Last week, the US Army G-1 issued a memo announcing a limited wear test of the Army Green Service Uniform which is reminiscent of the so-called ‘Pinks and Greens’ Officer’s Uniform of World War II.
Although the Secretary of the Army officially approved and announced the Army Green Service Uniform on 11 November 2018 as the new service uniform to replace the Army Service Uniform (ASU) in the future, as of right now, only limited wear testers are allowed to wear the uniform and it is not approved for any other personnel nor is it available for purchase.
Here is the wear guidance. This will give you an idea of what will be worn on the AGSU in the future.
Yay! Lets hope it never becomes available!!
Tradition. Unfortunately, something the Army ignores. I was a Marine and then a Soldier. Seems the only service who abandons tradition is the Army. The new uniform is a return to a proud and successful tradition. Why would anyone want to wear a tuxedo to work or to travel? The ASU is a dress uniform, Dress Blues. All services have a dress uniform, work uniform, and field uniform.
Mark, I agree with you. I been hoping that this uniform or khakis would return to the US Army. I was hoping for this when the Army decided to get rid of the Greens for the current ASU. I am a former Marine from the 1980s also; now regular Army and every soldier I talked to in my unit is happy for this change. Yes, you do hear subtle gripes about another uniform and will it be worn more frequently compared to now but this uniform is in for the long haul and to me; it looks very sharp.
Mark Smith,
you’re right, the Army does abandon tradition. It’s why they abandoned their green Class A uniform after 60 years of wear.
I second that remark. The US Army could do better if they want a new service uniform for the 21st Century. Going almost 100 years retro does not send the right message for the Army today, “We are ready for the future.”
How about you give it an actual chance instead of shitting all over it like the Boot assed Boot you sound like? Bet you are retired too, so why should you care? If you are Enlisted, you will be receiving this free of charge anyway. So again, why do you care? The ASU was an abomination, destroying a perfectly good formal uniform with pieces of flair. This and the ACFT are going to bring the Army back to basics. And in before you bitch about the ACFT, if Soldiers learn proper form prior to the For Record date, they’ll be good. Ignore form and you’re gonna have a back as bad as mine. Until then, stay off my grass, Boot.
Well put lucky!!!
Dang, for free!? Army is mighty generous. Air Force gotta buy all their stuff.
What “pieces of flair” do people wear on the ASU that they didn’t wear when that uniform was just the Dress Blues?
Well, Bob… For one, that dumbass Combat Service Identification badge… Why not just go to the patches we had on the old one? That ASU was Chandler trying to make the Army dress uniform look like the USMC Dress Blue uniform, and instead, we looked like bus drivers or firemen (*cough cough* Second Responders *cough cough*) For another, Chandler straight up stole the Blood Stripe from the Marine Corps. It literally was his attempt to out cool the Marines, and it failed as miserably as the UCP pattern in a desert or woodland environment. Not to mention, when the Force was polled, the overwhelming response at the time the ASU was conceived, was that the Pinks and Tans should make a comeback. Chandler ignored that one too. SMA Dailey actually LISTENED to his NCOs, and it shows. And yes, I use the term Boot. I grew up in a Marine Corps family, and joined the Army. My Soldiers still razz me for using Deck, Bulkhead, and Hatch, but its how I was raised, and well… Fuck you Boot.
There isn’t a red stripe on the ASUs.
And if you liked using naval terminology so much you should have stayed in the Navy.
Ditto! Your typical Army guy is like J! Can’t Can’t Can’t. Lucky is on point, everyone on SSD that isn’t in uniform yet, be like Lucky. Where ever you serve, be like Lucky!
Having today’s force look like Hollywood characters from an old war movie does zero for moral and pride in the Army fighting global terrorism. A real shame to all the war fighters of this generation who have given blood, sweat and tears to distinguish themselves.
I’m with you, it needs to be in UCP, to remind everyone what failure looks like.
