Being in the community of the Navy that already wears CUU's, "cammies", I feel that the Fleet types are trying to just feel "speshul".
As someone who has worn CUU's since leaving boot camp I could really giva shit less. A pocket on the sleeve is about the only thing I'm excited about. What I am not excited about and actually a little disgusted about is the fact that we have so many Gawdamm uniforms. Being in the Expeditionary community, green or desert CUU's, why should I be required to have a set of the blue utilities?
They are making the sailor who is an OF13, EOD, SO, or SB (rates who will never be placed in other than Spec War or NECC billets) have a set for "seabag" inspections or in case they go to a ship type command. WTF? So I have to maintain yet another uniform that i no use to me. The Navy has always had too many uniforms, for example the working whites and the working blues, dress whites and dress blues, the dungarees, ....
Finally they are merging the working blues/whites and going with 1 working uniform (although this too is a rip-of of a Marine uniform).
On the point that someone was trying to make about the rip-off of the Marine utility uniform; if the digital pattern is smarter than the Woodland or Desert v.2, why not use it. As EOD,Seabees and SpecWar are in the same atmosphere as Marines and the digital works better why is it that fucked up?
On the other hand, the fleet fags wearing blue digi's is just way over the top. Personally if I were a snipe down in Engineering in the pit I would want the dungarees. Wearing utility pants that never fit right and a blouse that almost amounts to being a jacket down there has got to be so much more uncomfortable than slacks/pants and a short sleeved shirt. I think most fleet types will end up cursing what they are drooling for now, that is a "cool" new uniform.
Another Navy uniform folly is the new PT uniform. It is a yellow shirt and shitty ass short with no inner netting (Where do my balls go?!?!?!).
We have always PT'ed in brown shirts and whatever kind of Navy blue shorts you wanted as long as they were solid in color and the logo was no bigger than a quarter. The fleeters, if they even had organized PT, would wear anything they wanted. I've seen cargo shorts, Abercrombie faux-tennis shoes, tank tops, the list goes on.
While I do not disagree with the standardized PT gear the yellow top is made of polyester, keeping sweat in, it shows dirt like crazy making it look like shit. The shorts as I said have no ball support so you would have to wear something else, that's more laundry and on a ship I would guess it would suck worse but I wouldn't know, never stepped foot on a ship.
It sucks for them but I say Fuck'em, they (sailors) were crying for "cool" new uniforms. What again sucks is that I have to buy a set because we all got an extra little bit in our annual clothing allowance specifically for that. We won't wear them but we have to maintain a set just like the blue "cammies". The jury is still out on whether I will actually buy a set.
So yeah, coming from a Navy man, I think most of it is just poser shit. The Expeditionary and Spec War bubbas, it's just a tad bit smarter clothing. Although we all know that when you're in the desert there really isn't much difference in the MC digi or my current DUU's, just smarter pockets. They still see you.
On a patrol in the wilds of Afghanistan the digi IS smarter, and this is the reason I don't mind the change in my particular everyday uniform.
