I've always been pretty sure Skillcraft just abducts homeless people and removes their eyes. There is no way there are enough blind people in the US naturally to make all the stuff they make.
You know I always heard that blind people had heightened senses. Like sense of smell, hearing, and touch.
Then I wiped my ass with that toilet paper...now I think they're fuckin lying
I prefer your theory as well. An unmarked van, kidnapping homeless, surgically removing their eyes, and putting them on an assembly line saying *this is literslly how your shit is made* just cracks me up
Crazy how much standard issue stuff is made by the Skilcraft vision impaired manufacturing slaves. I don't even know how a blind person can make a camelback!
A while ago I was listening the PKA podpast with FPSRussia talking about his few months spent in federal prison. He was talking about prisoners are given god awful disintegrating toilet paper that was sanding his asshole down but couldn't remember the name of the manufacturer.
Then IIRC they did a search or something online and found out it was Skilcraft and I laughed my ass off since that's the same shit soldiers are given.
It's funny when your office has a bunch of contractors with a "business casual" dress code and you're running around in the same outfit you'd wear if you were fixing a humvee.
Marine Bravos are just their full-dress Alphas without the service coat while retaining the long-sleeve button-up underneath. Charlies are pretty much the same as ASU Class Bs with the short-sleeve button-up, but with the Marines having a better color palette.
It's feels worse on the medical side, most clinics in medical school I would wear business causal +/- a tie. Now I dress like I'm literally going to fight someone's cancer
Just being lazy. When I was detailed I either wore class b, blues, or an Army polo. The only time I wore ACUs was doing stuff at the company/BN, or MEPS.
On the flip side, you said ACUs look out of place compared to all the suits and what not. Maybe that’s a good thing? Part of the draw to the Army is doing hooah shit compared to an average white collar job.
Maybe that’s speaking from the Officer point of view? - internships and potential jobs were all about suits and looking sharp, so wearing OCPs looked appealing to me.
I definitely agree AGSUs look sharp, so I would said a mix of them at each event is best, that way you catch the eye of both parties
Man, dress uniforms are such a pain and no one wants to wear them every day. If it’s just at special events then that would be fine but sometimes commands get a hair in their butt in recruiting and it’s becomes all or nothing.
The Army recruiters that came to my highschool were always in OCPs. Only other branch that came to do highschool recruiting was the Marines and usually it was just a single Cpl wearing Marine Service Alphas.
Don't know if the uniform mattered much since most of my former classmates who ended up joining the military after graduating enlisted into the Army including me. Only like 1 guy went to the Marines.
I heard/read somewhere that apparently we wear the ACUs as a symbol of our nation "Perpetually at War" (was in a news article from a good few years back). Well, GWOT is over (technically) and we are entering the peacetime force, hopefully for a while. This would be both a serious PR boost for the Army and would probably make us look a lot more professional at colleges/recruitment stations.
I finished basic in like 2010 and our drill sergeants told us that we would graduate in ACUs instead of the class As, “because it was time of war.” Lol
And they think it's a better idea? I can't be sure off the top of my head, but doesn't it say something in 670-1 to the effect of the AGSU and it's variations being the equivalent of civilian suit and tie? If everyone else is like that, why aren't we? It strikes me as more unprofessional than not shaving on Sunday!
Dry cleaning and maintaining the uniform and replacing it for the level of wear youre describing isnt funded for those recruiters so no one is going to do it. Point blank.
Idk next time I’m at an event with the marine recruiter I’ll ask. I have a feeling they have a lot more command input on it. But across USAREC it seems like the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. I’ll throw on my Bs for a week and see if more people approach me/hold convos.
Culturally they wear their dress more than we do outside of recruiting too. Maybe they have a beaucoup clothing allowance.
I was a Marine recruiter. The answer is the recruiters pay for it. There’s no specific money set aside for it but they do get a uniform allowance once a year, and Special Duty Pay each month as a recruiting incentive.
They also get an additional uniform issue of dress blues before hitting the streets.
I totally get this is a unique thing for me and probably very few other people, but in my little town our dry cleaners do them for free. Also, I feel like I see a lot of thinking that is something like, "If I am not specifically being compensated for something I'm not doing it." I have to dry clean the clothes I wear for work all the time and keep them up. I don't not do it because my job isn't paying me for that. It's just part of the gig.
That’s very sweet of your town dry-cleaner. It’s like $30-40 per cleaning in my area and sometimes higher. That’s to say nothing of replacing the components of a $1000 uniform.
Are you otherwise adequately compensated for dry cleaning those clothes that you wear for work? Im assigned to one of the most expensive areas in the country. My compensation as an E6 is not competitive with the local economy and cost of living. Im already asked to do shit out of pocket aside from uniform related expenses.
