The Department of the Air Force launched a new crowdsourcing campaign to solicit ideas for dress and appearance improvements on the Air Force Ideation Platform, IdeaScale.
Airmen and civilians are invited to submit ideas beginning Sept. 3.
“If we want an environment in which Airmen feel valued, we need to create transformative opportunities to foster a culture of innovation and then listen to their ideas,” said Lisa Truesdale, Air Force military force policy deputy director. “Additionally, wearing the uniform and having pride in your personal appearance enhances esprit de corps.”
Dress and personal-appearance ideas submitted to IdeaScale may be presented to the Air Force Uniform Board after review by Air Force personnel subject matter experts. The uniform board will make recommendations to the Air Force chief of staff.
All CSAF-approved ideas will be implemented within AFI 36-2903, Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force Personnel. If an idea does not meet the Air Force Uniform Board, a notice with rationale will be sent to the submitter.
“We want our dress and appearance guidance to be inclusive,” Truesdale said. “We are committed to considering the views of all members. Individuals contribute their highest levels of creativity when they are cared for and feel a sense of belonging.”
The following categories are available for idea submission:
GROOMING AND APPEARANCE STANDARDS (e.g. hairstyles, beards, shaving, etc.)
DRESS UNIFORMS (Service Dress, Mess Dress and accessories (e.g. hat, shoes, shirt, belt, tie, ribbons, medals, insignia, etc.))
UTILITY UNIFORM (Operational Camouflage Pattern Uniform and associated accessories (e.g. hat, boots, belt, T-shirt, insignia, etc.))
ACCESSORIES (e.g. jewelry, earrings, rings, purses, backpacks, gym bags, phone, headphones, etc.)
OUTER GARMENTS (e.g. pullover sweater, cardigan sweater, lightweight blue jacket, fleece, etc.)
PHYSICAL TRAINING GEAR (e.g. shorts, pants, jacket, shoes, socks, shirt, etc.)
FLIGHT DUTY UNIFORMS (Two-Piece Flight Duty Uniform, Flight Duty Uniform, Desert Flight Duty Uniform and associated accessories (e.g. hat, boots, T-shirt, patches, insignia, etc.))
BADGES AND SPECIALTY INSIGNIA (e.g. organization badges, unit patches, duty identification patches, tabs, etc.)
MATERNITY UNIFORMS (e.g. Service Dress, Utility, accessories, etc.)
To submit an idea or engage in this campaign visit usaf.ideascalegov.com.
If you are new to the platform, register using your Common Access Card. From the homepage, scroll to the “Dress and Appearance” tile to submit your ideas.
Previous dress and appearance ideas submitted to the Airmen Powered by Innovation campaign will be transferred to this new campaign.
Story by Secretary of Air Force Public Affairs
Photo by Sarayuth Pinthong
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5XFuAP6h3OTIOjs-WA2ZsmDf9k4lhyrh
Ok people here’s some ideas let’s pull some boatymcboatface shit
Excellent plan. Since you have to long in with your CAC they’ll never know who you are.
What’re they going to do about it anyway? Write you a sternly-worded letter?
Ah yes, the Air Force… pandering to the whims and likes of the SJW mob under the guise of inclusiveness, belonging and the need of validation and you wonder why they are the joke brach and not taken seriously.
“Brach”? At least we can spell.
Yeah we should leave this in the hands of a small group of out of touch professionals to make arbitrary and terrible decisions, like ABUs, Tiger stripe, Black Berrets for everyone, ACUs, Spice Brown, ASUs, I mean who cares what the loosers who wear the uniforms think they should just take what ever their betters think they deserve.
Oh yes, how dare they solicit the opinions of service members for things that might improve morale, esprit de corps, and maybe, just maybe, pride in a dress uniform that doesn’t look like a shitty oversized suit from the 80s. The utter gall of them for being open to improvement, it’s basically communism.
Ah yes, because a pointless new uniform idea will definitely “improve morale” versus it simply ending up as one more thing to get gigged on. If your morale is being impacted because of “muh tattoos” or that your fake-ass “ethnic hairstyle” isn’t being appealed to, perhaps you shouldn’t be in the military.
You do know that Airmen have always been able to submit suggestions to the Uniform Board?
But they aren’t the only ones. The Marines even do it.
https://ssdaily.tempurl.host/2014/08/15/us-marines-uniform-board-seeks-corpswide-input-proposed-uniform-changes/
Who doesnt want headphones from a committee of 300 random people?
If enough people take part, the dumb ideas are being leveled out. The “wisdom of the crowd” is a thing. Internet search engines run on it.
https://www.all-about-psychology.com/the-wisdom-of-crowds.html
When only a small group of people engage in groupthink you get ideas like UCP, the USAF tiger stripes,… The good idea fairy loves groupthink in small groups, that bullshit each other for various reasons. In very big groups it is much harder to make them all think alike.
So i dont disagree should that be based on a core of items requiring a large degree of development. Where im skeptical is applying the everyman-and-his-dog method to such a wide array of vastly different items, many of which may not warrant any extra design development. I doubt the system is large enough nor the the diversity of SMEs extensive enough to take on all thats listed with consistent oversight. The scopes just too large, and risks bogging down on junk like headphones that may get disproportionate input compared to stuff that really matters like flight suits. True you may get quality results on some stuff, but you wont on all.
Id say whittle it down to 15 things that warrant all the whitenoise and discerningly leave out as much as possible. How more can you develope gym shorts and baseball caps?
I’d make detailed comments on this, but I have to work on my misspelling skills.
🙂