According to information received by the Facebook group Air Force AMN/NCO/SNCO, maintenance crews at Nellis AFB near Las Vegas will soon be donning shorts.
For once, this makes sense. It’s extremely hot at Nellis in the summer and our allies, and contract maintenance, have been doing it for decades. Additionally, Services has been wearing something similar, along with polo shirts, for decades as a special duty uniform.
The email says that the shorts are the 5.11 Stryke model (below), but the attached photo is of the classic 5.11 Tactical Short (above). Ostensibly, they will be in Dark Navy.
Hopefully, this will catch on and we’ll see a more suitable work uniform for maintenance personnel, across the Air Force.
Shorts is great, mostly (except maybe if there is a flash-fireball on the flightline…). But if you’re gonna wear short, wear REAL shorts, not this gang-banger style long garbage.
They’re already in T-shirts a lot.
Let’s leave those mail man length short shorts in the past where they belong old timer. Don’t tread on my gang banger shorts!
So you actually wear longs? They are called shorts for a reason.
I’m not even gonna say “get off my lawn”…it’s all dried up and dusty anyway! 🙂
LOL, I still wear my issued UDT shorts on occasion. THAT is the length these new USAF shorts should be.
Gangbanger? I think not! These definitely scream dad shorts.
I don’t mean to be a buzzkill, but isn’t there something to be said for covering up your skin from the sun? I’ve been in the desert a lot, and I always have pants and long sleeves on. I’d rather be a little warmer than get sun burt, or skin cancer. Plus, if it gets out of control you can wet down your sleeves and pants, and really keep cool.
It’s not so much that they’re in the sun all day (they’ll be in hangars/maintenance bays for a lot of it) it’s the heat and getting airflow to those parts that sweat constantly in that weather (crotch, behind the knees…). It’s why they’re already in t-shirts for most of the time.
Airman Dangle (reply comment above) really like the idea of wetting down the uniform.
We used to get issued a prior version of those for hot weather maintenance. Guys loved them. The only problem was that you were still required to wear boots.
In Hondo in 1991 were required to wear our duty uniform in the morning on the flight line, but after lunch, we could change into PT shorts and the brown t-shirt. Our attached door-gunner platoon guys (infantry) wore private purchase black shorts (which looked much better than our late-80s grey Army PT short-shorts). Good on the AF for doing this.
The 160th used to issue work shorts. Not sure if they still do.
Yes, and they’re the same style shorts as above, just a different color.
Is 5-11 making a Berry Compliant version? Because unlike my glorious XGO T-shirt (which is also cooling and flame retardant) I don’t believe the stock Styker currently is.
The STS riggers have been wearing shorts for years so this change makes sense and I am glad to see it happen.
We’ve been doing this in the Guard for 20 years.
You’re also civil service when not on orders.
Civil Service?? Never heard of that.
I’m a contractor on the flightline right next to Active Duty, I feel for them on really hot days (all summer long here in NM) and I’m in shorts while they’re suffering. I was in there place 5 years ago so I know the difference it makes.
Was just there, 112 in the shade on that line.
Truly certifiable badasses fought the krauts in North Africa and Japs in the pacific while wearing shorts.
There’s no reason that flightline folks shouldn’t wear them stateside if possible.
Yet, security forces, the people who spend the most time out in the elements on duty, will never get to wear these…
You can always crosstrain.