A basic combat training battery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, is the first in the Army to get the service’s new World War II-style dress uniform, according to an Army news release.
About 200 trainees with the 434th Field Artillery Brigade, a basic training unit at Fort Sill, received the new Army Greens uniform Oct. 14, the release stated. Drill sergeants and recruiters started receiving the new uniforms this summer, as well.
Each trainee is issued one uniform, which includes jacket, pants, dress shirt, brown Oxfords, matching socks, their rank, two T-shirts, ties, gloves and a garrison cap, the release added.
Other basic training locations are expected to start issuing the new uniforms by December, service officials involved in the effort previously said. By next spring, Army Greens should be available at Army and Air Force Exchanges across all posts.
“We’re the first Army training base to get the Army Green Service Uniform, which is pretty neat for obviously these soldiers in training and obviously for the leadership,” said Sgt. Maj. Donald Harding, the 434th’s senior enlisted soldier, in the release.
The new uniform is modeled after the one worn by the World War II generation. It “brings back the tradition and the histories of the U.S. Army,” Harding added.
By March 2021, most soldiers should be able to purchase the new uniforms across AAFES locations. However, the new uniforms won’t become mandatory until October 2027, according to Col. Stephen Thomas, a project manager involved in rolling out the new Army Greens.
The new uniforms will cost soldiers approximately $500.
“In introducing a new product, the price point is going to be a little higher,” Thomas told Army Times in August. “As we transition this program to sustainment, if you will, that price point will go down.”
Enlisted soldiers receive an annual uniform allowance of roughly $460. All of the new uniform items are also made of higher quality material and should last longer, according to the Army.
“As we introduce the Army Green Service Uniform, soldiers will continue to receive that clothing replacement allowance, which is designed to offset the cost of the [new] uniform over time,” Thomas added. “The Army Green Service Uniform is [also] designed to have a longer service life, which is six years, as opposed to the current Army service uniform life, which is four years."
The new uniform’s coat and trousers are made of a 55/45 poly-wool blend. The shirt is made of a 65/35 polyester-cotton blend.
Brown jump boots for paratroopers who are authorized to blouse their boots, and other uniform alterations for specific units, were still being worked through when Army Times spoke with Thomas in August.
Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.
