| Uniforms Of The United States Navy |
Article Index for Uniforms Of |
Website Links For Uniforms |
Information AboutUniforms Of The United States Navy |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT UNIFORMS OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY | |
| united states navy | |
| american military uniforms | |
|
GENERAL NOTES A few items that apply to all uniforms. Officers and Chief Petty Officers wear gold or shined brass belt buckles and buttons, while other ranks wear silver buckles and plain buttons. Commissioned Officers (including chief warrant officers) wear a Cover Device consisting of two gold fouled anchors crossed behind a silver federal shield with a silver eagle perched on the shield. Warrant Officers cover device is pair of crossed anchors. DRESS UNIFORMS The United States Navy has three categories of dress uniforms, from least to most formal, service, full, and dinner dress. Service Dress The least formal dress uniforms, service dress, have three variations for Officer s and Chief Petty Officer s, but two for all other ranks. These uniforms are typically worn during ceremonies, inspections, or watches. Officer and Chief Petty Officers service dress depends on the season, with Service Dress White for warm weather wear and Service Dress Blue for cooler temperatures. With these uniforms, ribbons and badges are worn, not medals. The blue uniform is a dark, almost black, suit, white shirt, and four-in-hand or formal bowtie. The men's jacket is double breasted with six buttons, and the women's jacket has a single row of four buttons. Rank insignia is the gold sleeve stripes, for officers, while rating badges and Service Stripes are worn by Chiefs. The appropriate headgear frequently is the white Combination Cap , although a blue Garrison Cap is authorized. The service dress white uniform is very diverging for the men's and women's variations. Men wear a high collared white tunic, with shoulder boards for officers, and the metal insignia for Chiefs, white trousers and shoes. This uniform is informally called Chokers, due to the collar. Women wear a uniform similar to the service dress blue, but with a white coat and trousers. The white combination cap is also authorized. One difference is women Chief Petty Officers wear their rank insignia (the fouled anchor with USN mongram and five-pointed cocked "line" stars) on the lapels of the jacket. Uniquely, the shoes worn with this uniform are white. The rarely seen but authorized blue Yankee uniform replaces the dark trousers and black shoes of the service dress blue with white trousers and shoes from the white uniform. Either the All Weather Coat or Reefer are worn with Service Dress uniforms. Junior Enlisted service dress is the naval jumper, or "sailor suit," with a white version used in warm weather and a blue version used in cold weather. Service Dress Whites (Jumper) consist of white pants, black leather shoes, a white jumper, neckerchief and white "Dixie Cup" sailor's hat for males or combination cover for females with a silver eagle emblem and the letters "USN." The winter uniform (Crackerjacks) is essentially the same thing but Navy blue in color. Unlike officer and Chief Petty Officer uniforms, only black shoes are allowed. Ribbons or Medals may be worn with these uniforms, over the top left pocket, along with warfare insignia. If medals are worn, ribbons that do not have corresponding medals are worn on the top right pocket. If these uniforms are assigned as the Uniform of the Day, a Plan of the Day/Plan of the week will state either "Service Dress Whites" or "Service Dress Blue." Either the All Weather Coat or Peacoat are worn with this uniform. Full Dress Full Dress uniforms are worn for ceremonies like change of command, retirement, commissioning, and decommissioning, or when appropriate. Similar to the service dress, but the "Yankee" variation is omitted, these uniforms wear medals where appropriate, and Sword s are authorized for officers. Mess Dress The mess dress uniforms of the United State Navy have the most variations. For officers, there are Dinner Dress Blue and White, Dinner Dress Blue and White Jacket, Formal Dress, and Tropical Diner dress. Although trousers are authorized, women frequently wear the appropriate color skirt. The Dinner Dress Blue and White are the Service and Full Dress uniforms with miniature medals and badges except for ribbons. The Dinner Dress Blue and White Jacket and the Formal Dress uniforms for men feature a short jacket with six buttons, worn open, in either color. Male officers show rank stripes on the sleeves of the jacket for the blue version and on shoulder boards for the white version, while women officers only wear sleeve stripes. The Formal Dress variation is the short, dark jacket, and trousers, worn with a white bowtie for men. The Tropical dress uniforms are dark trousers, a gold cumberbund, and a white short sleeve shirt, worn with shoulder boards or just the rating badge. For all mess dress variations, a white tie and vest generally are used for formal occasions while a black bowtie and gold cumberbund are used for semi-formal