5... I remember when we went back to the Crackerjacks and they had the synthetic tropical white Crackerjack uniform... Damn, that was an ugly uniform...
Thank you for your service! 🙏
The coat and tie with combination hat was the absolute worst. I was on a 637 class fast-attack and there was no place to hang that POS. For deployments we stretched 1" line between a few pad eyes in the aft end of the torpedo room and the crew hung them there. Of course eventually the line would stretch and sag. This would require removing all the uniforms, tighten up the line, and rehang them. As the torpedomen accessed the area they would knock a uniform off the line. Eventually it would get hung back up and hopefully not torn or dirty. As soon as we were allowed to go back to crackerjacks everyone ditched that uniform.
No Kit Upkeep Allowance, "KUA" or Tempory Loan Clothing in the USN then?
I was in from '06 to '11. followed the uniform design board closely. The main selling point of the blue and gray digital pattern was to hide paint and grease stains. Having stood a school house uniform inspection in a year old, worked in set of NWU's it worked as advertised. The fading to orange when in contact with sea water is just sea stories that spread among the lower enlisted.
What did the navy wear before the blue digital camo?
The story that I was told is that the blue camouflage pattern was at least partially intended not to camouflage you but instead camouflage the grease stains that you get on your uniform working onboard ship.
This is the real reason. Dungarees seem to stain whenever exposed to air and fade unevenly. Nothing seems to stain digital camo, not even "tomato sauce" and "charcoal"
Its the biggest bull , any one though of , i worked in the navy a real navy not that muppet one that is called us navy . and the ones working in engine rooms had their own coveralls . for the real dirty jobs and we had something called a laundromat . grease stains on your daily work clothes nots accepted as its a fire hazard , as engineers , deck personell are also part of the damage control and fire fighting parties . Now what would happen if you got a greasy or oily uniform not recommended , that is why every one was required to have a fresh uniform every day or 2x a day . Comoflaging grease staines great ways for accidents and injuries to happen.
@@joshentheosparks7492 W o w , didn't realize that the squids were that big on barbecuing charcoal and tomato sauce good 1' 😅
This reason was stated in the Navy Times and by leadership at the time.
I actually heard that too! Stupid reason but very navy!
Canada NO - "we" tried one uniform and it was so bad half the career sailors quit (I may have exaggerated there). At 76, I confess to being the only 'Army Guy' in my family - even my son went Navy. But my dad, in the 1950's through 70's NEVER wore or even owned a pair of Levi type pants. When he was shore based the first thing he did when he got home was to change out of his dungarees - only then did he greet us. For real. I was 20 before I wore my first pair of jeans - again for real. Thanks for your work!!!!
As a Navy vet there is no reason for sailors to wear camo on a ship. The dungarees were very comfortable to work in. If a sailor falls into the water the last thing they need to be wearing is camo.
The only con on the dungarees was they were sometimes worn in prisons and thus might be associated with criminals. For this reason many bases prohibited the wearing of dungarees off base.
I asked an active duty naval officer acquaintance about the camo a few years ago, he replied with a straight face that it was so they couldn't spot you if you went overboard.
Are you really all that much more visible in the water than you are wearing blue cammies? It's not like dungarees were blaze orange or florescent green like a safety vest, they were blue on blue with a blue ball cap, not all that much different from blue cammies in my opinion.
As far as going overboard goes, the main advantage of dungarees is that you can get your pants off to use as an improvised floating device quicker. Maybe kick off your shoes quicker too; I don't know what kind of footwear was issued with dungarees but combat boots aren't good if you go overboard.
The material on the dungarees was fairly thin which was a god send when the A/C and ventilation systems got shut down during GC.
yeah, the enemy doesn't care about the people on the ship, they care about hitting the ship with a missile
They had the same rule in Canada during the green uniform days. But the reason was that work dress was usually worn looking, and dirty with grease and paint stains.
I drove past a British Army base a few years ago, the soldiers on gate duty had rifles (quite rare here), and they were wearing urban camouflage dress, with fluorescent overcoats.
That's because you need to be camouflaged from the terrorists or near peer enemies and yet visible to the piss heads driving home when the pub closes.
Perfect military logic.
I also observed the same thing in their naval bases guarded by Gurkhas armed with rifles. Their aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth had like 2-4 duty personnel armed with rifles stationed at the ship's entrance. I found it weird since the ship was in their homeport and still required armed duty personnel.
The branch with the best camouflage uniform is the Marine corps MARPAT. It works and the Marine corps been using it the past 25 years. Army (OCP) comes in second. Navy (NWU III) comes in 3rd.
The Navy is actually replacing type 3’s. The new uniform looks similar to what the coast guard wears.
Marines always have the best uniforms. They even get to roll up the sleeves too (the army doesn't let us lol)
@@justanotherafol9723
Looks like the experiment failed then
@@justanotherafol9723 again? The green camo
@@atpyro7920 Yeah, that whole Army sleeve thing was so annoying when I was in. I always pointed out as much as the Marines took pride in their personal appearance, they had no problem rolling shirt sleeves up the simplest way. For a gang that eats crayons they can be smart when they want to.
Ryan, there were actually 3 different NWUs. The "blueberrys" were NWU I, and NWU II & III were a digital woodland and desert pattern similar to, but not identical to MARPAT woodland and desert. The woodland pattern was meant to be worn by anybody who regularly served ground side and in the field that weren't Marine Corpsmen, people like chaplains, Sea Bess, etc. The desert pattern was supposed to be reserved solely for the use by Navy Special operations like SEALs.
Also expeditionary units and seabees wear type 2
@Riceball01 There are NO USMC CORPSMEN … they are ALL US NAVY CORPSMEN serving with our USMC Brothers in the Fleet Marine Force.
@@jazzandbluesculturalherita2547 Yes, I know that. I said Marine Corpsmen to mean Corpsmen serving with Marines.
