ABU Wear Test

[USACAP]

Shining boots is an insane waste of time ...
Form should ALWAYS follow function.
This is, however, an offspring of a military organization.
Sanity rarely reigns in a military bureaucracy.
Is what it is. Have to grin and bear it.

I think I'm the only person in the world that don't care about black/sage boots.

Seriously how hard is it to put polish on and buff it off. A spit shine is not required. I swear the invention of corframs and suede boots is the military version of wimpification. I had a fellow Marine in my academy class and I had to teach him how to shine his boots!!!

[NIN]

1.3.4. CAP  Distinctive  Uniforms  and  Insignia.
The  emblems,  insignia,  and  badges  of  the CAP  Air  Force-style  uniform  will  clearly  identify  an  individual  as  a  CAP  member  at  a
distance and in low-light conditions.  CAP-USAF/CC must approve changes to the CAP Air Force-style  uniform.  CAP  uniforms  must  be sufficiently  different  from  U.S.  Armed  Forces uniforms so that confusion will not occur.

That's where that came from...

[Holding Pattern]

Shining boots is an insane waste of time ...

Lies! I have it on good authority that shining boots "builds character!"

[Garibaldi]

1.3.4. CAP  Distinctive  Uniforms  and  Insignia.
The  emblems,  insignia,  and  badges  of  the CAP  Air  Force-style  uniform  will  clearly  identify  an  individual  as  a  CAP  member  at  a
distance and in low-light conditions.  CAP-USAF/CC must approve changes to the CAP Air Force-style  uniform.  CAP  uniforms  must  be sufficiently  different  from  U.S.  Armed  Forces uniforms so that confusion will not occur.

That's where that came from...

[Luis R. Ramos]

Wearing black boots, black tees, and color patches would set this uniform apart from when worn by the Armed Forces...

[PHall]

Wearing black boots, black tees, and color patches would set this uniform apart from the Armed Forces...

Actually, it does. And at no additional cost to the members too!

[SarDragon]

Regarding black boots, I still have, and wear, a pair from when I was on active duty. The leather is a little grrr'd here and there, but they still take a decent shine. I doubt that rough out boots would have lasted that long.

[lordmonar]

Regarding black boots, I still have, and wear, a pair from when I was on active duty. The leather is a little grrr'd here and there, but they still take a decent shine. I doubt that rough out boots would have lasted that long.

I got a pair of ABU boots that I wear almost every day for work.  They are almost 10 years old now....and still great.

[goblin]

Regarding black boots, I still have, and wear, a pair from when I was on active duty. The leather is a little grrr'd here and there, but they still take a decent shine. I doubt that rough out boots would have lasted that long.

I got a pair of ABU boots that I wear almost every day for work.  They are almost 10 years old now....and still great.

I guess it depends how much work you do in them.

I'm on my 4th pair in 5 years

[Storm Chaser]

Wearing black boots, black tees, and color patches would set this uniform apart from the Armed Forces...

Actually, it does. And at no additional cost to the members too!

That it does. Although I would argue, why go to ABUs to look more like our parent service just to go out of our way to make our uniform stand out? If we wore corporate blue BDUs there wouldn't be any chance of getting confused with our parent service and members would be able to continue wearing their black boots, t-shirts, and patches at no additional cost.

[Storm Chaser]

Regarding black boots, I still have, and wear, a pair from when I was on active duty. The leather is a little grrr'd here and there, but they still take a decent shine. I doubt that rough out boots would have lasted that long.

I got a pair of ABU boots that I wear almost every day for work.  They are almost 10 years old now....and still great.

I guess it depends how much work you do in them.

I'm on my 4th pair in 5 years

I've wore my ABU boots for nearly 5 years now and they're still great for the most part. The sole is starting to wear out at the heal (something that happens to all my shoes), so I may need to replace them soon.

Shining boots is an insane waste of time ...

Lies! I have it on good authority that shining boots "builds character!"