Welcome back to the future. Your Army is retooling itself you fight the Russians. You’d better get your shit together.
1. It costs the tax-payers money.
2. Neither functional or honorable because every uniform goes through its own story of evolution, use and then retirement.
If wars may be forever then give the men and women who fight them a chance to rest when their duty is done – that way their place in history is run-over by some PR jingoism.
If winning wars is the goal of the Army or if defense is the mission for all joint-forces then wasting time, money, and resources for emotional-orgasms is the last thing we (as a nation) need.
The “it costs taxpayers money” line is tired and ridiculous. They are going to need a service dress uniform. It’s this one, or a different one, but either way, clothing Soldiers costs money. It’s part of having an Army.
Durr, use the machines and resources already in place. Make better choices.
Right on Lucky. I’m retired, and I agree with you 100%. It’s time soldiers started to look like soldiers again, and feel good about how they look. The era from which a design comes from doesn’t matter; but uniformity that strongly supports good order and discipline does. It’s paramount!!! This uniform is a start back to the basics we lost years ago.
Word!
Yep, the ACFT is the way to go. That’s why of the roughly 800 Infantry males they tested just a little over half passed, and of the 30 infantry females they tested only 5 passed. In the ACFT as a whole had a 30% fail rate for males and a 84% fail rate for females. Oh yeah it’s a such a great test. It’s the army’s piss poor attempt a dipping their toe into the CrossFit world. So many better testing options out their such as the POPAT or Cooper Assessment. But what do I know as a Infantrymen that’s been in almost 20 years.
You are an idiot. First, those on active duty will not get the new uniform for free. Only recruits coming in will get it. So there goes another $500.00 bucks so the lates guy on the way out can try to tie his name to something. Looks dumb as hell. I think someone watched CPT America to many time. As for that PT test. Here is the deal. For years Army PT scores were like this. About 10% go 290 or above, the rest of the force sits comfortably around the 240-250. So what’s the issue? How can we explain this gap. Typical Army. Instead of addressing g that issue, we just come up with a test that is easy to pass but hard to max. So there you go, modern America, we want everyone the same and anyone that shows they are better is bad. You are probably some crying ass chapter case. So stop complaining about other comments.
You get a clothing allowance? Use it to buy a uniform. End of discussion.
Typical commissioned response… That clothing allowance barely covers wear on work uniforms for garritroopers, let alone the guys who actually train in theirs.
The clothing allowance is supposed to enable maintenance of items in your clothing bag, not replace them wholesale at the whim of commanders playing live-action Barbie dolls.
“Sergeant, if you can’t manage your finances, we can send you to a class. You know what you signed up for.”
How’s that for a commissioned response?
It is my opinion of what the uniform is and not your gibberish. This uniform is not going to bring anything back to the “Basics” if you did not have to begin with. You can kiss it Lucky. Seems you are good at it.
I am going to buy my set when it becomes available. I was never a fan of the pin-on CSIB/SSI-FTWS on the ASU and glad the uniform is going back to sew-on. Did you see this? https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/09/24/slides-showing-high-failure-rates-on-new-fitness-test-are-not-official-cimt-documents-officials-say/
Your an idiot. That uniform NOT only looks good but is reminiscent of the era that saved Europe, and the world, from ultimate evil. Why wouldn’t the Army be proud to wear it?
Could it be the first Army uniform that looked backwards instead of forwards?
Considering the ASU is style after civil war era cav uniforms no. Uniforms are grounded in tradition. Looking forward is what gives you the old pickle suit.
There is a reason the Marine Corps looks timeless in their’s, trying to look forward with a uniform turns it into whatever was faddish at the time and it quickly becomes dated. The AGSU looks better, will force soldiers to learn how to wear a dress uniform smartly, and presents a much, much better image to the civilian population around any Army post.
You’re an idiot, not Your an idiot. The irony is unreal.