NWU Type II is the same pattern as AOR1, NWU Type III is the same as AOR2. What is used depends on where you would be operating. NWU Type I was the general purpose anywhere uniform. Now the NWU III has become the general purpose anywhere uniform. The NWU Type II would be for personal needing to operating in desert areas.
The cracker jack dress blues are SHARP. I was always proud to wear those.
Most sailors hated the blue digital camo uniform but a couple told me they liked it because it tended to not show grease and paint stains. Totally makes sense if you're assigned to that kind of work.
I remember hearing a story of the development of the fade to orange uniforms. The first few iterations would turn orange simply from the salt spray or being in salt air for long enough.
The idea, fading to orange when in water, is actually great. But I actually expected that to happen.
I mean if you think about it, you would sweat it orange too.
I feel like the uniforms should be bright orange in the first place
Far be it from me to deny some Commander his Legion of Merit for coming up with that plan, but I do see some potential problems.
@@delfinenteddyson9865then the ships would look like prison ships. Not wrong, but they don't need to publicly say it.
I find the Navy’s newest uniform very entertaining. Especially when they realized that the camouflage worked so well that they could not distinguish each other’s ranks. Now everyone has a big blue square in the center of their chest so we know their rank.
To answer Ryan’s question there should not be one standardized uniform. Each branch builds their uniforms around their specific missions in mind.
All to avoid going back to the paradigm that worked perfectly well: wash khakis and dungarees.
You think our camo tabs were bad, you should try reading the rank tab of an airman. Not only is the tab the same color as their uniform, but the actual insignia is also the same fucking shade of tan as the rest of their uniform. I've walked past so many officers and not saluted because I couldn't see what rank they were until they were standing right next to me
@@naverilllang I hate to say it, but our crayon-eating brethren have the right idea.
This uniform has been out of the inventory for years now.
@@mwduck he's talking about NWU type III, which we still use. Last year was the big switch from camo rank tabs to black rank tabs
My dad was in the Navy in WWII. He said if you fell overboard, they did not come back to pick you up. I guess making it difficult to see you in the sea makes their mission easier.
I think the Service Dress Blues (Cracker Jacks) is one of the swankiest uniforms. It exudes "Navy" and the sea service.
It's cool till you hit your mid 20s. You kind of age out of crackerjacks.
I'm surprised they didn't just make orange camouflage uniforms. Just say that "We're thinking of reintroducing grog into the fleet for morale purposes so we want to find the drunks who fall off the boats."
I always thought the aqua-flage should have been florescent orange, bright lime green, and safety yellow. It would make man overboard drills a bit easier.
I think the connection of orange jumpsuits and prison inmates might not be good for Navy PR... 😂😂
And Yellow and Orange also dominate civilian construction.
They should have just modernized the dungarees and shirts. Enlisted Navy are all mechanics, techs, and laborers running around a large floating "building" or doing lots of the same stuff on land bases. They have no business or need to be wearing camo or BDU clothing.
The infantry should be in camo. Everybody else needs clothing matching their jobs.
@@Brickrider2I seen firefighters with orange Camo. Some sort of twilight zone material.
@@nordoceltic7225, I really don't think they think about PR. "WASHINGTON - The Navy's appointment of an active-duty drag queen to boost recruitment is drawing backlash from some Republican senators who contend the sailor promoted the use of Chinese-owned social media and inappropriately represented the service."
Oh, finally, explanations for this bizarre trend! And it's good to know it's not in use at sea. Actually, now that I think about it, I never saw Navy sailors wearing NWUs at sea when I worked fleet support. They wore the same coveralls we did, except nobody ever slipped them olive-colored ones. Also, the commenters on this video have raised a lot of other interesting assertions, it's very satisfying!
I still have a few sets of milspec coveralls that I got from slop chests on various ships, it took me a while to figure out what sizing to ask for, for each manufacturer, but I admit that I sometimes only brought one pair of coveralls with me aboard a new ship, to save traveling weight (I also never took a foulie jacket home with me, or brought anything quite like that jacket). I still use the coveralls, both for crawl-space work or other dirty jobs, and for working outside on very hot, sunny days, because I absolutely loathe sunscreen. I wouldn't call them my favorite anything, but they're a valued and permanent part of my wardrobe.
I wore dungarees for the vast majority of my Navy career at sea, with the addition of coveralls a bit later. When they phased out the bell bottom dungarees, I wore mine until the very LAST day they were authorized. I even got chewed out briefly, because I was still wearing mine that day, until I was able to state the Naval instruction that stated that the dungaree uniform was authorized until 23:59 that day. I didn't get into any real trouble BECAUSE I knew the uniform regulation and the instruction that delt with the transition to the new utility uniform. That individual was still not happy that I was still wearing dungarees, but there wasn't anything they could do about it!
I did the same. I think it was 1973 or so around the time of Zumwalt's reign. The switch from dungarees as working uniforms was universally hated.
I was in the Marines when we went to jungle cammies. We had worn the green sateens for years. I too was chewed out several time still wearing my authorized sateens. I even wore them when I checked out of my last unit in 1977
@@steveanderson9290 I got out in '76 and dungarees were still the working uniform. The changes were the ball cap from the old floppy type you see Admiral Halsey wearing in some photos and the work jacket where a nearly black jacket replaced the old blue jacket.. The real hated change was the moronic dress uniform that always looked bad. Glad I never had to wear that, I got out before the changeover date.
@@glennrishton5679 Interesting. 1973 was a year of upheaval, and perhaps it did not propagate to all commands with the same intensity, or at the same rate. I remember us losing our dungarees and blue chambray shirts at that time in favor of dark blue trousers and a lighter blue shirt. I managed to never buy the new dress uniform before I got out in '74...good thing, because the Navy reversed the dress uniform change again and went back in 1980 I hear. I found this quote about the '73 changes on a historical site:
_In 1973 the most sweeping change in the history of enlisted dress occurred. Based on a survey conducted in 1970 it appeared that there was some fleet desire, principally among the more senior petty officers, for a different, more distinguished garb. Based on these findings, the sailor was removed from his traditional uniform and placed in a suit and tie which corresponded to the officer/CPO style. The intention was to create a single uniform appearance and present enlisted men in a uniform which was thought to reflect the increasing complexity of the modern Navy.
