Identifying Uniforms of the US Military

Most people tend to group service members together in an all-encompassing title: they're either "soldiers" or they're all in the "army or whatever". The general public is simply ignorant to the jobs, titles, and branches of the armed forces. One of the easiest ways to identify a member of the armed forces as a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine or Coast Guardsman is to look at their uniforms.

The Army

The United States Army currently utilizes three different patterns of camouflage on their Army Combat Uniform (ACU), which was first introduced in February 2005 to replace the Battle Dress Uniform and Desert Combat Uniform, which had been in use since 1981 and 1992 respectively. The ACU comes in the Universal Camouflage Pattern, which is a digital pattern of tan and grey; this first pattern was supposed to blend into most terrains, but has proven wildly unpopular among soldiers and with critics outside the army because it barely blends in to any known terrain.

To mitigate the poorly researched adoption of the UCP, the Army began issuing the ACU in MultiCam, a pattern created by the company Crye Precision, in 2009. MultiCam consists of seven different "earth-tone" colors, in varying shades of green, brown and tan. The MultiCam ACUs were issued to soldiers deploying to Afghanistan starting in 2010, after a trial run with the Army Rangers and other Special Operations units.

Beginning in 2015, the Army began issuing a redesigned ACU in Operational Camouflage Pattern.  OCP is similar to MultiCam but has different color tones; the new ACU is also cut differently, with redesigned collar and sleeve pockets. The OCP-ACU will replace the UCP-ACU in the Army entirely by July 2018, and the MultiCam ACUs by mid-2019.

In terms of service dress uniforms, the Army has adopted its dress blue Army Service Uniform for formal wear, replacing the Class A Service Green Uniform beginning in 2010. The ASU was designed so that soldiers only had to purchase and maintain one type of service dress instead of two, making it cheaper and more economical. Dress blues had been in use with the army to some degree since 1937.

The ASU comes in Class A and Class B (blue coat and trousers for A, long/short sleeve white shirt and blue trousers for B). The ASU is worn in any formal setting or non-combat situation, when ACUs would otherwise be worn.

The Marine Corps

The Marine Corps has the distinction of being the first US branch and second military force overall to adopt a digital pattern camouflage uniform (the Canadian Army first developed a digital pattern uniform in 1997 and began issuing it in 2001).  The Marine Corps began development of the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform (MCCUU) in mid-2001, drawing inspiration from the Canadians.

Marine-Pattern Camouflage (MARPAT) was designed in desert and woodland variations; an urban pattern was cancelled and a winter pattern is only issued in cold weather outerwear for scout snipers and any personnel deployed to cold regions. MARPAT fatigues were first issued in 2002 and replaced the BDU and DCU by the end of 2004. The desert pattern consists of coyote tan, sand brown and dark brown colors; the woodland pattern utilizes the same colors as the BDU, with dark brown, dark green, black and light green. The fatigues are worn with an eight-point cover in garrison, and a floppy jungle hat in the field. The desert uniform was only issued to Marines deploying to the Middle East until 2008, when the Marine Corps made it seasonal (deserts were worn beginning in March, and changed over to woodlands in November).  Deserts were worn with sleeves rolled until October 2011, when then-Commandant General James Amos changed the rules to normalize uniform regulations across the force. Beginning in 2014, desert fatigues were allowed to roll sleeves again; in February 2017, Commandant General Robert Neller authorized desert MARPAT for Marines deploying to the Middle East only, with woodland uniforms replacing desert uniforms in all other stations and settings; these uniforms will be authorized to roll sleeves during the summer months.

Marine Corps Service Uniforms comprise of Dress Blues and Service Greens. Blues come in Blue Alphas, Bravos, Charlies and Deltas (blue coat with hanging medals and sword; blue coat with ribbons and badges; long-sleeve khaki shirt with blue trousers; and short-sleeve khaki shirt and blue trousers) while Greens come in Alphas, Bravos and Charlies (green coat with ribbons and badges, long-sleeve khaki shirt and green trousers; short-sleeve khaki shirt and green trousers).  Dress blues are usually reserved for formal events such as funerals and the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, while Service Greens are more informal, for check-ins and office work.

