Military Travel

[texas_ex2000]

God bless all of our service members especially over the Christmas holidays. But one thing I don't understand is why the Army still authorizes BDUs as travel/leave uniforms.

On my flight back to Houston yesterday, we had 2 soldiers, 1 sailor, and 1 marine. All of them were E-3s and below. The soldiers were wearing their baggy BDUs with backpacks. Of course, the sailor and marine looked absolutely sharp and professional wearing their winter crackerjacks and service dress bravos as if they just stepped out of a scene from It's A Wonderful Life. The Navy-Marine Corps have working uniforms also (BDUs, ship uniforms, flight suits, etc), but we were never authorized to wear them off base. The Army has some nice looking service uniforms, they don't need camo in airports.

 

[gecko]

A little off topic but.....

About a year ago I'm returning to Houston from Newark. I was safe and secure in my upgraded first class seat when three service guys boarded (late in the process) headed for coach. I was seated next to an attorney who was traveling with two colleagues elsewhere up front....all 3 gave up their seats in first. The Continental rep was giving the attorneys some trouble about not wanting to do it, but they were insistent. I was determined to give mine up to the next service guy that boarded, but none did.

I read on a frequent flyer BBS about a whole cabin of first class travelers who did this a couple ofyears ago.

Moral to the story....if you have a uni...travel in it. You never know where you might end up sitting.

 

[texaszete]

I've actually asked my friends who were in the Army about this all the time and give them crap about it. All of them have actually told me it's against their regulations as well, but no one really cracks down on it, which is sad they can't police themselves like the Marine Corps.

The worst is when I came home after a tour and went to a local bar, and saw a kid I went to HS with who's in the Army Reserves, dressed up in his cammies. Of course he was a helo mechanic or something who's never deployed and in his uniform to get free drinks and pick up girls.

BTW, Marines are technically not allowed to accept free upgrades or stuff like that. Maybe the flight attendant was told not to do that because it created some type of problem, which could happen if there are more service members than people willing to give up seats.

 

[texas_ex2000]

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[Perham1]

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[HornBud]

I thought they were wearing the BDU's during travel because we're at a time of war?

 

[texas_ex2000]

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[texaszete]

texasex - You're right, the Marine Corps probably has the best propaganda/marketing machine of any service, that's why they'll proudly let Marines wear their dress blues in public. They know some 18 year olds or their gfs will have them go into the Marine recruiters office before the Army office just because they have the best uniforms.

I have seen some Marines in cammies coming back from Iraq, but I know for sure it's not authorized. They're technically supposed to change in the bathroom of Atlanta or Dallas, wherever their first stop in the US is.

Funny the Army is complaining about jarheads not doing enough overseas. Sitting in a chow hall and eating Baskin Robbins ice cream twice a day does not qualify as hardship duty (I know this doesn't apply to all soldiers, but the Army has a much larger number of support troops on a percentage basis compared to Marines).

 

[thedude82]

I'm in the Navy and would never fly in my dress blue anymore. It's a complete pain in the *** and uncomfortable. The only reason to wear the uniform is to show off and get free drinks on your flight.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

If you see an Army soldier in Atlanta or Dallas, odd are they are coming back for leave from Iraq or Afganistan. I think there is enough on the packing list already.

 

[Son of a Son]

As a dogface, I resent the implication that the Squids and the Corpse have a better tradition. Check the history books, the Army was around first, We just don't feel the need to try and impress people. We wear our work clothes, they wear their Church clothes!

 

[texaszete]

Well exactly, we're not trying to impress people, hence the reason why we just wear our civvies instead of cammies out in public.