I've been shining boots for 29 years, since I was 12. I don't think it's helped me build any character, but it has taken a lot of my time over the years; time I could've used more productively doing something else.

I had my doubts when the Air Force replaced the black leather boots, but after I started wearing ABU boots it was evident to me that moving away from black leather boots that needed to be shined every day was a good move.

[foo]

Shining boots doesn't build character? Obviously you've never seen Karate Kid.

[-_adrian_-]

I agree shinning boots doesn't build character, it is simply a waste of time. I could see using real leather dress shoes that actually need to be shined but not boots. They are boots they aren't supposed to super shiny and sqeaky clean. There is going to be a phase out period if ABU'S are authorized anyway and cadets are going to have to wear and purchase the boots black or sage green anyway so why not use what is the most functional. Besides a lot of cadets I know join because they want to wear a uniform similar or very close to the USAF uniforms and be involved in the AirForce activities. If we are supposed to be a extention or at least a auxiliary of the USAF why wouldn't we wear the uniform? Army jrotc uses ACU'S, MC jrotc uses marpat, Sea cadets and Navy jrotc use the navy ncwwu or whatever the naval digital camouflage is and we are probably the closest program to our parent organization than any of those groups and we are wearing a outdated uniform that a lot of the cadets of CAP don't want to wear. You can't have your cake and eat it too. We shouldn't be a program Backed by the AirForce and not wear the proper uniform. Even AF jrotc uses the ABU'S.

[Hyperion]

The reason people dislike the new ABU design is because it's unsymmetrical. We have a sharp contrast between the black boots and the rest of the uniform, and then we have the ugly navy blue patches. I redesigned the uniform via some quick (horrible) editing and changed the colors to be more symmetrical.


(closer look: https://i.imgur.com/HOJ7CUt.jpg)

On the left is the current design: Black boots, green shirt, navy blue tapes.

On the right is the redesign: Black boots, black shirts, and black tapes. The black shirts will also save our members money since everyone has them for BDUs and they're also used for BBDUs too.This allows us to look even more distinctive while also not looking so ugly. Thoughts?

[lordmonar]

Nope...leave it alone.

[Nikos]

I was wondering, as one of the newer people here.  How long does it usually take for a decision to be made about a uniform change?  I am asking with all due respect, and don't mean to offend. 

[lordmonar]

Depends.     Sometimes five minutes and some times five yesrs

[PHall]

The decision we are waiting for right now is coming from Headquarters Air Force. The Secretary of the Air Force will probably be the person who gives the final approval.
So it's out of CAP's hands.

[USACAP]

Symmetry isn't really a uniform consideration ...

I haven't really pondered it but yeah!!
The say-no-to-black boots crowd has a valid point in the form of availability and affordability going forward.
For instance, Belleville is considered the cheapest Barry-compliant footwear provider to DoD.
When you go to IET, you're issued Belleville boots across the service components.

Now look @ the black boot options they manufacture... Versus the green and tan options...
This style (sole/upper pattern) is the most ubiquitous issued since 9/11:
https://www.bellevilleboot.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=28
I don't see an x00 pattern in black.
https://www.bellevilleboot.com/shop/index.php?c=12&l=product_list&sortby=&size=&width=&color=12&climate=3&gender=4&features=5

Arguing over boot color sounds silly, but as stocks of surplus black boots run out it does become a cost and sourcing issue.
Economy of scale and all that.

If the CAP sticks with black, we'll end up wearing surplus Navy and USCG footwear, I suppose?

The reason people dislike the new ABU design is because it's unsymmetrical.

[abdsp51]

Arguing over boot color sounds silly, but as stocks of surplus black boots run out it does become a cost and sourcing issue.
Economy of scale and all that.

If the CAP sticks with black, we'll end up wearing surplus Navy and USCG footwear, I suppose?

1) Please learn how to properly quote someone here...
2) Black boots will be around for a long time.  There are plenty of occupations that require black footwear to include boots. 

There is nothing wrong with black boots for the ABU for our purposes.