Basic Cadets in Service Jacket

[AngelWings]

Two things:

The best mentality is all or none. All or none meaning that everyone will wear them or no one one will wear them (with exceptions to the cadets who do not have them). What I do at my squadron is authorize it twice every year, along with a formal night. It boosts the moral. The worst feeling cadets experience is being ostracized from simple things for being corps cadets. You'll learn that most cadets don't respond the way you would think if they are being restricted from something when a regulation contradicts that.

As a Cadet Commander myself, I let my basic cadets bring concerns up with me for a period of time. This way they get to know my style and my policy. After they promote to A1C, I send them through the chain. I also have cadets assigned to key positions who are not on staff who need to talk to me per my requests. It is best to have a COC that allows for cadets to address who they need to directly in important situations. I tried it the "traditional" way. Didn't work well and everyone was feeling the delay, including me when I needed to talk to my CDC. Just something to note when you get up there in position.

Back onto topic, I would NOT restrict wearing Service Dress to your corps cadets. That'll have a negative affect. As one of my SM's explained to me: "If you do not set the example, the cadets will not follow. For example, '[Filter Subversion], why is Flight Sergeant Johnny allowed to not wear his patrol cap when I am not? That's not right! The regulation says otherwise!'" It cuts both for what you don't wear and what you do wear. That starts a slippery slope you never want to go down with unit morale.

[C/2d Lt]

Restricting the cadets the service jacket is not a good idea however have some cadet wear then and others don't looks silly.  Almost like we do not know how to fallow direction so we all showed up in a different uniform.

[AngelWings]

Restricting the cadets the service jacket is not a good idea however have some cadet wear then and others don't looks silly.  Almost like we do not know how to fallow direction so we all showed up in a different uniform.

Some people do not own them. Having only certain ranks in them makes it look like your basic cadets are sloppy and do not follow orders while your higher corps cadets are the ending of a good generation of cadets. I'd do this simple process:
1: Ask who has the jacket
2: Create a roster of those who do and those who do not
3: Tell cadets they can acquire a jacket. See if you have funds to supply a jacket if possible and practical (do not do this for extremely new cadets and those who are not dedicated to the program)
4: Do atleast two classes on wear of the service dress uniform with curriculm as you see fit.
5: Create wear dates in the schedule for it
6: Ask who does and doesn't have the jacket. Tell those who cannot acquire them that they are exempt from wearing it on Service Dress day.
7: On Service Dress day, perform inspection.
8: Go from there.

[spacecommand]

I do not see it as a major issue, if the cadet, no matter what their grade, manages to get a service jacket (purchasing one, finding one, getting it from the goodwill or whatever) wear's it correctly, then that's great. 

[Sapper168]

Restricting the cadets the service jacket is not a good idea however have some cadet wear then and others don't looks silly.  Almost like we do not know how to fallow direction so we all showed up in a different uniform.

  Nitpicking the jacket with the blues to me is like telling everyone they have to have the same flattop haircut or no one can have it for uniformity sake.  The thing is we have classifications of uniforms, but there is minor differences allowed within the wear of the uniforms even with BDU's, flight suits and field uniforms there are options.  This saving jackets for staff is like saying only cadet unit staff can wear black tshirts with BDU's all others wear brown, or the other way, every one must wear brown tshirts and not black even though it is allowed in the regs.

What would you do if you had a 18+ cadet who decided to wear the corporate Grey and white aviator shirt uniform instead of blues?

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

What would you do if you had a 18+ cadet who decided to wear the corporate Grey and white aviator shirt uniform instead of blues?

I know it's authorised, but I've never seen it.

Good point though.

[Eclipse]

Worse then this are cadets who somehow come upon a jacket that doesn't remotely fit, but they feel obligated to wear it anyway "because".

[coudano]

Yah my squadron doesn't have ANY to issue,
so the cadets who have service coats are those who have gone out and bought one.
I have c/Amn whose parents are rich and buy them any toy they want, and I have C/Captains who are dirt poor and can barely get gas money to get themselves to a squadron meeting.


That said, in the interest of uniformity, NOBODY wears the coat,
so we all look the same

If everybody had a coat, maybe we would mandate that everybody wear it...  but that has never been the case at any CAP squadron i've been in, ever.



Personally I only wear blues when I have to, and the service coat only goes on for formal functions as a (small) subset of those already few mandatory blues occasions.

[coudano]

Afterthought:  I used to be against trinkets like the wheel cap for cadet officers, on the grounds that it might create elitism.

After some years though I have started to come to the conclusion that a (little) bit of (reasonable) separation privileges are probably appropriate at the phase breaks.  There's nothing wrong with a little elitism...  You just have to watch out that it doesn't get overdone and become counterproductive.