So the Marine Corps and Navy should dump the blues and crackerjacks because they’re too retro?
No, because they never went away. This is a uniform the Army ditched nearly 70 years ago. If we’re going to get a new uniform, have it be new.
The crackerjack did go away, but was brought back. And correctly.
This is cool but not needed they cannot even outfit.
Soldiers with the new ACU or Dress Blues for many soldiers.
Let alone the units are unable to keep any stock of either
Uniform for you to be able to DX etc. They need to finish fully filling
Orders for the previous uniforms first then look to an overpriced new
Uniform that will take years for soldiers to even get unless they
Pay for it out of pocket. And no you are not reimbursed for it either.
Current male clothing replacement allowance is $479.95. Current price for a full issue of male ASU is $334.07, minus t-shirts and socks. Assuming these will stay comparable, yes, you are reimbursed for updating to the new standard.
Like f**k you are… $479.95 barely covers replacing normal wear-and-tear on the uniforms you wear daily, let alone buying a new fancy-dress outfit whenever the “leadership” decides to change course.
Hell, even if you amortize that cost over several years, you can’t really afford to buy new dress uniform outfits on the Clothing Allowance. Boots? New duty uniforms? Christ, I wound up buying 6 new sets of BDUs a year, on average, to keep myself “presentable” in the eyes of my Sergeant Majors… There are only so many times you can repair a “field uniform” before you’re getting your ass chewed in the middle of nowhere ‘cos you “…look like ass in front of the troops…” and are deemed to be “…setting a poor example…”.
Not to mention, try finding a f**king seamstress that’s affordable, these days–Right before I retired, it cost me about what a new uniform would run to have all the rips and tears fixed in a set of ACUs for field use.
I swear to God, the people doing this shit have no earthly idea whatsoever what these things cost to keep up, or how hard it is to both train enthusiastically and still keep these fragile POS uniforms reasonably presentable. The ACU is horrendously fragile, compared to the old winter-weight BDU, which at least had the virtue of wearing like iron and fading like a whore’s makeup…
Six sets a year? What are you doing to them?
And yes, the transition phase is multiple years. You’ll amortize the cost.
And finally, because I can tell you’re a guy that cares about his career, it’s Sergeants Major.
Like SSD stated, you will have until 2028 to purchase it; if you stay in that long. Also, you now have the IHWU to wear. I do not know your budget but if you purchase one extra set of uniforms a year; you will be more than good to go with your current clothing allowance. I been wearing the same multicam/OCPs for the past four years. I just got two free sets of IHWU this year and that holds me. Plus, I am a Warrant so I do not get a clothing allowance.
Looking “forward” for a uniform will give you dated uniform in 20 years. Tying the uniform to a glorious tradition of conquering entire continents occupied by the forces of evil is the best idea the Army has had in a long time.
Do you even history? The Russians remobilized and were on their way to Berlin when we hit the beaches at Normandy. We were just trying to minimize communism.
Clothing allowance for a private pays for 1 Combat uniform. For a SSG 3. So a SSG would have to save 2 years of clothing allowance to pay for one more thing to carry around.
The ASU is based off of the Old Guards Uniform not the civil war. Their uniforms are based off of the undisciplined cavalry stationed at Ft. Myer who wore faded pants.
Do you even history? The US Army was fighting across Africa with the Brits while the German 6th Army was still slogging it out in Stalingrad. The US Army had landed in Sicily when the Russians turned the tide at Kursk. Operation Bagration started at the end of June, well after the Allies had established the beachhead. Maybe we don’t discount the largest amphibious landing, largest airborne offensives, and fastest offensive movement in history at that point because the Russians realized they needed more tanks and guns after flung their citizens into German machine gun fire unprepared.
The Army has repeatedly announced a supplemental clothing allowance to allow for the purchase of this uniform.
No way, those look awesome. Y’all have to demand the right to tuck the hat into your epaulet though.
