What was this Uniform?

[Major Carrales]

[mikeylikey]

A McPeak trial and error.  That is the academy behind the man right? 

[Major Carrales]

A McPeak trial and error.  That is the academy behind the man right? 

Looks like Iraqi shoulder marks.

The blog I got this from...

http://moltenthought.blogspot.com/2006_07_09_archive.html

said this...

"Bradley C. Hosmer was the first Academy grad, class of '59. He went on to become Superintendent, one of which there are numerous funny stories. Here he models the horrible uniform Air Force Chief of Staff Merrill McPeak tried to force on everyone in the early 90s. We used to refer to it as the "Friendly Skies" getup, since it looked like nothing so much as an airline pilot's suit. Of course, McPeak's "leadership" led to many, many Air Force personnel seeking airline jobs:"

[mikeylikey]

Not Iraqi....the man is wearing his ring on the wrong hand.  Iraqis wear them on the right hand.

[BuckeyeDEJ]

The "farts and darts" in the thick general's sleeve stripe were a nice touch, but it was a little freaky when I first laid my eyes on that McPeak uniform test in person.

[mikeylikey]

^ Did he win??

[lordmonar]

That was NOT a test uniform....that WAS the uniform until Mc Peak went bye bye and the new commander changed things back.

It's one of the reasons why Pineda did not really bother me.....I lived through a professional.....Pineda was a light weight in comparison.

[alamrcn]

My squadron held a uniform class on "reading" the bands on the cuff when this uniform sudenly came into use. They might as well have been teaching me how to read a barcode, because I just couldn't get used to it - and thank goodness I didn't have to!

This was around the same time as the black leather name badge on the BDUs. We just rencently (a couple years ago) took down several recruiting posters off our walls that featured this and other obsolete McPeak'ers.

-Ace

[Stonewall]

This was around the same time as the black leather name badge on the BDUs.

Here ya go.  This was 1991 at my Airborne School graduation.   For those of you who didn't know about this, Gen McPeak didn't just change the blues, he also left his mark on BDUs.  Personally, I think it was a lot easier to have a simple leather nametag on your BDUs instead of sewing everything on.  But it got a big "no-go" in my book on looks.

[jimmydeanno]

EEEEEEWWWW, and I thought ultra-marine blue on white was bad 

I don't think that the epaulet sleeves on the blues above look all that bad - in fact, I kind of like them.

[davedove]

This was around the same time as the black leather name badge on the BDUs.

Here ya go.  This was 1991 at my Airborne School graduation.   For those of you who didn't know about this, Gen McPeak didn't just change the blues, he also left his mark on BDUs.  Personally, I think it was a lot easier to have a simple leather nametag on your BDUs instead of sewing everything on.  But it got a big "no-go" in my book on looks.

As far as looks, you've probably got a point.  It would definitely be easier though.  And if it were the same tag as on the flight suit, it would minimize the number of things the member would have to buy.  Instead of having different insignia for each uniform, one could just transfer the same nametag to whatever uniform is being worn (assuming you use velcro).

[Stonewall]

You know, for creating a whole new uniform for the Air Force, I just did a General McPeak search on google and couldn't find a single picture of him in his uniform.  I remember when they put his portrait in the AF Corridor in the Pentagon, he was in his uniform.   I'm betting he has big regrets about that one.  Bet he hired folks to delete all pics of him hin his uniform in existence.

[ddelaney103]

You know, for creating a whole new uniform for the Air Force, I just did a General McPeak search on google and couldn't find a single picture of him in his uniform.  I remember when they put his portrait in the AF Corridor in the Pentagon, he was in his uniform.   I'm betting he has big regrets about that one.  Bet he hired folks to delete all pics of him hin his uniform in existence.

Your kung fu no good...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gen_Merrill_McPeak_1993.jpg

[riffraff]

Why is it that General Officers feel the need to be fashion designers? Post-service career aspirations?

The US Army had Shinseki and his Rambo-look.  The USAF had to endure McPeak and his hybrid USN/RAF/Airline suit.

Hats off to USMC. While I'm sure they've made subtle uniform changes over the past 75 years, a Marine in dress blues still looks the same as his WW2 predecessor. Continuity, heritage, tradition, esprit-de-corps.