The action to utilize a suit style for all enlisted has been one of the most controversial changes to effect the Navy in its uniform history..._
My favorite Navy dress uniform was the button down dress blues. My favorite utility uniform was the the Marine fatigues with a black beret that were issued in the riverine units.
brown water navy a small but totality bad ass concept that out better than expected and far more than the old PT's which were ok to
I was a civilian shipbuilder that worked on a variety of Navy contracts. Denim jeans and leggings underneath were my prefered uniform along with a long sleeve flame retardant top, year round. Sometimes I wore the blue jumpsuits (same as the sailors), which were comfortable and offered protection! I thought the digital camouflage was for urban environments, but khaki seemed to make a comeback during the Iraq war.
Man this question has been keeping me up for years now. Thanks!
I enlisted during the days of dungarees (1994), endured the switch to the gas station uniform (utilities, 2000-2010), and retired wearing the NWU. NWU would still be the uniform if it wasn't so flammable.
The NWU was sold to us as more comfortable, less wear and tear, and more uniform across the service. It was supposed to hide paint spots well, but typically when a sailor spilled paint on themselves it still left a noticeable spot. I always said that the Navy should have switched to something like the NWU in 2000, instead of the utilities, which I _hated._ NWU was winterweight cotton, so it was hot as hell to wear during the summer. The camo in the water gripe is mostly crap, as a swimmer in the water only has their head showing anyway, what clothing you are wearing is irrelevant.
I would think that you actually would want your sailors to be as visible as possible when they're in the water. To give the SAR team the best chance they get.
@@Deckzwabbermaking coveralls orange would work well, but then our ships would look like prison ships
The camo in water isnt completely crap. True only your head is visible but in a situation with a helicopter searching I would want any small advantage I could find for being spotted.
Nah. Google photos of people swimming or treading water. The shoulders are absolutely visible in a bunch of them. Wearing a bright orange shirt or something would 100% make a difference to visibility.
@@glennrishton5679That's why you're supposed to be wearing hi viz when working on the deck.
The fade to orange thing is a complete myth I wore the NWU for 6 years and trust me I did my fair share of sweating in that uniform especially when I was on Guam. The uniform never changed colors or really even faded much over my entire enlistment. I even fell in the water once at Gab Gab Beach, and the uniform is still blue to this day.
That’s what I thought as well when I first heard this information. It would be the biggest pain in the butt keeping a uniform like that looking good during inspection on a hot day or accidentally getting salt water on it. Thanks for confirming that it is indeed a myth.
The one uniform item I regretted giving a way upon leaving the USN many decades ago was the peajacket, a perfectly designed and sewn protection against cold foul weather. Impervious and tough as shoe leather.
Peacoat :-)
Growing up in a navy family where my father joined in 1960 and my mother joined in 1970, I was always very curious why it is the Navy got rid of bell bottom dungarees, button down shirts and sailors caps. Do you know that if a ship goes down every single one of those items of clothing is a personal flotation device? And not only that, they were comfortable to work in and provided ease of movement. I remember when my mom retired in 1994 and she was an active duty reservist for her last I think 12 years. And when she retired from Willow Grove they were just starting to introduce those weird blue jumpsuits into the Navy. I thought those were horrible and then they came out with the camouflage ones and I was like oh wait there's always somebody waiting in the wings with a dumber idea.
The Navy got rid of bell bottom jeans just as these pants got popular in the general public.
Button Down shirts? Never were button down shirts
@@jhonyermo the blue denim ones? I know they were definitely worn through the 80s and at least until 94 when my mom retired. Watched her leave for work every day wearing one. She was an aviation store keeper. Maybe they had different stuff
@@jhonyermo That's news to me, because I wore button down shirts in the Navy for over 20 years. (1975 - 1995) And so did every last manjack I served with, since our clothes were, you know, uniform. From Tropical White Longs, "Salt and Peppers", to Summer Whites, to Winter Blue and Winter Working Blue, to the Seafarer Chambray Shirt (Dungaree Work Uniform), the Zumwalt-era E-1 to O-10 Dress Blues (Shirt, Tie, Jacket and Trousers, with Combination Cap), the Utility Uniform (a brief variation from the Dungaree Uniform), to Khakis (E-7 and above), to the White Dress Shirt for the Dress Blue (E-7 and above), I was always in a button down shirt, other than in the Jumpers for (Crackerjack) Dress and Working Whites and Blues. Or when I was wearing my flight suit.
Hi, Michael! We have talked before. I was at Willow Grove for 3 tours (1st, 4th, and 6th), and remember your Mom. How is Mom (Brenda)? And for some reason, I want to say her middle initial is K. Can you confirm?
Canada unified its three services into the Canadian Forces in 1968, and one common green dress uniform was issued. In practice, they wore different daily uniforms that were practical for their daily duties. However, this was never popular and the unified services model was never copied by other countries. In 1987, the CF "Commands" reverted to their historic titles of RCN, RCAF, and the Army, and updated "Distinctive Environmental Uniform" were issued.
I can see why the Canadian Navy probably wasn't a fan of wearing dress greens uniform
Also, Canadian geography splits their Navy between multiple bodies of water separated by a continent, something that severely limits a nation's naval power (the US only avoids it by being being huge in both, and even then it only acquired its stats after the Panama Canal was built), which means their Navy is a glorified Coast Guard (they handle anti-smuggling etc.) and the Canadian Coast Guard is just an unarmed safety organization, while there are no Canadian marines. There's a lot fewer branches to cloth.
It was August 2011 that the Canadian Forces commands reverted back to their original predecessor names. We defiantly called the RCAF the Air Command in the late 90's early 2000's
The Canadian Forces service dress uniform currently consists of an environmental pattern jacket, long- or short-sleeved dress shirt, necktie, trousers (skirt optional for women), and black oxfords or ankle boots. Jackets, trousers, skirts, neckties, sweaters (for No. 3C), scarves, raincoats, overcoat, and parkas are in the specific environmental colours of navy blue (actually black) for the navy, rifle green for the army, air force blue for the air force, and olive green for the special operations branch; shirts are white, linden green, light blue, and tan, respectively.