environments. Headgear (Dixie Cup for men and combination cover for women) is not required for all mess dress uniforms, unless an outer jacket is worn. This uniform is never made the Uniform of the Day, nor is it absolutely required to be retained by naval personnel. Those under the rank of Lieutenant (O-3) use the Service Dress uniform and simply replace the ribbons worn on the left with miniature size medals, and the standard necktie with a black bow tie. Enlisted who are E-6 (Petty Officer First Class) and below also wear their Service Dress uniform, the traditional sailor suit, with miniature medals. They can also wear a uniform similar to the officers, but with rank insignia and service stripes on the left sleeve. SERVICE UNIFORMS Service Uniforms are the Navy's daily wear uniforms, and exist in several variations. They are intended for use in office environments, in positions that interact with the public, and in watch situations. Skirts are authorized for women in all service uniforms. Currently, the Navy is in the process of replacing the separate Winter Blue and Summer/Tropical White uniforms with a single year-round Service Dress for E-6 and below pesonnel. Service Khaki The service khaki uniform is the sole province of Officers and Chief Petty Officers, because of this, it is common to see references to "khaki leadership" in documents (CPOs are also nicknamed, by officers, as the "Khaki Mafia " due to the post-World War II requirements that khakis were worn at all times, unless the coveralls were required). It is a khaki short sleeve shirt and trousers, worn with a gold belt buckle. Warfare insignia is worn on the top left pocket of the shirt, ribbons are placed beneath the warfare insignia, a nametag is located on the top right pocket, and rank insignia is worn on the collar. The regulations for ribbons state the highest three, or all ribbons can be worn at once. There are actually three kinds of headgear authorized. Frequently, a khaki garrison cap or command ball cap is worn, but a khaki combination cover is authorized. The authorized shoes are black or brown oxfords, but traditionally, brown shoes are only worn by aviation connected officers and Chief Petty Officers. The black shoes are worn with black socks, and the brown with khaki socks. Winter Blue The winter Blue uniform is authorized for all ranks, because of its color, it is called the "Johnny Cash" uniform. It is a long sleeve black shirt and navy blue belt and trousers, with the headgear either the combination cover, white hat, or a blue garrison cap. All men wear ties, with a silver clip for Petty Officers 1st Class and below, others gold. Ribbons and badges are worn, and officers and Chiefs wear metal collar insignia, while enlisted wear just the rating badge. When assigned as the Uniform of the Day, a Plan of the Day/Plan of the week will state "Winter Blues." Either the All Weather Coat, Working Jacket, or Peacoat are worn with this uniform. Summer and Tropical Whites The summer white uniform is similar to the above uniform, but with a few differences. The entire uniform is white, except for the required black shoes and the silver buckle. Authorized headwear is a white "Dixie Cup" cover for males and a combination cover for females. Officers wear shoulder boards with this uniform, while chiefs wear metal insignia and junior enlisted wear rating badges. Interestingly, the women's shirt for all ranks has shoulder straps, but carry nothing except for officers, who wear smaller sized shoulder boards. When assigned as the Uniform of the Day, a Plan of the Day/Plan of the week will state "Summer Whites." Either the All Weather Coat, Working Jacket, or Peacoat are worn with this uniform. The rarely seen tropical white uniform is similar, except white knee shorts, and knee socks are worn. WORKING UNIFORMS The United States Navy has several working uniforms, for wear on underway ships, and in dirty work ashore. These uniforms are more for safety and comfort rather than appearance, and trousers are mandatory at all times. These uniforms are frequently either all natural fabrics, or blends. The typical headgear is a ball cap, either a generic "Navy" or a command listed. Currently, the Navy is attempting to replace these uniforms with a single Navy Working Uniform. Winter Working Blues Winter Working blues are similar to the Winter Blue Service Uniform. The main difference is that the ribbons and necktie are omitted. Working Khaki The Working Khaki uniform is worn by Officers and Chief Petty Officers. It consists of a short or long sleeve Khaki uniform shirt, with warfare insignia and badges worn on the top of the left pocket, and pin-on metal rank devices located on the collar. It also comes with a set of khaki trousers, a khaki belt with a gold belt buckle, a command or "US Navy" ballcap, and either black boots or black leather shoes. A garrison cap is also optional. This uniform is worn either in dirty laborous environments or underway, and is certified to be fire resistant. When assigned as the Uniform of the Day, a Plan of the Day/Plan of the week will state "Working Khaki." Either the All