The 2nd Cavalry Regiment confirmed Monday that it is “looking into” a potential equal opportunity policy violation related to a subordinate unit’s restrictions on off-duty attire for women.
The regiment’s official Facebook page responded to a screenshot of WhatsApp messages posted by U.S. Army WTF Moments, a popular Facebook page covering Army culture and current events.
The messages appeared to show a directive restricting the wear of civilian clothing by soldiers on their days off.
“On days off, uniform is OCP [the Army Combat Uniform] until 1700, unless told otherwise by me,” said the forwarded message. “If anyone is caught in civilians, consequences will occur.”
“Female Soldiers need to know to be mindful of what they’re wearing around squadron on their day off, or after work hours,” the message read. “Yes, they’re off, but everyone else is around and it’s noticably [sic] when they’re wearing distasteful clothing.”
A spokesperson for the Germany-based regiment confirmed the authenticity of the messages when reached by Army Times.
“Senior leaders in the Regiment are fully aware of this posting and have identified the unit the text of concern came from,” 2nd Cavalry Regiment spokesperson Maj. John Ambelang told Army Times. “Due to an ongoing investigation, we cannot disclose further details.”
The regiment’s official Facebook page weighed in in the post’s comments, too.
“These comments do not reflect the Army Values, the leadership philosophy of the 2D Cavalry Regiment, or align to our EO programs,” the 2nd Cavalry Regiment account said below the original post. “We are looking into this post, if anybody has information regarding this, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.”
Ambelang emphasized in his emailed statement that “living the Army Values and treating people with dignity and respect are fundamental to our unit cohesion.”
“We encourage any Soldier who feels like they are not being treated with dignity and respect to reach out through their chain of command, the EO program, the Inspector General, or the Regimental Commander’s open door policy,” said the spokesperson. “The 2d Cavalry Regiment is a People First organization and holds our leaders and Soldiers accountable for disciplined and professional conduct.”
A Europe-based soldier from another command came under investigation in May when he made a Facebook post criticizing the appearance of women who wore regulation ponytails and braids in uniform.
Davis Winkie covers the Army for Military Times. He studied history at Vanderbilt and UNC-Chapel Hill, and served five years in the Army Guard. His investigations earned the Society of Professional Journalists' 2023 Sunshine Award and consecutive Military Reporters and Editors honors, among others. Davis was also a 2022 Livingston Awards finalist.
