Where to find uniforms

[Seabee219]

  Hello everyone,
Does anyone out there know where to get BDUs, Blues for a donation. I have contacted the closest DMRO at Luke AFB, and the airmans attic is not open all the time.  Where else can we go to get uniforms our kids need badly. Some do not have the money to buy all the BDUs.

THanks all   

[Spike]

Local JROTC and ROTC units.  Each year they take surplus and "dead" uniforms to DRMO.  If they can dump them on CAP instead of going to DRMO, it is easier for them.

Check local Army/ Air National Guard units.  Because of the uniform switches in Air/Army Guard they may have some BDU flavored items laying around.

[Gunner C]

Check with the local AFB Chiefs' Association (It's been a long time and I can't remember exactly what the actual name of the organization is).  At Pope AFB, they helped us get tons of uniforms.  It was helpful when we couldn't get them through the DRMO (much easier, too).  They'd get them from separating airmen and would also set up collection boxes in their units.  They were really happy to help out.

[Spike]

I have to say, that this is the time to get friendly with local AF/ Reserve and National Guard units/ Members.  They are upgrading to ABU's, and those BDU's do have to go somewhere.  I do believe in another thread someone posted a letter from the AF stating that Airman should donate BDU's/ uniforms to CAP.  I will find it here, unless some else knows where it is??

[Pylon]

Fundraise by asking area companies for grants or donations to support local youth who want to participate in a leadership, citizenship, physical fitness and aerospace education building program.

[Airrace]

Check with the cleaners near or on a base.

[Al Sayre]

If you're near a base, check with the brig or correctional custody unit, or whatever they call their jail.  They sometimes have large numbers of complete uniform issues from those who were released from active duty.  They may be willing to give them to you in exchange for cleaning out the store room...

[exFlight Officer]

My last year of high school, my AFJROTC Unit shut down.    Since I just becoming a Senior member of C.A.P. at the time and none of the cadets had proper dress blue uniforms, I asked my AFJROTC Instructor to donate pretty much all of the uniform items to my C.A.P. squadron     My squadron now has uniforms out the wazzo that will last for years to come. In short, like said above, get friendly with AFJROTC Units in your area.   

[Spike]

^I hope you share with your neighboring Squadrons.  I hate nothing more than a CAP Squadron that hordes equipment and uniforms just for it to sit there.

When working in Logistics at Wing, I would routinely go to "clean out" Squadrons and redistribute uniforms.  I was hated by those units who said I was stealing their hard work, but I reminded them that nothing it "theirs", it is CAP's.   

[Майор Хаткевич]

^I hope you share with your neighboring Squadrons.  I hate nothing more than a CAP Squadron that hordes equipment and uniforms just for it to sit there.

When working in Logistics at Wing, I would routinely go to "clean out" Squadrons and redistribute uniforms.  I was hated by those units who said I was stealing their hard work, but I reminded them that nothing it "theirs", it is CAP's.

And yet, when I saw this happen in IL, it all ended up sitting at one unit which was supposed to be the distribution point...

I saw dress shoes, blues, etc.

Sometimes we need to learn from my motherland and realize that communism may work on a small scale, say group level, but not higher.

[exFlight Officer]

We have made arrangements to work with another squadron in our area. We know what it feels like not to have anything.   

[PHall]

^I hope you share with your neighboring Squadrons.  I hate nothing more than a CAP Squadron that hordes equipment and uniforms just for it to sit there.

When working in Logistics at Wing, I would routinely go to "clean out" Squadrons and redistribute uniforms.  I was hated by those units who said I was stealing their hard work, but I reminded them that nothing it "theirs", it is CAP's.

By what reasoning did you declare those uniforms CAP property. Were they on the property book?

[SarDragon]

If they have been donated to the unit, or have been rescued from DRMO, they are, technically, CAP property. In fact, if they came from DRMO, they supposed to be disposed of through DRMO if they are unserviceable.

[no, I did not verify it in the reg prior to posting]

[PHall]

I'm just asking, because as a former Deputy Director of Logistics I know what he's trying to do.
And I have seen some major blow-ups when somebody from outside a unit tries to tell a unit they have to share.
The resulting "fun and games" is usually not worth it.

Also, most of the deals I have seen with AFJROTC units to get their surplus uniforms were "under the table" type deals.
And since these uniforms are never accounted for, by anybody, the unit  usually don't feel an overwealming need to share either.

[JoeTomasone]

Forget taking them; any unit commander who doesn't share such a glut of uniforms should receive a visit from the next higher commander and be encouraged to do it even if it was NOT otherwise required.

Karma can be a you-know-what.

[Spike]

^I hope you share with your neighboring Squadrons.  I hate nothing more than a CAP Squadron that hordes equipment and uniforms just for it to sit there.

When working in Logistics at Wing, I would routinely go to "clean out" Squadrons and redistribute uniforms.  I was hated by those units who said I was stealing their hard work, but I reminded them that nothing it "theirs", it is CAP's.

By what reasoning did you declare those uniforms CAP property. Were they on the property book?

Um....everything in CAP is CAP property.  Anything Donated is CAP Property.  Unless you have a written agreement with NHQ that outlines the Corporations use of a specific item you donate, it is CAP Corporate Property. 

No single unit "Owns" anything. 

This is a big misconception on the part of those members working in their "own little world".  We need to start thinking in "BIG picture terms here". 

To be clear, the Wing Commander or his staff (under his guidance) can come and take every single thing your unit has, and there is not a single thing you can do about it.

Property Books......don't really matter when it comes to uniforms (expendable!)

As a Deputy Director of Logistics you should know that.  If you have questions, you should address them to legal counsel who will tell you to go back and read the logistics and property regs.  It is not a hard issue to understand.   

[PHall]

Spike, expendable items HAVE to be accounted for. You have to show receipt and when you either issued or disposed of the expendable property.
So yes, they are "on the book" because there has to be a paper audit trail.

[BillB]

AFROTC has completed the change from BDU to ABU, so that source has dried up.Most DRMOs have a supply of BDUs, but from what I've observed, CAP doesn't screen there on a regular basis, if at all. AFJROTC is a good source for blues, even shoes at the end of each semester. The only problem being there are more CAP Squadrons, that high schools with AFJROTC, so one squadron may get the uniforms and not share with other Squadrons.

[PHall]

Biggest problem with getting blues from AFJROTC units, removing the AFJROTC patch from the shoulder without trashing the shirt/jacket.

[exFlight Officer]

Biggest problem with getting blues from AFJROTC units, removing the AFJROTC patch from the shoulder without trashing the shirt/jacket.

I completely agree with you! Everytime I issue a dress blue shirt (that came from AFJROTC), I stress to the cadet how important it is to remove the patch without ripping the shirt and make sure all residue is off. I also stress that the dress blue uniform is not free and that we should be thankful to recieve the uniform items. (Especially since it was my AFJROTC Unit that got shut down).