I served in the "Green Navy" and my Veteran buddies make fun of me all the time for that. I will say, though that they switched to a particularly gawd-awful polyester green and green/grey work dress (with a ridiculously shaped ball cap . We wore our green berets, instead of that joke). The polyester didn't breathe like the old dungarees and they were too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter and the polyester soaked up, held and bonded with any kind of petroleum oil like a magnet. The old natural fibre dungarees did none of that. They also didn't burn. If you had to fight a fire in the old polyester work dress, you were done for. Fog yourself instead of the fire! There are stories of super-heated steam leaks melting the uniforms into a sailor's skin and flesh. By the way, Canada went back to separate uniforms per service a couple of decades ago so you need to update that part.
I am a dungaree, boondocker wearing sailor and I'm SO glad that I missed this debacle. Sailors looked like sailors.
The Chairforce almost got a much cooler version of its ABU digital tigerstripe.
The cooler test version was in the same colors as the marine MARPAT, instead they ended up getting it in the shades of grey Army ACU colors.
Coolest yes but when are you going to need skycamo when in the air you'll never wear a BDU?
The grey-green camo pattern that the Army wore after the Crops adopted MARPAT is not called ACU, that's the name for the overall uniform pattern/cut and stands for Army Combat Uniform. That god-awful grey-green camo pattern is called UCP or Universal Camouflage Pattern.
Airforce camo is in case a pilot needs to punch out in hostile territory
@@stoutyyyy That's not true because air crews don't wear ABUs, they still wear flight suits in either OD green or tan. The Air Force developed the ABU pattern & uniform because when they saw everybody else coming up with me patterns & uniforms to replace the old M81 woodlsnd camo & BDUs they didn't want to be left behind and so they came up with ABUs. The uniform was meant solely for ground based personnel, just like the BDU was.
There are some AF personnel that deploy with Army (and other branches). TAC-P's, Combat Controllers, Pararescue, Spec Ops weather (now Spec Recon), some others.
Canada started 8it with CADPAT. Marines then copied it to become MarPat. PuzzlePalace types then got "camo envy."
At the same time, there was a legitimate grip in the Navy about a lack of fire-resistant uniforms. And, that the "nukie-poo" boiler suit then rampant in the Fleet was causing more gripes (it was becoming a very expensive "dressy" thing to be worn ashore ($49.95 overalls ought not require $150 in embroidered stuff on them).
Turns out, it's easy to get aramid fiber into "BDU style" clothing, and two-part clothing can be made to fit more people better easier & cheaper.
Thus, "blueberries." But, the brownshoes got 100% of the fire-resistent production, which led to shortages. Then, all the deployed people, like SeaBEES and the like, needed "in country" attire, and there was no way to use MarPat for USN jobs with all the EGAs in it. Enter in the AOR II and III uniforms. Well, all the AOR III uniforms were aramid fiber included from the get-go, which is how the avocado (aka "guacamole") green digital supplanted blueberries.
Because the Navy has always "been like that" there's a long list of no-go places in NWU, no matter how comfortable they are.
In my 21+ years of service in both the USAF and MI Army National Guard, I have two favorites. Back in the mid 1970s, the USAF switched to a permanent press green fatugues. They were comfortable and easy to clean. In the Guard, my favorite was the DCU, desert uniform I wore in Iraq 2003-04. It was light, breathable and easy to care for.
Granted, with both I missed the sound and feel of "breaking starch" in the USAF early green fatigues and the BDU, Battle Dress Uniform, I was first issued in the Guard. The digital ACU, in the Guard did have nice pockets, the Velcro closures were not liked, nor was this uniform breathable. The later made then hot to wear. A small trivia with the ACUs. When I was going through the horse barns at the county fair, horses were spooked by the uniform. I guess with the old BDUs, we just looked to the horses as walking bushes. The horses just were not sure what we were in the ACUs!
Where were you stationed in Michigan
I was posted at Kalamazoo, MI. I was in the Signal Company.
I like the matching dark blue shirt and pants that sailors are currently wearing. They are functional, yet present a sharp, professional look to those serving aboard ships and submarines at sea.
But we aren't... OH! You mean the 2POCs (Two-Piece Organizational Clothing). Yes, it's not as good as wash khakis and dungarees were, but still a far cry better than NWUs. I do wish they would allow us to replace the flight-suit patch with sewn-on name tapes and warfare pins.
As an aside, one joke is that the 2POCs only come in two sizes - Biggies and Smalls.
Really happy with the new army "pink and brown's" dress uniforms. Almost wish i would have stayed in longer, just to have gotten a set.
After the regrettable 2000's era service and battle dress uniforms, Army seems to have gotten its shit in order. Now, if only the Navy would follow suit.
A have a set of undress blues that I wear for re-enactments aboard the Alabama BB-60. I always thought they were unique. They are like the dress blues but without the piping. They were the daily work uniform before they came out with the dungarees and blue shirt if I’m correct.
I never heard that the blueberries were supposed to turn orange if they made contact with saltwater. Also, the purpose of dungarees was so that if a Sailor went overboard, s/he could get his/her shirt or pants off, tie the ends, flip them over their head to catch some air, and use them as a basic floatation device. Very difficult with bloused trousers and boots, believe me I know.Does everyone who works on deck get a float coat nowadays? Also, being 100% cotton, the dungaree shirt and dungaree pants couldn't catch fire.
Anyone?
They caught fire, ask me how I know. All cotton can burn. They did not melt and stick and could be more easily torn away.
Sailors wear coveralls on ships, which can also be used as flotation devices.
