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You know, alot of you are bitching, alot, about nothing. You say you see these kid's with their trouser's sagging and whatever else they're doing that isn't up to army standards, is so insane but where are you? What role do you play in affecting how these young soldiers who joined for the wrong reasons, fix themselves. Possibly a little direction from a fellow soldier, call me crazy. The key thing is to understand it won't ever stop, because even inside the army their is 50/50 all over about what the exact SOP of military installation.
The regs have been posted already, so I won't go over them again. I just thought I would put in my 2 cents, as current Active Duty Army.
At least in my unit, you will get mercilessly made fun of if you're caught wearing ACU's off base, except for obvious, quick stops (gas, etc). For the most part, it's not a problem, except with new privates. If you walk around the Tacoma Mall (about 10 miles north of Fort Lewis) on any given weekend, you're almost guaranteed to see some cherry private straight out of basic, strutting around in his brand new ACU's. But that urge will fade quickly after a few months in, I've found.
I live on base, so I have no reason to wear ACU's off post, unless I'm going to pick someone up or run errands during my lunch time, or something like that.
There's only one rule that I break - and I know a lot of other guys do, too. It's wearing ACU's while flying, even if it's not to/from deployment. If I'm alone and flying somewhere for leave or to visit family or something, I'll wear my (nice) ACU's. Why? Early boarding, and you'll get bumped up to first class sometimes.
Against the rules, but if you walk around any major airport, you'll find it's one that's broken often.
Marines should almost never wear digi (Cammis) off base beside traveling home. We have a few army types on Camp Lejeune and I nearly lost it as I drove past a Dairy Queen (off base) to see two army guys chowing down in cammis. I'm informed that the army permits such behavior.
I don't know what the current regs are (although I probably should), but here is my take...
I was active duty Air Force. I was always told to only make quick stops (such as getting gas) in BDU/ABU. Pushing a grocery cart in an off-base grocery store was NEVER done. My wife is an officer in the ANG (previously active duty AF) and she pretty much adheres to the same protocol. She rarely will even pump gas in her ABU.
Camp Atterbury has kind of turned this area into a military town and I've been shocked at what I have seen out of the soldiers in the area. The worst is the failure to wear a hat. I've seen, no kidding, dozens of soldiers go into places like grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and retail stores, without a cover.
There are also a lot of soldiers strolling the aisles of Walmart and Target in their ABU.
Again, I don't know what the current regs are, but it just strikes me as odd every time I see it. When I was in, I would never had done my shopping in uniform.
hold up i read all these coments i just graduated basic training/osut april 27,2012 and im national guard which im proud of i go for my first drill tommorow and meet someone from my duty station and i agree that the acu's should be worn in public i go by the rules and tonight as an example im wearing my acu's to nothing specil but my fiance friend ants to see how i look which i know is stupid but i dont see what the big deal is and your right there is some stupid idiots who wear thier acu's and act like goof balls but they are my brothers and just cause they act lke goof bals dont mean if they got deployed thewy wouldnt be able to fight for our country you gotta understand that us u.s soldiers are just human beings and we are just men/women who signed up to defend our country and yes they should walk and talk like soldiers but slang/cursing wee listen this is the reality damn right were soldiers and guesss what we all curse my m.o.s is 11 bravo which is infantry and i kick ass for a living its the envirmoent we are and always will be around its what i been around since i joined the u.s army and just cause some soliders act stupid that doesnt mean that should ruin it for the rest of the soldiers who want to wear thier uniform im proud of myself i wanna show people who i am and what i just accomplished and for the marine core i always say we all the fight the same fight but some how the marine core thinks thier better you say how proper the marine's are well at least the u.s army doesnt commit tthe most war crimes cayse the marine's do that and dont talk about the army or us soldiers until you sign up who are you you are the peple we signed up to fight and die for so show some respect dont conplain until you do something about it
Until a few years ago British Forces weren't permitted to wear DPMs (BDUs) or uniform off of base. In large part this was due to the IRA and their delightful habit of killing soldiers when they were on leave and attacking and threatening servicemens families.
I wear my uniform sometimes from my base to home or when popping to the shops or getting fuel. As the below article says your not always treated with respect but i generally have been. A member of the British Armed Forces in uniform in public is still a rare sight in most of the country as most of our bases are in a few distinct areas. Away from those you generally get a nod or a polite positive comment. Walking around the centre of a big city though..... not so good.
hold up i read all these coments i just graduated basic training/osut april 27,2012 and im national guard which im proud of i go for my first drill tommorow and meet someone from my duty station and i agree that the acu's should be worn in public i go by the rules and tonight as an example im wearing my acu's to nothing specil but my fiance friend ants to see how i look which i know is stupid but i dont see what the big deal is and your right there is some stupid idiots who wear thier acu's and act like goof balls but they are my brothers and just cause they act lke goof bals dont mean if they got deployed thewy wouldnt be able to fight for our country you gotta understand that us u.s soldiers are just human beings and we are just men/women who signed up to defend our country and yes they should walk and talk like soldiers but slang/cursing wee listen this is the reality damn right were soldiers and guesss what we all curse my m.o.s is 11 bravo which is infantry and i kick ass for a living its the envirmoent we are and always will be around its what i been around since i joined the u.s army and just cause some soliders act stupid that doesnt mean that should ruin it for the rest of the soldiers who want to wear thier uniform im proud of myself i wanna show people who i am and what i just accomplished and for the marine core i always say we all the fight the same fight but some how the marine core thinks thier better you say how proper the marine's are well at least the u.s army doesnt commit tthe most war crimes cayse the marine's do that and dont talk about the army or us soldiers until you sign up who are you you are the peple we signed up to fight and die for so show some respect dont conplain until you do something about it
Come on man, really, this is not even worth reading, not a single period.
As a vet from WW11 and Korea do think that todays men in uniform should be rightfully proud to wear the uniform while serving their country.
On the other hand anything other then their Class A uniform off base is like shoving into someones face "look at me" type of thing.....(exception would be if th.e person is close to a Military base)
I don't wear my uniform off post unless it's a quick stop. I just don't see the point in it. I'd rather be in comfortable shorts and t-shirts instead of a combat uniform.
Thank you one and all for fighting for our country and freedom.
Peace,
wc@h
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