Really? ABU's?

[TexasCadet]

On a more "to the point" off topic point, this week our cadet staff petitioned, and received approval to go from wearing safety vests to wearing PT belts when working outside in the parking lot. I would have pushed for a full repeal, but I suppose for the purposes of drill/inspection/other outside this will have to do.

Sometimes you can't make this stuff up.

A Superheroic Caped Crusade to Keep Troops Safe in Afghanistan

Bagram Batman also enforces the most important rule of all: Don't forget your reflective belt, lest you be hit by the hulking Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles that roar in darkness through the base's main drag.

How about we replace the blue BDU belt with a reflective belt?

Or even better, for more bling, let's make a reflective sash.

[Eclipse]

Do you walk around with your shirt flapped up?

[TexasCadet]

Okay, so we either:

1. Make shorter BDU coats.
2. Wear the belt on the outside of the BDU coat.

As I said once in another thread,

It's in the name of SAFETY!

[DennisH]

When I was very young my parents taught me not to walk in front of vehicles, we didn't have reflective belts. Every time the uniform gets changed to include accessories it costs money. In a volunteer outfit that's not a good thing.

[PHall]

Considering the DOD's great love of reflective belts I am "amused" that CAP Safety hasn't made wear of them mandatory yet.

[billford1]

Does anyone suppose that the DOD is MIA on approval of ABUs for CAP because of the supply of Cadet sized uniforms that will require money that no one wants to ask for?  Why heck I could shave my goatee off and put the ABU on myself. My only concern is that people would be aghast at my new appearance and ask me to go back to my goatee and return to my polo uniform which is ok for me for the time being.

[SarDragon]

Does anyone suppose that the DOD is MIA on approval of ABUs for CAP because of the supply of Cadet sized uniforms that will require money that no one wants to ask for?  Why heck I could shave my goatee off and put the ABU on myself. My only concern is that people would be aghast at my new appearance and ask me to go back to my goatee and return to my polo uniform which is ok for me for the time being.

Same problem here. 

[a2capt]

Does anyone suppose that the DOD is MIA on approval of ABUs for CAP because of the supply of Cadet sized uniforms that will require money that no one wants to ask for?

This is different from BDUs, Pickle suits, Service Dress, etc, how?

https://military.americanuniform.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=175

[NIN]

Does anyone suppose that the DOD is MIA on approval of ABUs for CAP because of the supply of Cadet sized uniforms that will require money that no one wants to ask for?  Why heck I could shave my goatee off and put the ABU on myself. My only concern is that people would be aghast at my new appearance and ask me to go back to my goatee and return to my polo uniform which is ok for me for the time being.

this entire thing is a bureaucratic pickle.  The AF signed off on the 2008 DoD memo on authority to allow the modern (IFF) uniforms not realizing that CAP might actually, you know, wear them.

Due to that memo, the HAF probably feels it cannot authorize CAP to wear ABU until it is changed.

Likely, nobody really has the juice to push the DoD acquisition folks off the dime on this memo due to other bureaucratic issues.  Or they have bigger fish to fry and haven't bothered yet.

ETA: No, wait, looks like I found the problem. See the attached.  thats where he went from Dunder-Mifflin

[Eclipse]

Which brings us back to "Doh!"

Between the specific DOD prohibition and the initiatives to move back to a consolidated field uniform,
the odds of this happening for CAP are very slim.

Had they been approved in the normal course of the USAF uniform, at this point the membership
would have gotten their money out of them, now, there's a very good chance that by the
time a CAP sundown on woodland expired, the USAF would be on to something "new".

As it stand, the majority of the membership that is allowed to already has woodland,
their are readily available via the same sources most members have always used, and
ABUs serve no more / better purpose then woodland, while at the same time bringing
even less cohesion to our "uniform" appearance.

There's literally no point to it.

[TexasCadet]

Does anyone suppose that the DOD is MIA on approval of ABUs for CAP because of the supply of Cadet sized uniforms that will require money that no one wants to ask for?

This is different from BDUs, Pickle suits, Service Dress, etc, how?

https://military.americanuniform.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=175

Do we have cadets that small?

