Gray and white NB proposal.

[Майор Хаткевич]

And even these would be a great fit and already have a flight suit and BDU variant:


As far as the expense, I'd be willing to bet 1/2 the membership already owns one of these, however now the C&D's would come from Paramount and Lucasfilm instead of NHQ.

The Colonial Fleet Dress Uniform only cost $199


Hm...the metal grade still might look like we are trying to be real officers.


There! The good ol' gray slides.

[Eclipse]

Yes, please...

[Майор Хаткевич]

Yes, please...

Heh, I'm more interested in the flight suits that can keep someone alive in space.

[wuzafuzz]

ROFL re: the Battlestar uniforms. 

Grey seems to be the way to go for a CAP distinctive, IMHO.  There is precedence for it, works with existing epaulets, etc.  As far as differing shades of grey all that is needed is to specify a certain shade or actual trouser.  There are plenty of uniform shops selling grey trousers, even shirts.  Throw in black coats and away you go.  Dress coats?  Haven't seen them in grey or black (usually navy) but I bet they are out there somewhere.  Navy blue might look fine with grey trousers and a white or grey shirt. 

We wouldn't look like anyone else, at least military.  If you gotta go Corporate and want to have a dress uniform, there aren't many options.

[Eclipse]

Dress coats?  Haven't seen them in grey or black (usually navy) but I bet they are out there somewhere. 

Plenty of PD and FD wear black service coats - lots of sources in style which would not be confused w/ USAF but would make us look more uniform.

[ZigZag911]

Slipped my mind that USN had restored "heritage" khaki uniforms...so, we're back to gray!

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

Slipped my mind that USN had restored "heritage" khaki uniforms...so, we're back to gray!

Why is grey the inevitable "fall-back?"  I can see why the grey shoulder marks would be already established, but as has been pointed out, there is nothing standard about the grey trousers.

Why not ultramarine blue, or would that be too garish, like the Smurf suit?

[Smithsonia]

Full gray uniforms have never been a standard American uniform color, at least in the last 150 years... and I am supposing that has to do with Confederate States, German WW1 and 2 and Chinese Korean War uniforms were all gray. So that kinda makes Gray the bad guys.

The exception is West Point Cadet Gray -- But that color choice predates all of the instances above.

For history - our first uniform was greens and khakis during WW2. Greens and khakis have been abandoned by the Army in favor of their new blue dress uniform. I am not arguing for greens just pointing out the option.

[arajca]

Slipped my mind that USN had restored "heritage" khaki uniforms...so, we're back to gray!

Why is grey the inevitable "fall-back?"  I can see why the grey shoulder marks would be already established, but as has been pointed out, there is nothing standard about the grey trousers.

Why not ultramarine blue, or would that be too garish, like the Smurf suit?

Ultramarine blue would be entirely too harsh.

Grey, blue, and black are the traditional business suit colors. Blue is out - too close to the AF. Black is out - too close to the navy. That leaves grey.

[jacob]

Grey, blue, and black are the traditional business suit colors. Blue is out - too close to the AF. Black is out - too close to the navy. That leaves grey.

A blue coat with grey pants or a black coat with grey pants are also both good combinations created from those color options.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

Slipped my mind that USN had restored "heritage" khaki uniforms...so, we're back to gray!

Why is grey the inevitable "fall-back?"  I can see why the grey shoulder marks would be already established, but as has been pointed out, there is nothing standard about the grey trousers.

Why not ultramarine blue, or would that be too garish, like the Smurf suit?

Ultramarine blue would be entirely too harsh.

Grey, blue, and black are the traditional business suit colors. Blue is out - too close to the AF. Black is out - too close to the navy. That leaves grey.

I think we could become a bit too paranoid about blue of any kind just because of what happened with the CSU.

The Air Force doesn't have proprietary rights over every shade of blue uniform in the book.  Otherwise, airline uniforms would all be grey, green, whatever.

A blue-grey, similar to the RAF/Commonwealth, might be a good compromise between blue and grey.

http://tinyurl.com/RAFBLUE

There is slight precedent for this, as Americans in the RAF/RCAF wore this shade during WWII.