The Navy

Currently, the Navy has three types of service dress uniforms: Service, Full, and Dinner Dress. These uniforms are usually Service Dress Blues for commissioned officers and the crackerjack for enlisted.

The Service Dress Blues consist of a blue coat with ribbons and badges; Full Dress consists of either a white or blue uniform with hanging medals and sword; and Dinner Dress is the most formal, usually a specially-designed white or blue uniform.

For chief petty officers, warrant officers and commissioned officers, there are also Service Khaki uniforms; Service Whites are available to chiefs and officers as well, but not junior enlisted, who instead wear the Navy Service Uniform, which comprises of a khaki shirt and black trousers. Service Whites were dropped for junior enlisted in 2010, when the NSU was adopted.

Service Khakis were first issued to naval aviators in 1913, followed by submarine crews in 1931. The Service Khaki uniform was authorized for all ship-board sailors in 1941.

Chiefs and officers can wear black or brown Oxford shoes with their khakis, although in the Navy it is generally accepted that brown Oxfords are worn by aviation sailors. Chiefs and officers have the option of wearing either their three highest ribbons or all ribbons on their uniform.

The Navy Working Uniform (NWU) was first introduced in 2010 to replace the BDU and other working uniforms aboard ships. The NWU was first issued in a digital pattern of dark blue, light blue and white, but a woodland and desert pattern were created in 2012. The desert pattern NWU is only authorized for Naval Special Warfare Command units (such as SEALs) while the woodland pattern has come to be the standard issue working uniform for sailors, due to replace the blue NWUs by 2019. A blue fire-resistant smock was issued to ship crews beginning in 2014.

The Air Force

The current Air Force Service Dress Uniform, consisting of a blue sport coat and trousers with a light blue shirt and herringbone tie, was first authorized in 1994 and replaced the unpopular McPeak blues by 1999. Enlisted airmen wear cloth rank sewn onto the sleeves of their shirts or coat, while officers wear their rank insignia on the epaulets of the coat and the collar of their shirts. Mess dress is also authorized for formal occasions.

The Air Force typically wore the same fatigues as the Army, adopting solid-green fatigues in the 1960s and the BDU/DCU in the 1980s. When the Army transitioned to the ACU, the Air Force kept their BDU/DCU fatigues until 2011, when the Airman Battle Uniform was introduced. The ABU has the same colors as the UCP-ACU, with digital grey and tan colors, but the patterns form tiger stripes instead of digital squares. The ABU proved unpopular with airmen deployed in desert climates because it was too thick and not very breathable; the Air Force began to authorize MultiCam fatigues for wear in deployed environments starting in 2012.

The Coast Guard

The Coast Guard typically issues the Operational Duty Uniorm (ODU) to its ship crews.  The uniform was redesigned in 2004, eliminating the lower pockets on the blouse and tucking in the blouse to the trousers; this was done away in 2008 with a new redesign. The ODU is dark blue and is worn with a unit ball cap, black belt and black boots. The ODU is also issued to the NOAA and PHS Officer Corps.

In combat situations, the Coast Guard issued the BDU and DCU until 2012, when MultiCam and the woodland NWU replaced them.

Until 1974, Coast Guard personnel wore the same service dress as the Navy, but with Coast Guard insignia. The transition to the Coast Guard Service Dress Uniform was completed in that year. The uniforms consist of Dress Whites (white coat and shoulder boards), Tropical Blues (light blue short/long sleeve shirt and blue trousers), Service Dress Blues (dark blue coat and trousers/skirt), Winter Dress Blues (dark blue long sleeve shirt and trousers), Camouflage Utility Uniform, and Operational Duty Uniform.