When i served in the Navy, early part of the 1070s, was issued a blue uniform similar to the officers blue, the hat was replaced by and officer type hat. And the summer one was also replaced by the white's officer style uniform. Our ship was issued small lockers with the proper size to fit those uniforms only, left in 1975 and was told a few years later the Navy dropped those uniforms because the cost it would cost to retrofit the ships with the lockers for those uniforms.
The US did have one uniform, the ubiquitous BDU’s of the 1980’s until post 2000.
Best milsurp pants ever! They were pretty much all I wore in college in the early '90s. ... I mean, the only kind of pants. I did also wear shirts and stuff.
lol@@ZGryphon
Sorry. I preferred my chambray shirt and dungarees. Still have them.
CAF we call CADPAT relish but it does help against long range digital camera or rangefinders have a hard time breaking the digi up
I wore the dungarees my entire time in the Navy. Very comfortable and lasted a long time. They should have kept them.
Nice thing about the dungaree working uniform was that if you were at sea you could tie a line to them and drag them for a few minutes. Rinse them out in a deep sink, hang them in a fan room to dry and they were good as new. And besides, you took a gamble when using the ships laundry if you would.get your stuff back or not.
It was proposed that it was actually a reverse camo for paint splatter. I remember talking about this around 2004 or 5. I only saw ship duty. Since all sailors onbourd will eventually have to paint something, especially deck division, and most painting involved allot of splattering various shades of grey that always found there way on the blue coveralls, that splatter would just get lost on the digi-blueberry uniform.
Why not just have a pair or two of crappy outfits used for painting rather than walking around covered in paint
When I was in the Seabees in the 90's we still had the utility greens while the Marines had camouflage. When we did get camouflage it was a generation behind the Marines. Now the Seabee's finally get their own camouflage and the rest of the Navy adopts the Seabee's uniform. The Seabee's normally make do with hand-me-downs and when they get get something new it gets taken from them.
I was in the Seabees in the late 70's. We wore utility greens within the Seabee Battalion. Once I got station at Camp David, we wore Dungarees which I really liked.
The Short answer is, there was no good reason
100% cotton working dungaress, was the best functional & surviveable emergency uniform, in the water, or during shipboard fire. USS Whipple DE-1062, & USS New Jersey BB-62, in my experience. R,D. Milligan, C.O. on both occasions. Great vessels, same Skipper. I am very blessed.
The sailors HATED blueberries and thankfully they are gone
That's wrong lol. EVERYONE I talk to loved the blueberries over the type 3s
The green camo they use now is stupid too. There is no need for it other than looking like they are going to “combat”
@@revenantrex1957Really? I served in the first half of the 1970s and some of us were issued the old uniforms and some were issued blueberries in boot camp. After boot camp and in the squadron I never saw the blueberries because when people had a choice they went back to the traditional blue jeans and chambray shirt.
@@Chris_at_Home blueberries as in the blue digital camo.
@@revenantrex1957 No, they had dark blue pants and a medium blue shirt. We didn’t call them blueberries. The shirt was heavier than the chambray shirt so no one wanted to wear it.
Canada has a common land combat uniform for all three services which comes in temperate, arid, and winter colour schemes. The current shipboard working uniform is Naval Combat Dress, which consists of a flame-retardant blue shirt and black pants, and a ball cap or beret.
So when Lt. Cmdr. Morton walks by you can hide in his palm tree...
Brilliant!
Ryan, love your videos..I live not far from the USS Alabama. I've been many times. I would love to visit the New Jersey some day.
I think a big part of them picking a camouflage was to reinforce a kind of war fighting mentality. Especially with sailors performing more duty on land with the GWOT. I think the Navy wanted to reinforce that expeditionary mentality with the entire force, not just the traditional combat forces. The Air Force did the same thing with the ABUs. They wanted to reinforce the idea that even airmen in traditionally support roles could be called upon to combatants in the GWOT. As the war on terrorism is closing down and we refocus on more traditional battlefields, I suspect we will move away from that. Or we may not, as the strategy we might use against China is to have smaller forces dispersed around the Pacific, forces with personnel who will be expected to perform support type jobs and as well as be ready to engage in combat.
i.e - "The other service branches get cool uniforms, we want some too!"
@@jasoncarswell7458 eh I think it was more an effort to get non-combat arms type jobs to have a more "warrior" mindset. The Air Force really pushed hard at the "expeditionary airman" concept and I imagine the Navy did something similar as well.
@@ghostgoose4067 i.e - "The Army and the Marines get all the cool jobs on land, we want some jobs on land too!"
@@jasoncarswell7458 it wasn't that they wanted the "cool" jobs on land. They were having to do the jobs on land that they always did. The problem was now they were being done with an insurgency going on. Jobs that were done on bases that were typically safe had to be done on bases that were exposed to danger and the culture of the services was not conducive to that, so they had to change it. It really had nothing to do with the Air Force or Navy wanting to be "cool" or be more like the Army. They just realized that they still had to do the support jobs they did before, but now those people were going to be more likely to get shot at and they were not prepared culturally for that. Sure they went through some training, but it was just a formality to them because of the mindset.
The whole idea of changing the work uniform from bell bottom dungarees and chambray shirt, to a darker blue work uniform and eventually to the absolutely stupid Blueberries, is there are anal retentive senior enlisted, captains and admirals (in the puzzle palace) that can't stand to see a single speck of ground in dirt or oil on work uniforms.
In 1968 there was a (supposedly) Navy wide uniform survey asking about pros and cons on the then current uniforms and suggestions for improvements. I was stationed on a Fram 2 destroyer in Newport, R. I. and with a few exceptions, no enlisted personnel had a problem with dungarees. What almost everyone hated was Summer Whites and the stupid dixie cup hat. I filled out my form, returned it with a suggestion for lightweight (lighter blue) summer cracker jack uniform and a return to the ww2 era flat cap.
I later found that over 75% of the survey forms stayed in the Pentagon and permanent shore station commands. Thus in 1972 the Navy stated issuing stupid uniforms to appease the pencil pushers.
I was discharged two days before the jacket, blouse with tie and trousers uniform became mandatory, so i never purchased any of the new uniforms.