[Luis R. Ramos]

Yes.

Not all units do, but every now and then a unit asks for a source of BDU uniforms in children's sizes. Their 12-year-old cadets are smaller in size than others so you end with uniforms where buttons are off when compared with an official BDU. But it is better than having them not wear a uniform at all. It is good to know this is always available. And it will happen again and again when we get the ABUs.

Flyer

[lordmonar]

There is a point to it......even IF.....IF the military moves to a single combat uniform set.

1)  We are the USAF Auxiliary and should be in their uniforms.
2)  Even if/when the USAF changes uniform it will be far enough down the road that no-one is really going to be out of a lot of money.
3)  The traditional sources of woodland BDUs are drying up......this I know for a fact as my supply room is getting emptier every week.
4)  We should always be a part of the USAF's considerations of any new uniform.   IMHO we should automatically (with enough of a delay that we don't put a run on the local uniform sales store.) be authorized any new or changes to the USAF.

The ABU's were first developed in 2003.  They were first authorized in October 2007 and mandatory October 2011.

Even the Marines took 5 years from development, field testing to full implementation.  The army took a similar amount of time.

So.......let's say that congress actually does make all the services transition to a single set of combat uniforms.  2-3 years to test and select the uniforms....then 3-4 years to transition.   If CAP has to wait an extra year to allow the military to get there first......it is 4 years before we can start wearing them.....and add a 3-4 year transition.....if you bought brand new Woodland BDUs right now....you are going to get 7-8 years of usuable life out of them before you have to get then new uniform.

8 years is much longer then the average CAP member's Career.

Bottom Line Take Home........if the only reason we should not adopt ABU's is "they are going to change soon",  I think you are putting too much faith in the us military.     Even if the services don't fight it.....and even if they cut down the R&D/Testing time by selecting one of the existing uniforms (say they just decide Multicam is the way to go) you are still looking at 2015 before we can wear them and 2019 for the transition to be complete.   How many of use here on CAP Talk will still be members of CAP in 2019?

Nope.....let's change to ABUs now.....and to what ever they change to later.

/rant

[Blackhawk]

lol:
http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/08/us-army-introduces-revolutionary-new-woodland-camouflage-uniform-to-replace-acu/

[Eclipse]

By "no point" I meant ABU today, the issues of affinity vs. functionality are a separate, important point.

How about this?

Before any member is allowed to transition to the ABU (assuming its adoption)...

...they have to weigh-in first, in-person, in front of their commander.

I continue to maintain that our uniform landscape would be very different if our leadership were held accountable to the regulations.

Also, has anyone raised the issue recently about making the wear regulations more reasonable?

If and when we ever ask about ABUs, perhaps that question could be on the agenda as well.

[Panache]

There is a point to it......even IF.....IF the military moves to a single combat uniform set.

1)  We are the USAF Auxiliary and should be in their uniforms.

This would make sense if this applied to all of the USAF Auxiliary.  But it doesn't, so the point is moot.

[Shuman 14]

Also, has anyone raised the issue recently about making the wear regulations more reasonable?

Define "reasonable" please.

[lordmonar]

By "no point" I meant ABU today, the issues of affinity vs. functionality are a separate, important point.

How about this?

Before any member is allowed to transition to the ABU (assuming its adoption)...

...they have to weigh-in first, in-person, in front of their commander.

I continue to maintain that our uniform landscape would be very different if our leadership were held accountable to the regulations.

Also, has anyone raised the issue recently about making the wear regulations more reasonable?

If and when we ever ask about ABUs, perhaps that question could be on the agenda as well.

What is stopping commanders from doing that now?

[lordmonar]

There is a point to it......even IF.....IF the military moves to a single combat uniform set.

1)  We are the USAF Auxiliary and should be in their uniforms.

This would make sense if this applied to all of the USAF Auxiliary.  But it doesn't, so the point is moot.

I would argue the "moot" part but you do bring up a good point.....but by staying with BDU's only make the problem worse not better.

[Eclipse]

What is stopping commanders from doing that now?

Lack pressure from higher headquarters and consequences.