Weather Coat, Reefer or "Ike" Jackets are worn with this uniform. Utilities The Utility Uniform is the principal working uniform for Petty Officers and below for laborious work or work that does not involve interaction with the general public. It consists of a light blue short or long sleeve blouse with the Sailor's name over the right pocket, "US Navy" over the left pocket, assigned warfare insignia over the "US Navy" on the left pocket, and if a petty officer, a "crow" (rating badge) without a rating identification mark on the left sleeve. It also comes with a dark blue set of trousers with the Sailor's last name taped to the top of the back right pocket, a navy blue belt with a silver belt buckle, a baseball cap with the name of the Sailor's command or a plain "Navy" ballcap, and either black boots or black leather shoes. Additionally, underway on submarines it is customary to wear sneakers instead of black shoes. Sailors are not authorized to be seen in public outside of a naval installation in this uniform; they are only allowed to wear it in transit to and from base. This uniform can be worn with the All Weather Coat, Utility Jacket, or Peacoat. Any badges, like submariner's dolphins, are worn as embroidered outlines on the uniform. The Utility Uniform is certified to be fire resistant. When assigned as the Uniform of the Day, a Plan of the Day/Plan of the week will state "Clean Utilities." Coveralls A fairly new uniform, simple blue coveralls have become the standard working uniform for all ranks at sea and in dirty, laborious environments ashore. Coveralls are not authorized for wear outside a naval installation, and typical local regulations dictate that coveralls are not authorized off of the pier, or outside the confines of an assigned workcenter ashore. Naval Officer's and Chief Petty Officer's coveralls are worn with gold insignia, khaki belt and a gold buckle, whereas Petty Officers and below wear coveralls with silver insignia, black belt and a silver buckle. "U.S. Navy" on the left and the wear's last name on the right are worn embroidered. The senior designation badge is also worn on the left, and are optional for other ranks. Rank insignia is worn on the collar, with officers and chief petty officers wearing embroidered pin-on insignia and other ranks wearing embroidered miniatures of the rating badge. This uniform is worn with black boots only and can also be worn with the All Weather Coat or Utility Jacket. Coveralls are certified to be fire resistant. When assigned as the Uniform of the Day, a Plan of the Day/Plan of the week will state "Coveralls." Tropical Working Uniforms Tropical working uniforms exist, but are variations on the working khaki and utility uniforms. Knee shorts and black knee socks are worn, along with short sleeved shirts. Aviation Working Greens A working green uniform exists for officers and Chief Petty Officers in the aviation community. It is quite similar to the United States Marine Corps ' "dress green" (a.k.a. green alpha) uniform, with green jacket and trousers, and a khaki shirt, but insignia is black embroidery on sleeves, of stripes and the rating badge, while metal insignia is work on the khaki shirt. Wings are worn on both the jacket and the shirt. Brown shoes are authorized. COATS Enlisted personnel and Petty Officers may wear a Navy Blue Peacoat with a rank insignia on the left sleeve, a Navy Blue Utility Jacket with a rank insignia on the left sleeve, a Navy Blue All Weather Coat with rank insignia worn on the collar, or a Navy Blue Working Uniform Jacket with rank insignia worn on the collar. Officers and Chiefs may wear the "Ike" jacket, with the rank insignia worn on the shoulder epuelets, the reefer, with rank insignia worn on the collar, or the all weather coat, with rank insignia worn on the collar. Pilots, Naval Flight Officers, and Naval Aircrewman are authorized to wear brown leather flight jackets, with rank and warfare insignia listed on a nametag over the left breast pocket. Also, the Navy issues foul weather jackets, which are either olive or Navy blue in color, at various commands. They are not part of a seabag. The Navy also issues cold-weather jackets, which are olive in color and are not part of a seabag. These jackets are considered "Organizational Clothing." SPECIAL UNIFORM SITUATIONS In certain duty stations, Navy personnel are issued woodland or desert utility uniforms. These are similar to the other military services' utility uniforms. United States Marine Corps As the Marines do not have medical personnel and chaplains, the Navy provides them (both the Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps are heads of separate branches – the only connection between the Navy and Marines is that they report to the Secretary Of The Navy ). The officers and enlisted include doctors, dentists, Nurses, Hospital Corpsmen , Chaplains, and Religious Program Specialists. Because of this relationship, these personnel are authorized to wear U.S. Marine Corps "green" uniforms (the Navy Dress Blues and Whites are authorized for formal events), but with Navy insignia replacing the Marine insignia. Their