A new batch of soldiers at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, became the first graduating class nationwide to wear the Army’s new World War II-style dress uniform, as the service prepares for a wider roll-out in the coming months.
Fort Sill posted pictures Monday showing soldiers from 434th Field Artillery Brigade Class 64-20, Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion 79th Field Artillery Regiment, wearing the new Army Green Service Uniform during their graduation ceremony.
Each trainee at Fort Sill was issued one set of the new dress uniform, which included a jacket, pants, dress shirt, brown Oxfords, matching socks, their rank, two T-shirts, ties, gloves and a garrison cap, post officials said last month.
Other basic training locations are expected to start issuing the new uniforms by December, service officials involved in the effort have said.
Most soldiers should be able to purchase their Army greens across Army and Air Force Exchanges locations by March. The new uniforms, which cost roughly $500, won’t become mandatory until October 2027.
Enlisted soldiers receive an annual uniform allowance of roughly $460. Although that won’t quite cover the cost of a new service uniform, Army officials said the new uniform is made of higher quality material and should last longer.
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Over time, the Army also hopes the price will decrease.
“In introducing a new product, the price point is going to be a little higher,” Col. Stephen Thomas, a project manager involved in rolling out the new Army greens, said this summer. “As we transition this program to sustainment, if you will, that price point will go down.”
Army Green Service Uniform items will have an expected life of six years, compared to the current Army service uniform’s life of four years.
The Army Uniform Board is also meeting Wednesday, for the second time this year, to discuss the Army greens' maternity variation, which is currently expected to resemble the smock-style of uniform that has been issued since the 1980s. The board will discuss whether to modernize the maternity uniform or continue with the current style.
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.