Or go even darker than the USAF, but not blue-black like the Navy, similar to what the Australians and French use:

http://tinyurl.com/FRENCHAF
(I have an Ike-type jacket from the French AF in my collection...the blue is quite distinct from the USAF)

http://tinyurl.com/RAAFBLUE

Blue has been traditional for aviators since WWI...I don't think it's a good idea to can it just because of being afraid that the USAF may have the same reaction to it as they did to the CSU, especially if it is distinctively badged (and cut) as a CAP uniform.

[wingnut55]

PLEASE GOD NO MORE UNIFORMS

[Dad2-4]

I don't recall reading this idea in this thread:
Keep the current grey/white combo, but add the CSU jacket with grey slides, AF blue tie, and current CSU headgear options. Simple and cost effective while adding clear distinction from the AF uniform.

[RADIOMAN015]

PLEASE GOD NO MORE UNIFORMS

I tend to agree with you.  The greys the way they are now are not perfect, but are very cost effective for the new member.  HOWEVER, I agree that there's a lot of interpretation on the shade of grey pants, which leads to somewhat different colors.    Add a short & long sleeve golf shirt to your wardrobe and you are ready for just about any mission base duties that need to be done. 

One of the biggest challenges I see with CAP uniform wear (especially the AF type uniforms) is it's very easy to be out of compliance.  Perfect example is cadets (and seniors) wearing non military coats over the uniform in winter because military jackets are very expensive.

The whites with grey are a very simple uniform for indoor CAP activities.
RM 

[vento]

PLEASE GOD NO MORE UNIFORMS

X2

[Hawk200]

Perfect example is cadets (and seniors) wearing non military coats over the uniform in winter because military jackets are very expensive.

They're not that expensive. I've seen both seniors and cadets showing up wearing jackets that easily cost twice what the appropriate military ones would cost.

I will agree that some types of outergarments should be expressly permitted to deal with some of the much colder areas of the country. In Alaska, military parkas were available that were actually pretty inexpensive compared to some of the fancy stuff that people would buy.

Even in the military, people wore everyday thermal unders to deal with the cold. There are ways to adapt.

[tarheel gumby]

Just go back to Pinks with the Red Braid.....Then no Issues with looking like the AF. But I think that the CSU was dumped because the Army went to Blue and White. The Army Dress Green will be gone as of 2014. The Pinks are a Heritage Uniform as well.

I just got the word that the Army is Dumping the Greens as 1st quater of 2010. That may be the source of all of this angst.

[tarheel gumby]

As to my solution for the grey and white combo...
1  A Uniform Shade of Grey
2  Black/ Blue Clinch tip belt with brushed or polished silver finish
3 Same foot wear as for the AF style uniform
4 Grey Flight cap with the same braid as on the blue one
5 black outer garments same as authorized for the CSU.
I don't think that we need a dress version of this at this time.
That would present a more uniform and professional appearence without looking like we have lost our buses.

[Pumbaa]

The USN has a new service dress khaki uniform: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:New_service_dress_khaki.jpg .  I am unaware if it is just a proposal/test at this point, or if it has been approved.  I'd think we'd want to stay away from anything that too closely resembles that as well.

Don't forget that the Navy also has black pants on one of its uniforms too.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

The USN has a new service dress khaki uniform: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:New_service_dress_khaki.jpg .  I am unaware if it is just a proposal/test at this point, or if it has been approved.  I'd think we'd want to stay away from anything that too closely resembles that as well.

Don't forget that the Navy also has black pants on one of its uniforms too.

As do many other agencies.

I believe that to be a concern only if the wearer is trying to look like the Navy, or another service wearing the Naval uniform (USPHS, NOAA) in an authorised manner.  As far as I know, the Navy doesn't have a problem with USPHS or NOAA wearing "their" uniform.

Or, for that matter, the AF doesn't have issues with the USCG (and Auxiliary) wearing some AF uniform items.