camouflage utilities, currently the MARPAT pattern camouflague, replaces the "U.S. Marines" with "U.S. Navy," and Navy insignia (shiny metal for officers and black metal for enlisted) is worn on the collars. If Navy personnel opt to wear Marine Corps uniforms, they must meet Marine Corps grooming standards, which are much stricter than Navy standards. Other wear of Combat Utilities In addition to Marine Corps detachments, combat utilities are also worn by Navy SEAL teams in combat situations, along with the riverine support crews (the "Brown Water Navy") who transport SEAL platoons to and from combat operation areas. Combat utilities are also authorized for those attached to Navy Construction (Seabee) battalions, although they also currently wear the old-style BDU cammoflague. Also, Navy personnel assigned to some joint headquarters units, like Central Command in Qatar and Iraq wear combat utility uniforms. Naval air personnel Pilots, Naval Flight Officers, and Naval Aircrewman are authorized to wear green flight coveralls, with rank insignia for officers is stiched on the shoulder epaulettes, and a nametag/warfare insignia on the left breast pocket. Either a Command/Navy ballcap or a Khaki Garrison Cap (For Chiefs and Officers) are worn with this uniform. Coveralls are authorized to be worn with either the all weather coat or utility jacket (Petty Officers only.) HISTORY The first uniforms authorized for the Navy were based on those of the British Royal Navy of the late 18th Century, but progressed through time. The Regulations of 1815 are used for the crew of USS Constitution today. They evolved with fashion over time, and continue to change. The current dress uniform has existed since the post World War I period for men, with only minor refinements. Current changes include the reduction of "dry clean only" items, since dry cleaning plants are being removed from ships. Women's uniforms were first introduced for the officers of the Navy Nurse Corps when it was founded, and the first enlisted women's uniforms came in to existence during World War I for the Women's Reserve. They were re-introduced for the WAVES of World War II. Removed in the 1970's was an officers and Chief's dress khaki uniform, as well as abolishing ties for wear on khaki uniforms. REPLACEMENTS In 2005, the U.S. Navy conducted "Task Force Uniform," in which key commands and bases were selected by the Chief of Naval Operations to determine what type of service and utility uniforms were to be adopted by the Navy. In an attempt to reduce the sailor's seabag, the Navy attempted to replace the enlisted blue "Johnny Cash" winter service uniform and the white "summer" service uniform with a year-round uniform similar to those worn by Officers and CPOs. The uniform, based on the U.S. Marine Corp's "Green Bravo" uniform, consisted of black straight-leg trousers (women sailors had the option of wearing the A-line skirt from the Dress Blues), a black garrison ("fore-and-aft") hat, and was tested with either a light gray or khaki short-sleeve shirt with either sew-on ratings on the left sleeve or pin-on ratings placed on the collar. A black "wooly pully" sweater identical to those worn by officers and CPOs would be made available for cold weather wear. "Task Force Uniform" also tested a new utility uniform to replace the dungarees, work blue, work khaki, and coveralls. With several different patterns and pocket arrangements, the test uniforms are identical to the camoflauge BDU or MARPAT uniforms worn by Navy Combat Corpsmen attached to Fleet Marine Force units. Unlike the previous uniforms, the new blue/gray/black pattern uniform allows grease stains to be easily masked by the pattern, along with having a uniform that can last three times as long as the current-issue uniforms. Sewn-on name and "U.S. Navy" tapes, worn with the uniforms, have gold lettering for officers and Chief Petty Officers, while other enlisted personnel have silver lettering, and following the pattern of the MARPAT and Army Combat Uniform (ACU), the background is in the same pattern as the cammoflague instead of a solid backing. Rank insignia, identical to those worn on the collar of the officer/CPO khakis, are worn on the collar by all sailors. Both a MARPAT-style and BDU-style uniform was tested, as it would harmonize with the Marines, Army, and Air Force uniforms already in production, and would keep costs down. Note In March 2006, the Chief of Naval Operations approved both a predominantly blue digital camouflage uniform identical to the current-issued MARPAT and ACU uniforms for all ranks (E-1 to O-11) and a new service uniform with khaki shirt and navy blue trousers for personnel E-1 to E-6. These uniforms will replace the previously mentioned utility, winter service and working blue and summer/tropical white uniforms. Coveralls will still be authorized for especially dirty tasks such as engineering and grinding/painting. The new camouflage uniforms are currently available to all ranks, subject to wear-out of their existing uniforms, with all uniforms expected to be made available to all sailors in the fall of 2007. SEE ALSO
|
|
|