We didn’t do it with the Greens lol. I had it tucked under my belt. I wish branch insignia can be worn on the collars again.
Definitely my favorite feature: No asinine name plate.
My second favorite feature: Everything else.
Retired getting his two cents in. Simple response: It’s the soldier wearing it that will make the difference in any uniform. I would want to know more about EVERY soldier being able to soldier! Pride in service! Pride in unit! Ready to fight! Gone are the days of the PX soldier…… I hope. Served ’66 – ’90. Vietnam 68/71. We stand together. ARMY FOR LIFE!
I agree. I thought it looked tacky. Keep it for recruiters or any other high-vis position.
Time to get rid of that damn black beret as well. Along with destroying the Dress Blues in an attempt to look the Village People, there can’t be a worse uniform item except for wool jock straps.
Thank you. Get rid of that damned abomination. Have the regular forces get rid of that thing. Give it back to Ranger Battalion. I’d fucking kill to trade in my tan beret for a slick black one like our salty dogs wore. The “looks like old buckskin berets” line just makes me sad.
But, but, but…
Matching shoes to belt to hat is so metro. Rangers did it in the BDUs, so the color had to change for ACUs.
(and if I really have to say it, )
Boot assed Boot is the best quote I’ve heard in a long ass time!!!! And I’m an Army guy! Haaaaaaa, visited MCRD San Diego 20 yrs ago when I worked at ITB on Benning. That’s where I learned about Poolee, Boot, etc.
I love everything about the uniform except two things.
First, I would recommend removing some of the medals and only placing major skill/ experience identifiers such as airborne, airassult, combat action badge, marksman, and recient military campaigns.
Second,
I don’t know if it’s just the way the headgear is wore by the CSM or if it’s the design, but and, by this I mean no disrespect ,the head gear looks more like an eraser then what I remember from the old ww2 films.
My recommendation would be to replace the eraser with the ww1 enlisted saucer hat, obveously with a slight color change to match the new look.
The ww1 saucer looks sharp and sense we’re carrying the retro theme, would be a great throw back to the great war which is very popular amoung gen z, the guys marketed to and most likely to wear the pinks and greens..
Make that Pathfinder badge a sleeve worn patch again!
I just want to see the jump boots.
They are Brown, smooth leather.
It’s time soldiers started to look like soldiers again and feel good about how they look. The era from which a design comes from doesn’t matter; but uniformity that strongly supports good order and discipline does. It’s paramount!!! This uniform is a start back to the basics we lost years ago. Many might disagree, but some believe the best dressed warrior to ever raise a flag in battle in the last few hundred years, is the United States Marine Corps; and I’m inclined to believe that. I love my Marines, and I’m proud of the fact that refuse to bow to any obnoxious influence to change their meticulous appearance. We Army dudes, on the other hand, have consistently screwed ourselves into a muddy hole even our own marines wouldn’t share with us. Let’s slap the “Pop-Culture” nonsense from our brain cages and return to the majesty in appearance we so proudly shed our blood for. This is a good start; and I’ll gladly debate keeping the berets for our three special units. But the black one has to go……. God Bless America
The new / old uniforms are sharp looking and if I were back in the Army I would be proud to wear it. I feel the old greens were ok for then but I feel that the proposed uniform has class and represents a time when we had the best looking Army in the world.
If the taxpayers only knew how much money we have wasted on multiple uniform changes and the silly AFCT they would lose their damn mind. Soldiers are no longer reimbursed for ATM fees or laundry while they are on TDY but this is what we want to waste money on going back to a uniform from the 40s no thank you. The SMA choose this instead of all the other issues that could have been addressed. This stinks just about as much as Shinseki’s black beret.
Wasted? You mean they shouldn’t get uniforms? The money is t wasted if they are clothed. Could they have purchased something different? Yes, but regardless if the paint job and features, they are still going to spend money on uniforms.
You’ve got to put Soldiers in uniforms. Their primary purpose is identification to denote members of the organization.