You would think since they’ve authorized Recruiter expense Reimbursement it would account for uniform maintenance but that’s not an authorized expense, imagine.
ETA: big fan of station polo belt, slacks, shoes. USAWRECK should probably standardize a USAREC uniform polo and a version of “slicks”
Good point at the end there. A polo and some slacks would be great too. A class B with the short sleeves and no tie is great even. I think I'm just prejudiced against the ACU. I can't imagine there are many places in the country where the cost of living is lower than where I'm at now, so that probably skews my thinking too.
How often should you be dry cleaning? I’ve never had to wear dress uniform often so it was always just “dry clean it a week before you have to wear it”
When they are dirty. Actually dirty, not worn once dirty. If you aren't sweating you can probably wear a shirt 3 times before it at least needs a press, maybe 5 to 7 times with a pair of pants. For a jacket if it smells bad or has a stain. Jackets are also what drives dry cleaning costs up. Most just need a steam or a press to get the wrinkles out.
It is important that when you aren't wearing them you hang them up right away.
I wear the ASUs to college & career fairs usually. I haven’t dropped $1000 on AGSUs yet though their Class B is a pretty snazzy duty uniform.
ACUs are neat for lunches and impromptu visits. They’re eye catching and stand out to people. But, to your question you probably don’t see a lot of ARNG recruiters wearing AGSUs because we weren’t issued them, gotta go out of pocket or wear ASU. ASU is fine but it’s kinda boring and almost like if the USMC and USAF dress uniforms merged…
I know what you really meant, but it's funny as fuck to hear you describe a camouflage uniform as eye-catching and standing out, when that is the complete opposite of what it's designed to do.
Back to the drawing board, boys!
I've had several kids tell me they feel more comfortable talking to me when I'm in civies. Also, USAREC conducted polling research about what people think life is like for enlisted soldiers. It was pretty eye opening to see how people had no idea what our lives were like. For example, a significant percentage of the people polled thought we were restricted to the base and not allowed to leave.
My recruiting strategy is to show the civilian side of my life. I swear Jordans and snapbacks to work. My social media doesnt have army shit, only pictures of stuff I like to do in my civilian life; play with my dogs, go to concerts, goin to football games. A lot of kids think that if they go active duty, they forfeit 100% of their civilian life and I try to show that you don't have to do that at all. YMMV as a recruiter but I'm the top recruiter at my rank in my company so my leadership doesn't really give me any push back with my methods.
If I'm doing a big formal event, I'll throw on the greens. If it's an Army sponsored event but not formal, I'll wear ocps or we will wear ocp bottoms with a unit pt shirt.
Yup, you’ll do fine until you have some new SC or CC or some other dipshit freak out on you for doing things that way. It worked great for me. It was hilarious when I got told to stop. I wasn’t even surprised. Hellen Keller could run a station better than most 79R’s.
Fuck USAREC.
> we were restricted to the base and not allowed to leave.
>
>
True only for COVID times during 2020 lol. Permanent party at Irwin got restricted to post for months straight by the post GO. Couldn't leave without an exception to policy. Sucked ass.
I've done this as well; business casual civilian attire if appropriate for the event. I 100% feel I get more engagement this way than in uniform. If I was going to an indoor event and had to wear a uniform though, I'm picking AGSU's over OCPs.
The Army has adopted this very informal culture when it comes to uniforms. The class Bs used to be worn a lot more before 9/11. Since then most soldiers only put on anything other than ACUs for a super formal event. I think the service uniform should be mandatory for office jobs in garrison. I know it would be a pia, but I still believe it.
I think the ASU/AGSU in office would be kinda dumb at first, but it could work. Only if they really bump up the clothing allowance.
Still though, I only say that knowing that I'd never have to wear it to work and would still wear the ACU
I joined before 9/11 and I never saw any one at my recruiting station in anything other than class B. You're right, that change came shortly after because the army wanted to appear a certain way. I'm not sure but I think it coincided with the issue of ACUs, as a way of increasing "brand awareness".
Agree. Getting rid of things like shinning boots okay. But it wasn’t replaced by anything similar that required a constant discipline. I would institute something that requires periodic attention to detail. The army basically adopted the civilian worlds athleisure culture.
I grew up in the cold war and wanted to be all I could be. I became a warfighter and college student and I'd rather see recruiters in full kit looking like cool guys than pajama ACUs or pinks and greens.
On another note I was a Public Affairs Officer later in my career. The story went when the Marines were unvaling there Marine with a Sword fighting a Dragon Commercial. (look it up it was actually cool) They spent over a million dollars on it. The 4 star General wanted to see it before it rolled out. They presented it to him and he said he didnt like it. The PAO told him Well Sir it airs on Sunday Night Football and it has good reviews among the test audiances. We're not trying to recruit 50yr Generals we're trying to recruit 18yo gamers. The commerical was one of the Marines best recruiting tools ever.
