It’s time to restore service dress - Army Community - Army Discussions - Army Times

It’s time to restore service dress

Within a month, President Barack Obama visited Dover Air Force Base, Del.; Fort Hood, Texas; and Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.

Each time, the occasion was serious — the arrival of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan, a memorial service for 13 shot down on home soil and a solemn promise of support from a commander in chief on the verge of sending more troops to war.

And each time, the public saw up close the men and women of the armed forces — in work uniforms.

The attire didn’t go unnoticed.

One newscaster made a point to mention Obama was “surrounded by soldiers and airmen in their fatigues.” A story by The Associated Press noted: “Thousands upon thousands of people, many of them soldiers dressed in camouflage, gathered to pay their respects and hear the president.”

Regardless of whether they were shaking hands with the leader of the free world or performing a dignified transfer of the nation’s war dead, the airmen and soldiers wore the same outfits they would loading a plane or driving a truck.

But there is no dignity in handling a flag-draped casket while wearing the Army Combat Uniform or the Airman Battle Uniform. Or in meeting the commander in chief while wearing that attire.

The fallen deserve greater respect. The president deserves more respect. So do the American people.

Eight years ago, when troops started commuting to offices in their ABUs, ACUs and the predecessor work uniforms — fatigues, in plain English — Pentagon leaders said it was necessary because America was at war.

Wearing work attire in the office, at lunch break and on the subway, the brass insisted, would communicate a sense of solidarity with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is a departure from the recent past, when airmen and soldiers wore flight suits or work clothing only when actually working and not when seen in civilian communities.

One interpretation of the current dress code is that it signals a nation at war, a nation whose troops are bonded by the sacrifices of conflict no matter where they’re pulling duty at the moment.

There’s another interpretation, though. It’s one the brass may intend, even if the troops don’t. The practice of dressing down in public comes across as “in-your-face” insolence aimed at the very civilians the military is supposed to serve.

Even if they don’t intend it, military members may be perceived as flourishing their remoteness from their fellow Americans — who support them but question elected leaders’ policy of endless war in which the mission has become muddled and U.S. prospects have declined.

During World War II, service members worked at stateside locations wearing what would be known in today’s terminology as service dress. There are almost no photos of war leaders such as Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall or Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, commanding general of Army Air Forces, in anything other than Class A uniform.

U.S. military service chiefs should restore wearing of service dress in the workplace. They should limit the use of the work uniform to those who are working, flying and fighting.

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Robert F. Dorr is an Air Force veteran. His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.