Actually, it went from dungarees & chambray shirt to the darker blue work uniform (utility blues?) and then back to dungarees & chambray shirt (around 1980)... Then to the "blueberries"...
An't this like the whole history of the USM since WW2? The military wants one thing, the nearly politicians themselves and the actual politicians in DC want whatever insanity they cook up. And whatever it is, it somehow HAS to be not at all what the actual service asked for. So they tell the service to shove it, and then the actual working men of the military are left trying to make do with whatever the latest boondoggle crap DC forced on them.
Congress shouldn't be involved in military procurement, bid drafting, or research, or really ANYTHING AT ALL when it comes to do with what the military has for uniforms and equipment. They can allocate the money and STFU.
My favorite Navy uniform is the classic Dress Blue. Looks great. Best US Military uniform is the Marine's Dress Blue. Truly a sharp looking outfit.
Always thought the blue cammies made ya harder to spot if ya went overboard. You'd fit in perfectly with the blue water and white caps!
Like you would stand out jn blue dungarees, or a dark blue coverall?
I grew up in Pensacola, so when I was a kid, I saw Navy uniforms a lot--especially officer and soon-to-be officer (pilot) uniforms. The NavCads HAD to wear their striking white uniforms whenever they left base. You talk about GIRL magnets! I loved those uniforms and the Navy's commissioned officer uniforms. But I have to say I also loved the Navy's dress enlisted (Cracker Jack) uniform. Though I loved cracker jacks, too, I never though the Navy uniform to be silly. In fact, I thought it to be a great uniform, commendably different from and not just a less fancy/stylish uniform from what the Navy officers wore as is typical of the other services. Makes me REALY proud, now, watching a Navy ships entering/leaving port and seeing all those sailors 'manning the rails'. As for a Navy work uniform, the dungarees, chambray shirt, and boon dockers were perfect--though I always wondered how they would be expected to keep a white 'dixie cup' clean. Though I'm a Marine, I've always loved the Navy, too.
Its an incredible waste of money for navy to have camo uniform.
Why? Do they cost more than plain ones? I mean, they have to wear clothes either way. Hopefully.
@@ZGryphon " they have to wear clothes either way"
With the current state of the armed forces, I'd avoid giving those in charge any ideas.
@@kanrakucheese Oof, the web gear would chafe something awful without something on underneath it.
I was in 73-76, in boot camp we were issued the pull-over shirt with 3 buttons and polyester pants, BDU's. After I got out to the fleet on a DDG, the Chief Bos'n mate told me I was still authorized t wear the old style dungarees. Took a few paydays to to build up enough Seafarers to never have to wear the BDU's again.
I was in from 2007 to 2011. Personally I liked the nwu 1000x more than the Dungeness or utilities as the were called from the mod 90s till phase out. The biggest change was the pants went from bellybutton jeans to a sort of dickies type work pant. The NWU was way more comfortable had alot more pockets and you actually felt like you were in the military not a janitor or in prison. And the best part is YOU DIDNT HAVE TO IRON THEM. I personally never heard anything about them fading to orange when contacting sea water
The CadPat does a pretty good job of blending into the background, assuming you have the right colour for the environment. So the temperate woodland pattern works quite well in Canada and Europe but not so well in Afghanistan.
Was definitely far more comfortable than the earlier Canadian work dress uniform that I was first wore in green and then in air force blue.
I’m retired Navy, 22 years. The Navy tried several times to get rid of the dungarees. We were never allowed to wear them off base because they were the same uniforms that were used in several penitentiaries. Truth be known, the ones we were issued were actually made in a penitentiary. Most of us went to the exchange and bought some Seafarers for a better fit and better look. In the mid 70’s they tried a new style. They were infused with a fire retardant (so they said) and featured a pullover shirt. The pants caused a lot of guys to break out in a rash on the inner thigh where they rubbed and the shirt made a lot of folks nervous because if they were to catch fire you’d have to pull it off over your head. They didn’t last, and we went back to dungarees. The next big move was to drop the crackerjack blues and whites and go to a suit and tie uniform. They said it was the result of a navy wide poll but nobody I knew ever met anyone who had seen the alleged poll. It, too, was dropped. I think that, more than anything, the navy just wants to blend in with the other branches a little better. I think that was the idea behind the suit. All the other branches are wearing camouflage , all the other branches wear a suit and tie, etc.
As always, great information!
The switch to camouflage "BDU" style uniforms was, in my opinion, simply "keeping up with the Jonses" in a very expensive manner. First of all, the change was not sufficiently required for changing conditions. Dungarees are simple, inexpensive, and easy to produce in flame retardant denim. Coveralls are also excellent for general wear, though they can be hot in warmer climates and spaces.
As stated, and with the exception of base support personnel, the SEALs and other land-based sailors, a simple uniform not inconsistent with civilian clothing seems the least expensive and frankly, most comfortable duty uniform for most enlisted rates. If you want departmental identification, take a hint from aircraft carrier flight ops and wear flashes or insignia with readily identifiable colors. Keep it simple, take care of the rates and you'll have a better, more efficient, and better motivated sea force.
Keep up the wonderful work and all you do to keep the magnificent New Jersey a visible part of American history.
I had a few issues with dungarees. 1. You weren't allowed to go off-base them. You could get gas, go to a drive-through etc. But, you weren't allowed to stop anywhere. I was on a bunch of joint bases, so if my co-workers wanted to go to lunch, unless I happen to be wearing my casual whites (Hawaii), I couldn't go. 2. They were cotton, so the tops would get very wrinkled within a couple of hours. You couldn't wear the same shirt twice without ironing it. Just a pain. One of the many reasons being deployed was a lot better.
I can authoritatively answer this question as my ship was part of the uniform test project and hosted the MCPON where he explicitly stated the purpose: to hide stains and grime from working on the ship! To roughly quote MCPON Smith, they wanted "a sailor to be able to crawl through the bilge, roll on the flightdeck, lean against something the boatswains just painted, and then be able to stand in formation and not be able to pick them out."
