I agree.

Adam, quit tumble drying your t-shirts on "High Heat".:D

TR

First an Italian pistol and now French camo? DAMN!

yes, the pictures I have seen of the tops are shorter but not the T-Shirts. There is a new T-Shirt coming along with this uniform, more of a wicking material. I know for a fact it is not Under Armour tho. For one thing, their price point was too high and for another the material is very flammable.
Also, there will be a new BDU cap, it reminds me of the old KW Tailor caps, double bill, pocket in crown, etc. The crown is low so as to prevent "rolling or crushing", of the crown, you know, the bane of the CSM 's existence.
Boots are brown suede.
Camo is a 4 color digital pattern.

Ahhh - NOW it makes more sense. Gracias.

Eliminating those worthless pockets will also go a long way toward eliminating that bulk.

(I'd put a smiley here as well, but the board gets mad at me when I overdo it.)

It is not so much the heat, but the fact that once I find t-shirts that don't stretch out at the neck and actually fit right, I tend to keep them WAY longer than any sane person should. I honestly don't think I have bought new t-shirts since before I deployed to the desert in 1999 (I bought a LOT, and still have at least half left)! I believe extra armpit holes add character to the garment. ;)

It also doesn't help that various odashees washed my clothes for a three year period - all they KNOW is high heat. I think new clothes should undergo "odashee torture certification" - such clothes could be guaranteed not to burn or shrink when turned in to commercial laundry facilities (imagine a sunglass-smiley here) .

To stay on topic: the Marines figured out quickly that zippers = bad. I have been surrounded by their new uniforms for months now - the thoughtful design that went into them (I LOVE the snag-free sleeve cuff buttons) is obvious. IMHO, take that design and fabric, make the shoulder pockets bigger - for both more storage and the 1st cav / 2d ID sized patches, and keep the same camo pattern. I Marine NCOs can handle seeing two different uniforms - with different camo patterns - in formation for a several year period, surely the Army senior NCOs could support the integration of such a uniform.

I also fail to understand the need for a separate "combat" and normal duty uniform.

The new "GWCU" is going to be it, no separate uniforms for field and garisson. The current BDU really sucks as a field uniform. The fabric sucks, the pocket design sucks and the fit sucks. I like the new Marine MCCUU but I can see where it needs some tweaks. The guys at MARCORSYSCOM have said that even the MCCUU is a compromise between combat and garisson and would like make some more changes. I applaud the Marines for being able to make the cultural change. Lets hope the Army can too. With suede boots and wash and wear fabrics, uniform inspections will be interesting. I guess they can complain that the flag is not at a proper 15 degree cant or something.
The Army plans to switch to one universal camo pattern based on the MC digital. No black in the Army pattern and it is made up of different shades of brown. All of the badges, patches and other accoutrements will be in a light brown color. Still no final word on the material. All of the Marines I know love the material and say it feels like pajamas. The Army had originally planned on going with a 50/50 NYCO ripstop (Fooking hot!!!). God Bless 'Em. I hope they rectify that. The Air Force at least got the material right. They are using the new Marine material but in that God forsaken Blue and Grey Tiger Stripe. Plus their pocket configuration stinks. And just to add a cherry to this nice fudge sundae, they have blue suede boots. Some of the prototypes feature tigerstriped soles.

I like that new AF uniform. Except for the CCTs and PJs and a few others, what difference is camo gonna make anyway? And the stripes will make them feel tougher. I remember how everyone bitched when we got rid of the OGs and cammies and went to the BDUs. I still think the OGs and cammies were the best uniform ever, but they didn't hold up real well. But at least we got rid of that green abomination with the blue belt and that ball cap. They could give everyone their own individual uniform made to specs and someone would still complain. LOL.

"Well you can knock me down, step in my face, slander my name all over the place, do anything that you wanna do, but uh huh lay offfa my boots..." LOL

I guess that's where we disagree. :) I think the fit and fabric (summer weight) of the current BDU are good. Pocket design, yeah, could definitely be improved. Like I said earlier, we just need to tweak the current BDU, not toss it out.

Better to look good than to be good....:rolleyes:

The current BDUs are 50/50 NYCO, rather than cotton, and they suck in the heat here at Bragg, much less in the heat of the Middle East.

The 50/50 was chosen, IIRC, because it was more durable, faded less, and looked better in garrison because it was more like Perma-Press.

No concern for heat, comfort, and breathability. Field soldier concerns, not applicable to decision making staff weenies.

I liked the OG 107s and ripstop cammies, if they were DXable.

TR

Maybe I'm showing my age on the fabric issue, having not been around to soldier in anything before BDUs. As for the issues TR mentions, I'd think durability would be one of the vital attributes, fading far less so, but still a concern (not for appearance in formation, mind you, but for the maintenance of camouflage), and permanent-press not a concern at all. In the ideal world, that is, where the Army selected uniforms, equipment, and weaponry based on what worked best for the tactical soldier, not the PAC clerk, staff weenie, or maternity-wearer.

As for fabric, then, a question: what would be superior? There's a lot of categories that need be considered. Durable, breathable, cool (I don't see us fighting many militants in Sweden any time soon :)), quick-drying, fade-proof, skin-feel/nap? You can have the softest fabric around, but if it rips on a wait-a-minute vine, it's useless; likewise, the most durable fabric is useless if it chafes/irritates.

Best thing I see, the change in boots.

Being old fashioned, I think work/combat uniforms are that and garrison uniforms should be just that. One universal uniform won't get it. Climates change, and there can never be a "universal" camo pattern/color. I cannot for the life of me understand the requirement for wrinkle resistant. In the old days, the wrinkles in uniforms was a pretty good camouflage in itself. This was once demonstrated o with a soldier in a sloppy wrinkled up unifor along side of another soldier in purty starched fatigues -- both standing against a tree line.

IMHO a combat uniform needs to be durable, breathable and most important designed for the specific region of combat. Return to fatigues or even Class "B" uniforms in garrison ala the jarheads.

Are there pics of this new uniform available on the web?

Why not, instead of zippers, just use a double velcro system much like some body armor systems do. It would seem certainly more comfortable with armor, etc. and less likely to fail. Have the shirt panels as they are except remove the buttons and replace the left 2 flaps with the soft velcro side and the single right panel have the harder velcro side. The right side has the velcro front and back and gets sandwiched between the right panels.

Got to talk to alot of Marines this past weekend during their TUREX and they do like their uniforms.....brown boots included.