ABUs

[kwe1009]

Within the limits of my authority, I am going to attempt to herd cats and establish a reasonable timeline for transition.

My primary motivation is to reduce the economic impact of this change and to hold onto a bit of uniformity until we have enough ABU's to outfit at least half our squadron. 

I hope that we will be well into the transition by the end of the year.   In the meantime, I am discouraging cadets from paying retail for new ABU's.  I want to avoid a scenario where only rich kids are early adopters.  CAP shouldn't be an economic burden for parents.  I don't want peer pressure to drive bad financial decisions.   

That said, not much I can do when a cadet shows up on day one with ABU's.   I guess it will just motivate me to source ABU's and accelerate the transition.

^This.  Agree wholeheartedly, plus, from your later post:

I don't need a "news flash", I'm am precisely aware of the financial burden of CAP on parents.  I also feel that it is the responsibility of CAP to minimize that burden.  <<Yep!>>

I am up front with every parent.  I am also making an effort to let parents know of our efforts to reduce the financial burden.  I want parents to make informed decisions.  I want them to know that they don't have to immediately purchase ABU's and associated items.  <<Yep!>>

Until all of our cadets have ABU's, I will wear BDU's.   <<Not sure about the last point, though.  I'm certainly looking for at least half the unit to have the new uniforms, properly fitting, before we wear them.>>

CAP costs for Cadets are 'peanuts' by comparison to most of the other things they get involved with, like football, baseball, taekwondo, cheerleading, band, etc., etc.. I'd bet the average kid spends 10 times CAP costs per year just on video games. LOL

Agreed.  My son's Boy Scout uniform cost nearly $200 plus a ton of sewing for all of the badges.  This price doesn't include shoes/boots either.  The dues for him were well over $70/year, summer camp was north of $250, Jamboree a couple of years ago set us back nearly $2000.  CAP is definitely the best deal in town.

[Eclipse]

Activity t-shirts will probably go the way of the dodo as well, considering the change in color, not that anything
other then black has been authorized since at least 2014.

With everyone wearing black, costs and hassle are a lot less then having to source two different colors,
track who gets what color in a given size, and also at least two different production runs, not to mention
probably different insignia setups.

[Brit_in_CAP]

Activity t-shirts will probably go the way of the dodo as well, considering the change in color, not that anything
other then black has been authorized since at least 2014.

With everyone wearing black, costs and hassle are a lot less then having to source two different colors,
track who gets what color in a given size, and also at least two different production runs, not to mention
probably different insignia setups.

Not going to argue about the T shirts...glad to see the back of the activity items, to be honest.

Not sure I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that the cost per cadet is as low as suggested.  I'm simply not 'tracking' the costs in the same way, I guess.

I wholly agree that CAP is the best deal in town, for activity costs - back in those heady days when we had children in the school system, I must admit that their total costs were very high and CAP is cheap by comparison.   

[DesertRat]

Regarding the hats question; While the instructions do say that the ABU cap is the only authorized headgear, 39-1 says similarly (current edition) that the BDU cap, CAP baseball cap, or black watch cap are the authorized hats. Is there any indication that they intend to un-write all the parts of 39-1 that allow for other headgear, or is it just to replace the BDU section? I am not among those approved to wear other hats, so I am not trying to hold to anything. I am simply wondering if some posters here are reading it correctly.

[Eclipse]

39-1 was published with a missing section for ABUs, presumably those will be updated / inserted, though
there's no reason to assume that the current state of the BDU will not simply remain static until the sundown.

Hopefully all the other issues in 39-1 will be corrected at the same time.

[Ned]

Is there any indication that they intend to un-write all the parts of 39-1 that allow for other headgear, or is it just to replace the BDU section? .

IIRC, the reason that Chapter 7 was "not used" in the current 39-1, was to allow a clean insertion of the ABU materials.

Ned Lee
Former Member, NUC

[DesertRat]

That certainly makes sense, as far as the insertion goes, but was the intention to allow for the same exceptions as the BDU headgear or not?

[vesryn]

Hopefully all the other issues in 39-1 will be corrected at the same time.

What issues? (curious)

[AlphaSigOU]

FTFY, too.
(Nowhere in AR 670-1 is a "cap" or "hat" referred to as a "cover." Thats not an Army term)

'Cover' is a Squiddie and/or Gyrene term... the rest of us call them 'caps' or 'hats'. 

