And now, the new US Air Force uniform...
http://www.adn.com/front/story/5233972p-5168518c.html
Call them 'Smurfs' if you like, but airmen like new blue garb
Elmendorf volunteers are among 600 nationwide to test latest look and fabric
By MEGAN HOLLAND
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: June 26, 2004)
When Senior Airman Karisha Robinson first wore her new uniform, she was called a Smurf and a blueberry. Walking around Elmendorf Air Force Base, others opined, "What are you? Camouflage to a cloudy day?"
One person, eyeing her blue, gray and white tiger stripes, seriously wondered, "Hey, what country are you from?"
Robinson, a 25-year-old Texan who's been in the U.S. Air Force for five years, laughed them off. Her uniform, which she'll be testing until October, is far more comfortable, she said, than the current battle dress uniform worn by the other 6,500 servicemen on base.
More than 600 volunteers at Air Force bases around the country, 100 at Elmendorf, are donning the duds and logging their pilling, shrinkage, breathability, washing durability and drying times -- all in a $1 million effort to design the most functional, comfortable uniforms.
The new garb is raising eyebrows. "I think they stick out like a sore thumb," said retiree Len Lamb, 51, who served in the Air Force for 22 years. When he first saw someone wearing the outfit near the commissary, he giggled, then, he said, "I just shook my head and went on my business."
Officials defend the color scheme and say the mix is uniquely and distinctively Air Force. The current battle dress uniform, or BDU -- Air Force lingo for the day-to-day working wear -- is the same as the U.S. Army, which also happens to be abandoning it for new attire. Getting away from the same uniform another military branch uses was key, say Air Force officials.
But while some people balk and others make fun, the wearers seem to be staunch defenders of the comfort and functionality it provides.
Robinson said strangers walk up to her and feel the fabric, before they even introduce themselves, so interested in it are they. It feels soft, almost like flannel, they say.
Lt. Laurie Wax said it feels like wearing pajamas, "Like rolling out of bed."
With the current uniforms, servicemen could slave over a hot iron for 40 minutes a couple times a week to press and make perfect the fabric that must meet regulation appearance, or they could dish out around $21 a week for dry cleaning, as Chief Master Sgt. Rob Tappana used to before he started wearing the test outfits.
"Don't tell anyone, but this laid in the dryer overnight," he said, searching for wrinkles he couldn't find on the low-maintenance, permanent-press cloth he raves about.
Women seem to be the biggest supporters: The nearly 20 percent of the Air Force that is female will finally have a uniform made for them. Unlike the current duds, which were designed for male bodies and come in generic sizes of small, medium and large, the new uniforms are slated for female sizes from 2 to 24, similar to the sizes women would find at most retail stores. Men's sizes will also tailor to more exact sizes.
"I feel like I'm part of the armed services now," said Robinson, whose 5-foot frame was too short for the medium-short size she needed in the old BDU. "It used to come up to here," she said, rolling her eyes and demonstrating the sleeves at her knuckles.
This is the fourth uniform change in 25 years for the Air Force; the current uniform has been worn since the late 1980s. The non-patterned olive zip-up flight suits pilots wear and the formal dress blues worn by everyone, the Air Force said, will remain the same.
In the end, critic Lamb said it doesn't really matter what color the uniform is. He said what's important is that everyone looks the same. "For morale," he said. "It makes you a part of the unit."
A final decision on the uniform will be made in December. If approved, it will be phased into the attire in roughly three to five years; and the current brown woodland patterns will be gone forever from the Air Force -- well, at least, maybe, until the next change.
Tappana can't wait. "If they started selling these tomorrow, I would buy one the day after."
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