[coudano]

Also if i had a big pile of cash, i would buy ever cadet in my squadron a lightweight blue jacket before i bought them all a service coat.

meh

[Terry]

There always seems to be a lot of going back and forth on uniforms on this forum, naturally as this is a uniform section of the thread. My theory is if a cadet has something such as a coat that another cadet doesn't have then I would not discourage them from wearing it. After being in the military, uniformity to me is really only paramount in formations. Across almost every installation you will see military personnel running around in different uniforms that are part of the same organization.  I.E. if a cadet has a light weight blue jacket and other do not, do I tell that cadet to not wear it and wear a civilian jacket or nothing. No I wouldn't. Uniforms are about professionalism, and if a member has an item someone else doesn't and wears it properly, then I don't see a problem with it. If we are gonna go by this logic, then lets put all seniors in coprorate uniforms and all cadets in the basic blue service uniform all the time. No more ES because everyone may not have BDU's and forget PT because all cadets may not be able to afford shorts and a t shirt. I know this is extreme, but I feel that some people here honestly feel this way.

[MSG Mac]

What would you do if you had a 18+ cadet who decided to wear the corporate Grey and white aviator shirt uniform instead of blues?

I know it's authorised, but I've never seen it.

Good point though.

Only if they don't meet the Ht/Wt standards

[SARDOC]

What would you do if you had a 18+ cadet who decided to wear the corporate Grey and white aviator shirt uniform instead of blues?

I know it's authorised, but I've never seen it.

Good point though.

Only if they don't meet the Ht/Wt standards

It's an optional uniform for cadets 18 and over.  They still have to comply with grooming standards, but they are not required to wear the Air Force Style if they are within Height/Weight standards.  I don't know why they wouldn't wear the same uniform as the rest of the cadets but it's not required.

[okeecap]

The service jacket can be worn by any rank cadet, but the flight in formation should be uniform.  Meaning if only 1 or 2 cadets have one nobody should wear one in formation.  Using a service jacket to distinguish cadet staff is not really a good idea, there are other ways to do that.  Cords, cadet officers can wear the service cap.

[AngelWings]

The way my cadet staff distinguishes themselves in uniform is by wearing... A NAMEPLATE or NAMETAPE! Am I the only cadet staff member who gets that my nameplate and nametape are on my uniform for a reason?

EDIT: Not directed at anyone, just a general notation.

[abdsp51]

The service jacket can be worn by any rank cadet, but the flight in formation should be uniform.  Meaning if only 1 or 2 cadets have one nobody should wear one in formation.  Using a service jacket to distinguish cadet staff is not really a good idea, there are other ways to do that.  Cords, cadet officers can wear the service cap.

And how many wing commanders have authorized that?

[inactive123]

I apologize for not being clearer. By no means did I mean to say that a cadet airman does not, within the regulations, have the right to wear it. I was speaking more of the idea of the squadron supplying giving cadets airman receive them before the NCO.  Which as mention, should not be done until supply fits supplement.

Addressing the "right" to wear it uniform. As I can see I chose my wording poorly. A more appropriate term would be that the NCO's have the experience for the next step to service jacket. There are some exceptions.

As to cadets purchasing there own I applaud for there dedication however would rather them not wear it to a weekly meeting where no one ells has it. This is only because there is no uniformity. We are so post to look alike.

As to a squadron have all cadets in service jackets, more power to you that is awesome :clap:. (Send extras our way )

At my squadron there is at least thirty service coats in the supply building along with packs, bdus, blues, trench coats,and  bdu coats. The downside? The coats are old style and smells bad. Also everything there is at least ten years old.

[Eclipse]

At my squadron there is at least thirty service coats in the supply building along with packs, bdus, blues, trench coats,and  bdu coats. The downside? The coats are old style and smells bad. Also everything there is at least ten years old.

Someone should either get the serviceable or dispose of them.

Why people sit on piles of useless fabric and junk is beyond me.  You can't even "just in case" something that's not serviceable.

[AngelWings]

The dry cleaners do great work on making dress jackets better.

[inactive123]

At my squadron there is at least thirty service coats in the supply building along with packs, bdus, blues, trench coats,and  bdu coats. The downside? The coats are old style and smells bad. Also everything there is at least ten years old.

Someone should either get the serviceable or dispose of them.

Why people sit on piles of useless fabric and junk is beyond me.  You can't even "just in case" something that's not serviceable.

They are still serviceable and members frequently check out supplies from the supply building. It's just that you have to manage cleaning it. There are some (1/3) of the coats that are probably un serviceable. Last time we had to clean the supply building they made us wear masks and gloves. It smelled Bad.