That's the straight facts from a first hand witness to the whole thing. USS Iwo Jima LHD7, 2nd Division, 2003-2005.
Best uniform? Without a doubt summer whites! Fun story: We had to pull in to Port Everglades and send divers over the side to make some repairs following sound trials in the Caribbean. The Engineer Officer and I decided to go tour one of the cruise ships moored nearby, so we put on our summer whites. As we walked around the cruise ship, passengers kept coming up to the Engineer and complimenting him on what a fine ship he had, thinking that he was the Captain!
As usual, an interesting and informative video from the Battleship New Jersey.
BUT - on the concluding comment "Canada has switched to one uniform for their whole armed services..."
Ryan, you're referring to the Unification of the Canadian military back in 1968. Unification was enacted almost entirely for the benefit of the then-Minister of Defence, Paul Hellyer (not for the benefit of serving personnel) and it did an ENORMOUS amount of damage to the entire Canadian military as it also included using a single rank system (Army) for all three services and they were all renamed as commands only (Maritime Command for Navy, Land Command for Army, etc). And it was so universally hated by all sailors, soldiers and aviators that large numbers of military members got out, and the moral for those who remained was significantly damaged. The common rifle green uniform worn by the Navy and Air Force was REVILED by those who had to put it on.
In fact, it was so hated that in 1986 distinctive environmental uniforms were brought back and in 2011 the names of the servives were restored, which is why we got back the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. So, thank God, we no longer have a single uniform for the Canadian Armed Forces.
Don't forget how they fscked up the medals/honors/awards system...
@@jrdougan Utterly! The "Star of Military Valour", the "Medal of Military Valour", the "Cross of Valour". What bloody meaningless decorations. The DSM, the DFC, the George Cross - these meant something, not these new tin cut-out medals. And the Victoria Cross? Canada is the only Commonwealth nation to refuse to decorate any of our people with our highest decoration since WWII - that's 78 years and about three generations. If you look up "parsimonious" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of Canada. In this country there's lots of talk of "support our troops", but when it comes to action? - phht.
I put in one of my people for the "Medal of Bravery" as he saved his father's life while boating. My command refused to support it as they "didn't want other members risking their lives."
For Christ's sake!
Interesting, thank you. My favourite by far is camouflage with a high vis over the top.
What you said at the end about the Canadian military going to on combat uniform isn't true. We have a common digital pattern (CADPAT) but the Royal Canadian Navy doesn't wear CADPAT except in specific circumstances. They have Naval Combat Dress (NCDs) which is black trousers and jacket with a "postman blue" shirt but are transitioning to the new Naval Enhanced Combat Uniform (NECU) which is all black with trousers, a t-shirt and heavy weight black overshirt. Both are worn with either a beret or ship's baseball cap as headdress.
My favorite uniform was the Johnny cash winter navy blues.
Joined the Navy in 1972. Started out with "Cracker Jacks" then went to the "Bus Drivers" by the time they switched back I made Chief, so "Bus Drivers" became Khakis for me. The new "Cracker Jacks" were not the same quality of wool and were a darker (more black) blue. I am a Submarine Sailor so our underway uniform was the "Poopy Suit" which I loved. At boot camp working uniform was the "Utilities" but were found out to be dangerous around rotating machinery so Chambre Shirts and Dungarees came back in style.
As someone who grew up in a family of commercial fishermen who always wore bright warm collars from red to lime green I never understood why the navy's sailors didn't do the same or at least have something incorporated with their uniform that helps with visibility
Most of my 20 years was in Reserve harbor security units, so I mostly wore the old woodland camouflage. In 2011,preparing for mobilization and deployment (to Kuwait), we switched to the "type III" uniforms you show at 4:43. I liked them. They had lots of pockets, and the shoulder pockets were very convenient if you were wearing armor. Most of the pockets had both button and velcro closures.
Then I left those units and switched to the "blueberries". I hated them. Not as many pockets, no velcro and a metal zipper. It always made me uncomfortable thinking about fighting a shipboard fire while wearing hot metal down there. And the boots! They were so stiff that I was getting sores on my ankles from the rubbing.
Navy ranks were so hard to remember, and the black rank insignia on the dark blue background so hard to make out, that as a cadet I just saluted every person in navy camo and hoped they didn’t mind being called sir instead of their rank
There was absolutely no reason for the Navy to go to the blue digital NWU other than they wanted to look cool like the Marines and Army. When I first got to an amphibious unit in the mid 90s all the services were using BDUs as their combat/utility uniform. The Marines had to be special, so they adopted a modified version of the Canadian CADPAT digital cammies and then put a patent on the design so none of the other services could use them. Shortly thereafter the Army adopted their wonderfully ineffective ACU in the UCP digital pattern. The Navy just wanted to look like the cool kids, so they came up with the digital NWU and two AOR patterns. NWU was a terrible pattern and color way for a shipboard working uniform, but at least they could say they had a digital camo pattern uniform. The only place that camo worked was if you fell overboard. I was hoping that the Navy would use the experimental 3-tone gray urban pattern that the Marines had tested at Fleet Battle Experiment-Echo in 1999. It would have been a far more suitable camo for use aboard ships and shore installations.
Camo just got ridiculous after about 2005. It quickly became obvious that the Army, Navy and Air Force had chosen crappy/ineffective camo schemes. The MARPAT camo was good if matched to the right environment, but having two patterns was expensive. Things reached peak stupid sometime around 2010-15 with the profusion of different camo uniforms. I remember having lunch at the NEX food court at NAS North Island and counting at least 11 different patterns and styles of utilities or work uniforms worn by the various service members. It kind of undermines the whole idea of having a uniform when all the uniforms are different.
I'm just fortunate that for most of the 14 odd years I spent in the Navy Reserve I was able to wear BDU/DCU uniforms. They are so much more comfortable, durable and conducive to working in than dungarees or coveralls.
I remember one argument was the dungaree look was also used for prisoners, so they looked like convicts. If I recall that was the biggest reason to move away from dungarees.