US Army now heading back to blue. Apparently another fashion-designer wannabe General wanting leave a lasting impression and USAF yearning to wear US Army uniforms. You'd think we had better things to spend the nations $$ on.

Any wonder TP hopped on the bandwagon? It's apparently what generals do these days.

[Stonewall]

You know, for creating a whole new uniform for the Air Force, I just did a General McPeak search on google and couldn't find a single picture of him in his uniform.  I remember when they put his portrait in the AF Corridor in the Pentagon, he was in his uniform.   I'm betting he has big regrets about that one.  Bet he hired folks to delete all pics of him hin his uniform in existence.

Your kung fu no good...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gen_Merrill_McPeak_1993.jpg

Dern it!!!  Dern SNCOs....

Didn't he also come up with the whole "all, some or none" as far as ribbons?

EDIT....AND the whole v-neck thing.  I heard his wife (notice he's not wearing any rings) came up with the "I like a man's hair to show when in uniform" v-neck idea.

[ddelaney103]

Why is it that General Officers feel the need to be fashion designers? Post-service career aspirations?

The US Army had Shinseki and his Rambo-look.  The USAF had to endure McPeak and his hybrid USN/RAF/Airline suit.

Hats off to USMC. While I'm sure they've made subtle uniform changes over the past 75 years, a Marine in dress blues still looks the same as his WW2 predecessor. Continuity, heritage, tradition, esprit-de-corps.

US Army now heading back to blue. Apparently another fashion-designer wannabe General wanting leave a lasting impression and USAF yearning to wear US Army uniforms. You'd think we had better things to spend the nations $$ on.

Any wonder TP hopped on the bandwagon? It's apparently what generals do these days.

Uniforms are changed for reasons - some good, some bad.

McPeak wanted to redefine the AF.  Some say that the uniform changes were flares for people to bite off on while he made major changes in the AF, but I have no proof.

Shinseki was trying to reinforce the "One Army" concept and its expeditionary nature.

The MC is a small org that is willing to blow big bucks on uniforms.  I'm pretty sure the Army would have a problem eating that cost.  The move to blue is in some ways a cost cutting action by dumping Class A's - which is a pretty ugly uniform, especially when they moved to mint green shirts.

[ddelaney103]

You know, for creating a whole new uniform for the Air Force, I just did a General McPeak search on google and couldn't find a single picture of him in his uniform.  I remember when they put his portrait in the AF Corridor in the Pentagon, he was in his uniform.   I'm betting he has big regrets about that one.  Bet he hired folks to delete all pics of him hin his uniform in existence.

Your kung fu no good...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gen_Merrill_McPeak_1993.jpg

Dern it!!!  Dern SNCOs....

Didn't he also come up with the whole "all, some or none" as far as ribbons?

EDIT....AND the whole v-neck thing.  I heard his wife (notice he's not wearing any rings) came up with the "I like a man's hair to show when in uniform" v-neck idea.

I'm not sure if he came up with "all, some or none," but he was pushing navy style with the "top three ribbons look."  The uniform was definitely navy/RAF-esque.

While the uniform wasn't too bad for officers, enlisted took it on the chin, style-wise.  I will not miss the departure of this Service Dress.

[riffraff]

During my time in the Army, the most notable changes were a switch from green to black for shoulderboards, lightweight jackets, etc.

[ColonelJack]

The worst part of the McPeak blues was the lack of lapel insignia of any kind.

McPeak wanted the purchaser of the uniform to not have to poke so many holes in it -- ribbons, badges, name plate, rank, lapel brass -- so he eliminated as much of it as he could.

What was really bad was when his successor (Gen. Fogelman?) reinstated the lapel brass, he allowed the same U.S. for enlisted and officers.  Bad form, in my book.  I wore the circled U.S. and -- like most -- thought the EMs should do the same.  Thankfully, they do now.

People who think the Corporate Service Uniform is bad should thank their lucky stars we didn't get stuck with leftover McPeak stuff!

Jack

[IceNine]

Any wonder TP hopped on the bandwagon? It's apparently what generals do these days.

This is not a new phenomenon, IIRC all of the now 5 stars had their own variations of whatever uniform they chose to wear.  And I've seen may a picture of Nimitz without a uniform at all, standing on the deck of a ship.