I don’t get why people want “new” uniforms and don’t bother suggesting what would be a better alternative. The army will have the best uniform again by far. They’ll actually dress like a military now without looking pompous. The army has forgotten a lot about tradition and this is the best way to turn heads in and out of the service to remind everyone. Meanwhile, the tough guy hot dog hat (I know it’s a garrison cap) is leagues better than that bullshit beret. “All of our Army is special forces.” What a garbage statement if I’ve ever heard one. You’re not special until you’ve done something for the service to prove it and even then, don’t expect a medal. This style of uniform is the one.that other militaries (many dictators) ;stole from for decades. That’s how much “victory” this uniform conveys. This is necessary and awesome. If I’m drafted for war with China, at least I’ll look good when they bury me.
Let them show you a picture of just the Class B. Bet you won’t love it so much then; looks like a Third World Army uniform. Stop the madness and just stick with the ASU and let’s get on to bigger issues affecting the Army!
A uniform in which a commander shares NO insignia with his troops (officers, warrant officers, and NCOs included) except the most basic color scheme?
No thanks.
I saw it and they can never get the collar right to have it lay down properly without a tie like the Navy and Marines short sleeve shirt has. Hopefully, they will correct that. And I will prefer an darker shirt than have the same color as the pants.
I’m officer now, and 5 years until I can retire, and I’ve already transitioned from greens to ASU blues… I’m mostly hoping for a generous ASU wear out date, so I can coast on this dress uniform until retirement.
Especially when you consider the cost of these things, and the fact I wear them, at most, once a year (reservist, but still was true when I was activated at various points…)
Mostly i have uniform fatigue. Enlisted 2002, on my fourth camo (woodland, DCU, ACU, now OCP), third PT uniform (grey sweatshirt and sweatpants, IPFU, now APFU) and second dress uniform (greens, now blues).
Having said that, still keeping my fingers crossed we’ll get a bookend pattern field uniform some day (although that appears totally dead) or at least IHWCU.
OTOH, thank God I’m not Navy with all their crazy uniform variants.
You don’t know uniform fatigue.
OG107 pickle suit, jungle fatigues, Heavy Elvis Presley BDU’s, BDU’s, Chocolate Chip, DCU’s and UCP’s/ACU’s
One thing for sure, that’s the template of a CSM, Nameplate or not, that’s a stud walking the dog !
We don’t need uniform updates we need tradition we need uniformity and discipline….
If you don’t have discipline, there’s no one to blame but you.
A glider patch on the overseas hat is better than the maroon beret, a European tradition vs. what our grandfathers wore. If it was good enough for them…
Will I really agree with that. That hat looks naked without the glider/para patch. I’m not suggesting getting rid of the maroon beret. It could still be worn with the OCP uniform.
Educate yourself first troop!
509th PIR: 06 June 1943 – Awarded the red beret by Major General Sir Frederick A.M. Browning, Commander 1st British Airborne who made the 509th PIB “Honorary Red Devils” basis for the US Army maroon beret.
This version of the Pinks and Greens is the best one since WWII. It looks excellent and has a load of history with it. I hope the Army returns to wearing Dress Blues for more formal events and adopts this asap.
As to those that complained about it hardening back to an earlier time, the Dress Blues took their styling cues from the Indian Wars in the late 1800s. Even Canada’s SOF have adopted a similar uniform drawing from the history of the 1SSF, the Devil’s Brigade.
Bros! My ATL is hoping to get this for are team! He likes the look and style of these and especially with jump boots will look sick! Do these come in 42 short? What beray color these come with? We wanna rock this for are gala in December. SICK!
Uniforms don’t win wars, people do.
People in uniforms do. You’d have one hell of a time winning a war while naked.
lol SSD
It’s another iteration of the fantasy that the uniform makes the soldier, rather than the soldier making the uniform.