🧑🍳How does the "dixie cup" hat work? Or even stay on?!?
I still have my dungarees from serving in the 80’s and 90’s. When it’s time to do some possible dirty work, I put them on. They are durable and easy for a sailor to run through a washer, along with a pair of blue pants. Let’s not forget the connection to all the sailors from history and the value of tradition. Something a lot of folks seem to forget.
I miss my cammies so much. Fabric softener - more flammable, but so comfy.
I was in the Army, and the entire history of the uniform and how it has developed is VERY interesting reading. Often you have to buy or be issued a uniform and headgear predicated of your job or unit. (Berets are for certain units) I wore whites when I worked as a medic and nurse. I wore a Flight suit when I was flying. Wore utilities of various patterns when I was with combat units. Issued more when deployed to Peace keeping, then combat tours.
Some are fire proof or resistant i.e., Flight suits. Some uniforms have a coating that helps with avoiding heat sigmatures. Maybe that is why the Navy has a different uniform. No reason to make some give up the old dungeries...
In the early 90s my favorite thing to wear was the Coveralls. You could get your name and rank embroidered on them. Very practical and comfortable. Easy to wash. Easy to take off at the end of the day.
The NWU's were chosen to help hide the common shipboard paints and to hide on the white speckled blue PRC decks.
But they did not breathe at all in hot weather and were quite uncomfortable in almost all warmer/tropical environs. They should've just adopted the USCGs all blue BDUs that were already wear tested and in sufficient production.
The USCG version is called the ODU. Adopted in 2010. The ODU is in the process of being phased out. Why wear a dark color thick uniform on a boat. They are hot. And add boots. These uniforms are very expensive and hotter compared to the old work uniform.
I am a former sailor from 1974 and to 1979. In my opinion the principal reason of going to camo patterns of any sort was simple inter-service rivalry. Some tried to argue that standardizing all the various services on camouflage patterns, was supposed to standardize and simplify purchasing, stocking, and issuing of uniforms. Obviously untrue as each service had its own pattern or set of patterns. I personally think the simplest answer was nothing more than inter-service rivalry. The Marines were first to get digital, then the army, then the Air Force and lastly the Navy. It was a silly waste of time and energy, and resources.
I think you’re right!
I didn't mind the dungarees. My favorite uniform while on a ship was always the coveralls and flight deck boots.
That was a great answer... thank you.
My biggest decision every morning was what's the uniform of the day. In the late 60's and early 70's I was a Navy Corpsman ( medic ) with a Marine unit. We had the Navy's full issue of uniforms. Then we had the full issue ( Minus the dress uniform ) of the Marines. Two sea bags to carry ,one for each branch of service. Most of the time it was dungarees for field day's ( cleaning ) the clinic. Marine ( tan ) slacks and blouse with a white smock for duty hours and sometimes greens with combat boots. Always had to check the board to see what the uniform of the day would be in the morning.
I loved my Seafarer dungarees and chambray shirts. After a washing they were super comfortable. At sea I always wore my coveralls.
With an attitude problem like that, it's no wonder you didn't make admiral.
🤣🤣@@dougearnest7590
As a former Navy vet, my favorite uniform was the Johnny Cashes (winter working blues). Least favorite was the enlisted dress uniforms, both dress blues and dress whites.
When the Air Force was looking at camouflage, they looked at the bluish grey uniform, which we called Smurf Blue since we would have looked like a Smurf. Thank goodness we did not take it. But the Navy was interested in it. But the Best Digi Camouflage Uniform developed was the Marine MARPAT Digi uniform.
I was in from 89-93 started boot wearing Dress Blues for QuarterDeck watch, graduated in Dress Whites 2 months later. The only good thing I can say about the Dress Whites is they didnt have the 13 Button closure the Blues have. Dungarees was the working uniform for enlisted on most of Amphib Base Little Creek. Phib CB2 and EoD/SEALs wore BDU's. I did most of my tour on Little Creek, 1st at ACU2 on Limited Duty, then USS Newport (LST 1179) til we decommed her in 92 and then at Amphibious SeaBee Unit 2 (just decommissioned in March of 2023). Since I was attached to Supply as I was considered a sea side SeaBee then I wore BDU to Muster and switched to Dungarees (thats what the entire outfit is called though technically its dungaree pants and a chambray shirt) to work in but when I stood watch on my duty days it was in BDU's. Had 2 sets of 'Flight Deck'/Combat boot work and watch set and a set that had the Toe cap and heel pieces mirror shined by this guy I found at a mall, he asked 15 I paid $20 and in a hour he produced the stand out boots. I then got rid of the 'chloroforms' patent pleather shoes bought a pair of the issue dress shoes and took them to the guy and he made them look like patent leather and lived in a bag. Everyone who asked I told who did them so my weekly touch ups became free. and while having all them pockets on the BDU you werent supposed to have really anything in them so when the Marines and their Ardvarks came aboard we'd trade with the marines for their green cotton 'tankeralls' because they had copious pockets and while thicker and heavier than the blue coveralls they werent polyester like the blue ones either so they didnt rip as easily and as a deck ape Id rather the dungarees over the blue coveralls even the short sleeved ones.
The classic long-sleeved knit jerseys with chonky horizontal black-and-white stripes favored by mimes, originated with French fishermen. They were garments intended to make someone who had fallen into the water highly visible. In context, a classic bit of anti-camouflage does seem completely practical and appropriate for serving on the ocean.
Dress uniforms, Marine Corps I prefer the dungarees the blue top Dixie cup. They are built for a purpose. Bellbottoms will help you get your jeans off with your Boondockers on better pants could be use a flotation device, the same with a Dixie cop. It can be used as a flotation device, maybe uniforms were good for a purpose. That’s why they were made like that.
USAF Vet here and I preferred the old cotton button fly fatigues. Then the AF went to a permanent press material that did not breath at all!! UGH Just as I was getting out they were switching to BDUs (woodland camouflage). Only real plus was the shirt did not have to be tucked in so that was great in hot and muggy climates.