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I notice whenever I see a group of young military people on vacation leave who are dressed in uniform, a lot of them will be wearing those 80's style square digital watches. People who probably weren't even born when the particular watch models were first introduced.
Is this a traditional thing since the 80's? Or are they just more plentiful/cheap in the military stores?
You mean the G shock watches? I took a old beat to hell one and I dropped a 24 oz framing hammer from a 6 foot ladder. It took three hard hits and it finally popped on the third hit. I usually get them because they're incredibly tough watches.
No, I do see the GShocks as well. But that would make perfect sense. Especially for those military people who are in the marine corps in tactical operations (whatever that means).
But I'm talking about the smaller ones like in the picture below (open the link). And other similar models, not just the F91W. They are almost women's/boy's sized watches by today's standards. (I even see women wearing these, as well as G's). But I think that it is more of a "style" thing than anything else. And maybe a lot of young people in the military today aren't really what you might find in the typical hardcore marine/tactical side, but, are a lot of them more like just "average" young people, like maybe the kind that hung out at malls doing nothing when they were teenagers? (That's where I see them, since I'm not exactly the type to hang out at air shows or visit submarines/etc, myself either.)
I notice whenever I see a group of young military people on vacation leave who are dressed in uniform, a lot of them will be wearing those 80's style square digital watches. People who probably weren't even born when the particular watch models were first introduced.
Is this a traditional thing since the 80's? Or are they just more plentiful/cheap in the military stores?
Or maybe just some kind of retro style?
Well, just a guess;
They are probably sold at a low cost in the exchange. Since whipping out your cell phone to look at the time is looked down upon while on watch or doing whatever (everyone will think you are texting/playing games), having a wrist watch is still more of a norm in the military. If it gets broke, well it was cheap so just get another one. Word may have gotten around that they are durable for the price, thus helping its popularity.
As for wearing while on leave; maybe just use to wearing it.
Military life can be very hard on watches. Why spend good money on a watch that may break or break off and get lost. When I worked in the engine room of a Navy ship, I wore a Timex Atlantis. Some guys did buy more expensive brands. They enjoyed them right up until it broke off and got lost in the bilges. One guy bragged about how expensive and good quality his watch was until the face cracked while trying to repair a pump. Even today I wear the Timex Atlantis at work in the hospital boiler room. Since I earn more money now than I did in the Navy, out in town I wear a Bulova watch. If you go to cheap watch brands' websites, you'll find that even the cheap brands like Casio, Armatron, and Timex make some very good looking dress watches. Even off brands not behind the counter at Walmart can look pretty good. I wouldn't mind them but I need something more durable.
Maybe they are military "wannabes" but choose to not actually serve . Lots of them out there . Kinda like people who wear hospital scrubs out in public but have never spent a day working in a hospital.
They're probably boots out on liberty. They sell those watches at the exchange for something like $10. It's cheap and won't attract attention in a training command. That's why they wear them.
I notice whenever I see a group of young military people on vacation leave who are dressed in uniform, a lot of them will be wearing those 80's style square digital watches. People who probably weren't even born when the particular watch models were first introduced.
Is this a traditional thing since the 80's? Or are they just more plentiful/cheap in the military stores?
Or maybe just some kind of retro style?
Where are you located? All the details of your description, including the cheap watches, sounds like you're near a boot camp or an initial training base.
They're in uniform because they're still boots or have just left boot camp and haven't re-built their civilian wardrobe yet (and wouldn't have a good place to store a lot of civilian clothes if they tried. They're wearing cheap--but functional--watches from the base exchange because they don't have much money for watches, they plan to use cell phones, boot camp is dangerous to watches, they don't want an expensive watch to stand out, an expensive watch might be stolen in a communal living environment, et cetera.
There are lots of reasons why a young person in a travel-light mobile environment would not purchase an expensive watch.
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. Lots of them out there 
. Kinda like people who wear hospital scrubs out in public but have never spent a day working in a hospital.
