SM Decorations!!

[Flying Pig]

A "blue rope" huh?   .............  I actually chuckled when the picture popped up.  Im sorry.... I just cant take it seriously.  I cant imagine someone actually thought a light blue cord around a smokey was a good idea.

[Luis R. Ramos]

FP-

What is not a good idea, and why?

The blue cord itself around the smokey, or the cord around it?

I think you are previous service, so I do not have to remind you that the Smokey was worn by the US Army as Campaign Hat from at least 1912 until 1940. I may be wrong but I believe that servicemen started wearing a cord of their Branch of Service color around it in the 1920's...

Silly? A Red cord for Artillery fades to Pink with exposure to the elements...

Flyer

[Flying Pig]

FP-

What is not a good idea, and why?

The blue cord itself around the smokey, or the cord around it?

I think you are previous service, so I do not have to remind you that the Smokey was worn by the US Army as Campaign Hat from at least 1912 until 1940. I may be wrong but I believe that servicemen started wearing a cord of their Branch of Service color around it in the 1920's...

Silly? A Red cord for Artillery fades to Pink with exposure to the elements...

Flyer

Im prior service Marine and Army infantry.  The smokey is fine.  The light blue decorative thingy wrapped around it looks out of place and a little funny.  I had the same reaction when I saw the AF uniforms with choker collar recently. 

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

Im prior service Marine and Army infantry.  The smokey is fine.  The light blue decorative thingy wrapped around it looks out of place and a little funny.  I had the same reaction when I saw the AF uniforms with choker collar recently.

All the same, I wouldn't be the one to tell a BR that his/her blue-roped smokey "looks funny."  You can if you want to.



Guess the Marines, Navy and CG (not to mention countless overseas navies) have dibs on the choker collars, hm?

Although the Army in WWI had theirs, of course...this is the kind my grandfather wore when he was in the Army before WWI...

[Flying Pig]

I wouldnt have an issue telling an Air Force instructor I thought their blue cord looked goofy.  Sorry, Air Force Basic hardly has an intimidating reputation.  Of course.... you are talking to the same guy who was asked to leave a Coast Guard chow hall for telling a Coast Guard drill instructor at OCS (whatever they call them) to get the $%^& out of my way    I left with a smile on my face and a skip in my step. 
The other services have a historical background for those uniforms that date back 100+ years. Deciding you want one in 2011 is hardly built on the same foundation.

[Storm Chaser]

In the Air Force, only certain enlisted personnel can wear shoulder cords. Most of them, with the exception of Honor Guards and Color Guards, are in Air Education and Training Command (AETC). Even the commander of a training squadron (TRS), usually a Maj or Lt Col, does not wear a "rope" even though his Military Training Leaders, Student Leaders, etc. may wear one.

In CAP, certain cadets can wear shoulder cords (just like certain enlisted in the Air Force) and senior members cannot (just like commissioned officers in the Air Force). Regardless of whether you think they look "neat" or not, more "recognition" is just not a good enough reason for them.

Believe me; CAP senior members get to wear far more decorations and patches in their uniforms than their counterpart Air Force officers.

[ol'fido]

AF Military Training Leaders wear blue ropes, Senior Military Training Instructors (the "Blue Rope TIs") wear blue ropes, and the "Church/Chapel Guides" wear white (tech training students).  Flight leaders wear red, yellow, and green based on seniority

When I went to the Corrections Academy in Springfield, the cadet leaders wore different colored cords based on their positions. In my forty man platoon(they actually called it a squad... whatever but..??) everyone but the six females were military vets. The academy cadre literally had to beg someone to take the platoon leader's job. He was retired Army and pretty cool about everything. So except for him, the rest of the cadet leaders were known as "DOPES ON ROPES".

[Hawk200]

I used to think cords were a cool idea, but got over the idea after a few years. Got enough stuff already, but I haven't really seen the need for any kind of cord to signify anything really out of the ordinary. Honor/Color Guard, I could consider that something, but for everyone else, I don't see the need.

[Private Investigator]

http://www.6thmarines.marines.mil/Units/2ndBattalion/History/Fourragere.aspx

I did enjoy wearing the French Fourragere when I was with the 6th Marines.  It was a unit award, and once you leave the unit you are not authorized to wear it anymore.  In the case of the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments who are authorized to wear it, it is a visual reminder of the heritage of the unit.  But in reality, in the infantry we rarely wore our Alphas or our Dress Blues, which are the only two uniforms that it is authorized for wear on.

I was 0311 and 5811. I wore my uniform frequently off duty. I was a Marine 24/7 so why not. In the greater Jacksonville or Oceanside area it is obvious your a Marine.   

[Flying Pig]

When were you in?  I was in from 93-2000.  NOBODY wore their uniforms off duty.  Of course in North Carolina, being a Marine didnt impress anyone either

[The Infamous Meerkat]

Yeah, I have to second that ^, I was out of Kaneohe and everybody was afraid of getting body slammed by Samoans... 

Don't think I ever once went off base in uniform, except to the drive through while on duty once.

[Flying Pig]

You could be 200 miles from Camp Lejuene and try to whip out your best line on some girl and she responds back, "Yeah....My dad is 1st Sgt Smith from 2nd Force Recon."   

[The Infamous Meerkat]

HAHAHAHA, ohhh man, so true.

I guess there was one good thing, we had all four branches on Oahu, so you had at least a 25% chance of the girls being related to military OTHER than Marines, so we were still pretty awesome. 

[Rick-DEL]

Yeah, I have to second that ^, I was out of Kaneohe and everybody was afraid of getting body slammed by Samoans... 

Don't think I ever once went off base in uniform, except to the drive through while on duty once.

"Stay east of the Waianae Wall". That was one of my first safety briefs by my First Shirt when I arrived a Wheeler AFB as a scrawny 19 year old. I once ventured into the unknown....once. Whole different world on that side of the island for sure.

[JoeTomasone]

WOW, a thread drifted OFF uniforms!   

[Rick-DEL]

WOW, a thread drifted OFF uniforms!   

Shall I mention the rumor of CAP going to ABU's?

Just kidding, seriously. Just kidding !!! 

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

"Stay east of the Waianae Wall". That was one of my first safety briefs by my First Shirt when I arrived a Wheeler AFB as a scrawny 19 year old. I once ventured into the unknown....once. Whole different world on that side of the island for sure.

When my dad went to West Germany, one of the first briefs his First Sergeant gave him was to stay out of the old part of Nürnberg because supposedly there was still a cluster of ex-Nazis there.

So guess where dad and some of his buddies went on their first pass?

[ol'fido]

Yeah, I have to second that ^, I was out of Kaneohe and everybody was afraid of getting body slammed by Samoans... 

Don't think I ever once went off base in uniform, except to the drive through while on duty once.

Yeah, it was always fun to be on the ARMY bus that left Ft.DeRussy at 0030 on Sunday morning going back to Schofield and then pulling up to the post theater about 0115 and hearing some slurred voice at the back of the bus call out "Are we at K-Bay yet?"

[a2capt]

LOL.. and that's not a short hop either. Someone had a little too much.. ;-)

[Flying Pig]

WOW, a thread drifted OFF uniforms!   

Aer you kidding??!!  This information is a gold mine to some cadet getting ready to ship out!