We’ll never learn, and just like I said about the ASU back when, we’ll be here in another few short years, when someone else needs a few bullets on their OER/NCOER talking about their wunnerful, wunnerful work on the Next Grate Uneeforrm that’s gonna fix all the problems we have in the Army…
Meanwhile, the enemy isn’t worrying about what he’s gonna wear to the Army Birthday Ball, he’s out training. Probably wearing flip-flops and a man-dress, and looking totally not like Captain America…
It’s a fantasy to point out SF Soldiers as representative of what is going on in the Army. The average Soldier isn’t out training. He’s not wearing flip flops, or a man dress.
He, or increasingly she, is conducting maintenance of equipment, training in the company area, or doing their actual job, because it has to be don’t on a daily basis in order for the Army to function. They wear service dress several times a year, for various reasons. Those who serve in the Army know this.
The uniform is very much a part of his identity. If it weren’t, the Army would ignore all heraldry issues and put everyone in jeans and hoodies.
Where the hell do you see me bringing in SF?
Face it, SSD–You have a warped idea about the expense of maintaining this crap you guys come up with. You were a commissioned officer who basically stood around and supervised shit–A set of daily use BDU or ABU uniforms probably lasted you a good two years, on active duty. Meanwhile, people who actually, y’know, work for a living…? Yeah; when I was a line platoon sergeant, I still had to buy about three sets of BDUs every six months or so, given the the need to “set standards properly”. The troops couldn’t afford that kind of thing, but as a leader, I had to.
Your casual dismissal of the cost is what pisses me off, frankly. That clothing allowance barely covered a third of what I spent on “maintaining a professional appearance” every damn year I was on the line. On staff? I could get away with the officer’s rate of purchase, because I wasn’t out doing things like showing guys how to put in concertina.
You guys have zero contact with reality, with regards to this. The new hotness in uniforms? You’re literally taking food out of the mouths of kids who have the misfortune to have mid-ranking soldiers for fathers and mothers. Y’all seem to think that everyone in the Army works mostly in some nice, clean office, and never does real physical work in their uniforms. Your templating of your experience as a commissioned officer onto the lives of junior- and mid-grade enlisted is flatly speaking, delusional at best. The clothing allowance will not cover the out-of-pocket these guys and girls are going to have to come up with, and when you add up all the other thoughtless uniform “initiatives” like the new PT uniform?
You guys want to do this? Fine; let’s make the daily duty and field uniforms something that the Army pays for, so as the troops aren’t paying for the upkeep and maintenance on anything other than their ceremonial costume. Or, make the dress costumes something that CIF issues–Either way, I don’t care. Just stop with this sorry fiction that this sort of crap doesn’t cost real money that comes out of the individual soldier’s pocket because of that laughable pittance you hand out for a clothing “allowance”.
Hell, I probably spent an easy two hundred dollars a year on detergent and dry cleaning for the whole mess, and I have distinct memories of being told in IET that that was what that money was for–Maintenance expenses. Back when we still did Army laundry, the costs were usually between five and ten bucks a week, which added up to a significant chunk of that allowance. Which I point out, was why we were then told we got it. Y’all have moved the goal posts considerably, over the years…
Bringing in SF? That initial comment. Hell, most SF guys aren’t wearing flip flops and man dresses.
You can afford it, if you are a Professional Soldier. I always seemed to have the right uniform at the right time when I was enlisted or commissioned.
The goal posts weren’t moved, you apparently just never understood the game. That allowance is to maintain the correct number of proper uniforms. That might mean buying a new uniform to replace one that is no longer used.
We are not the only service that deals with uniform changes; I would say the Navy is just as frequent as us. Leadership consistently stated this will have no bearing on costs; nor affects any acquisitions the Army has earmarked. This is a gradual change and like we have always done; adapted and carried out these changes as we always have.
Put a Beret on that troopers head! Looks like a jarhead from Sands of Iwo Jima!