[Eclipse]

Hopefully all the other issues in 39-1 will be corrected at the same time.

What issues? (curious)

They are detailed here in others threads.  Typos, incorrect verbiage, incorrect diagrams.

[abdsp51]

That certainly makes sense, as far as the insertion goes, but was the intention to allow for the same exceptions as the BDU headgear or not?

Why should there be?  In the AF unless you wear a beret or are Red Horse you wear the ABU hat or if the weather calls for it a sage watch cap. 

Right now the guidance is only the ABU how is there anything to interpret otherwise?

[DakRadz]

That certainly makes sense, as far as the insertion goes, but was the intention to allow for the same exceptions as the BDU headgear or not?

Why should there be?  In the AF unless you wear a beret or are Red Horse you wear the ABU hat or if the weather calls for it a sage watch cap. 

Right now the guidance is only the ABU how is there anything to interpret otherwise?

I didn't see anything regarding a sage watch cap in the new ABU announcement/reg thingy. I think a watch cap is an exceedingly useful piece of kit, and that's only based on OH/IN winter experiences. Sometimes the cap just don't cut it.

[Jester]

That certainly makes sense, as far as the insertion goes, but was the intention to allow for the same exceptions as the BDU headgear or not?

Why should there be?  In the AF unless you wear a beret or are Red Horse you wear the ABU hat or if the weather calls for it a sage watch cap. 

Right now the guidance is only the ABU how is there anything to interpret otherwise?

I didn't see anything regarding a sage watch cap in the new ABU announcement/reg thingy. I think a watch cap is an exceedingly useful piece of kit, and that's only based on OH/IN winter experiences. Sometimes the cap just don't cut it.

I'd say watch caps are a go given this section:

"Cold Weather Accessories. Cold weather accessories will only be worn when wearing authorized outer garments (Exception: gloves worn solely with ABUs). With the exception of functional items, cold weather
accessories are only worn while outdoors."


However, given the amount of nickel and diming and handwringing over "uniformity" I've seen so far, it will probably have to be spelled out in the clearest way possible.

[Elihu.Lowery]

Well I for one am pleased with this change I can now dust off my 5 sets of ABUs left over from my time in service. Now if I can just find a use for those tan DCU, and green ABU boots I have left over. lol :-)

[arajca]

That certainly makes sense, as far as the insertion goes, but was the intention to allow for the same exceptions as the BDU headgear or not?

Given the express instructions on headgear, I would say no exceptions will be made. I'm waiting for the folks who call themselves a French hat to explode or claim not authorizing the beret was merely an oversight and that it really is authorized.

[HGjunkie]

I've seen multiple cadets on my facebook say "oh they'll authorize them eventually" and "I'll just wear BBDUs instead so I can keep wearing my beret." I think it's really funny actually. Berets aren't a big deal.

[Creed]

The black boots really need to go. Why is cap suddenly turned into a cost saving program. We got rid of the american flag because of "cost reduction" and the patch and sewing costs less than 5 dollars. Just let us have the OPTION of sage green boots also. This makes it so that they can be "cost effective" as well as professional looking.

[Chica]

They are also time consuming when you have to take time to polish them and keep them real nice and spiffy. We should have shoes that are like a combination of blues shoes and BDU shoes. Without all the polishing.

[abdsp51]

They are also time consuming when you have to take time to polish them and keep them real nice and spiffy. We should have shoes that are like a combination of blues shoes and BDU shoes. Without all the polishing.

That is a horrible idea.  The chorofram material is a pain to keep clean and sre no where near as sturdy as leather.  You get a good gouge or scuff in them and that pair of boots is done. 

Leather boots are 10x easier to care for and maintain and more affordable and can last years. 

[abdsp51]

The black boots really need to go. Why is cap suddenly turned into a cost saving program. We got rid of the american flag because of "cost reduction" and the patch and sewing costs less than 5 dollars. Just let us have the OPTION of sage green boots also. This makes it so that they can be "cost effective" as well as professional looking.

Want to wear sage boots with ABUs go down to your recruiter and enlist.  There is a reason the black boots were kept and it's been explained.