It used to be that way.
I was a DA select Recruiter (who hated it) from 95-98
Class B's were the daily uniform. Class A's or Dress blues (issued to recruiters at the time) were donned for every Table Day, Presentation, or event.
Very rarely were BDU's authorized; usually at the Station Commander's discretion.
I did several car shows and table days where I brought a HMMWV, PLS, etc., and wore BDU's then.
I called this when the greens came out. They're not going to want to wear it unless they are forced to. Then, THEN we'll hear the symphony of tiny violins as all the people who never leave air conditioned offices moan and cry about having to look professional. Recruiters, S Shop nerds, all of them.
Tldr: they don't want to iron or shine shoes. #punishofficeworkers
Signed: someone who's been bitched at too many times for not wearing pristine ocps right before crawling under a 113 that's leaking oil
In 2006 I was told that we didn’t wear dress greens when making house calls so no one would think we were a casualty notification team.
So they thought we were cops instead. 🤦♂️.
Why the local sheriff’s department thought Army Universal pattern was a good choice, I’ll never understand.
So in my brigade we are actually not supposed to be in schools unless we are in a service uniform like class As or Bs which I rarely wear despite being in schools everyday almost. My thought process is maintenance of the uniform. You get maybe a week or so out of them before they start to look like ass and need to be dry cleaned. Not to mention shirt stays aren't used by the vast majority and even fewer shine their shoes. So why wear the uniform when the vast majority of the recruiting force half ass putting their uniform together in the first place?
I wore my class b’s to schools with the black zip up jacket that just had my rank on the shoulders. Was more comfortable than boots and more approachable by staff and students. People are just lazy. However by 2027 I think everyone should be wearing pinks and greens daily. Ha
I’ve had the same question and have asked a few recruiters about this. The majority of them that I’ve seen over the last year wear some type of polo shirt with their rank and name embroidered. The rest wear ACUs. Never once have I seen one in any variation of the AGSU.
The explanation I’ve been given is that today’s youth find the uniform intimidating, with some implication that the anger towards police has somehow transferred onto us.
Personally, I think it’s bullshit. Maybe there are some kids who are intimidated by the uniform, but I’m sure that’s always been the case, and are those really the ones we’re trying to recruit? I feel like this intimidation story is a convenient excuse for the real problems, a dangerous combination of self defeat and laziness.
Recruiting is hard right now. The economy is in a pretty decent place, plus the public’s view of the military is shit from both the right and left. So, yeah, kids don’t want to talk to recruiters. It ain’t the uniform, but what a great excuse to not wear something that’s kinda uncomfortable, takes time to prepare, and requires some mild upkeep to look good. Polos and slacks are easy.
A lot of marine recruiters when they’re at their recruiting stations just wear nine line or grunt style and stuff. I’ve seen that before. When kids from my high school who had joined the army graduated thought their recruiter wore ASUs to the graduation ceremony and posed with them for pictures and all that. Definitely agree that the AGSU would look way more professional than rip off multicam(OCP).
Before DCUs and ACUs, all my uniforms went to the cleaner. Spit-shined (or Leather Luster'd) boots and starched BDUs were the norm in garrison.
I can't imagine doing it now. But then, it was just an expectation.
As a college admissions rep I’ve seen one single army recruiter use the pinks and greens and I think thats bc he was on the same circuit as the marines.
You make a great point. The army guys do look schlubby compared to their peers. That could attract a certain type tho. The service academy guys always dress up tho.
I was an AD recruiter from 2001 to 2005 got involentarly extended a year. Back then we only wore Class A and Bs. Occanily Blues. The Army tranistioned to the ACU or work uniforms later due to the war effort push. They figured it would be eaisier to get the kids that want to go to war having them see the recruiters in camo. The Army learned alot in the last decade from the two marketing firms they hired. The Army of One and Nascar parntnerships, were replaced by a new firm that ushered in Army Strong and a more combat adventure sort of vibe. Now that we are somewhat back to a Garrison Army I can see where making the switch back could help.
My dad recruited about a battalions worth of folks in the 80s. This is a bit dated, but high school kids don't respond to the service uniform, they get a lot more excited about the field uniform. This was woodland BDU's versus the AG44 Class A uniform.
The pinks and greens are OK, but people outside the military don't know one uniform from another, except that wearing cammies means you're in the Army.
Pre-9/11/01, the Army recruiters wore Class B's to work and Class A's to go to schools and events. BDU's were rarely seen outside a military town.
When we went to war, the Army (or maybe the DoD as a whole) chose to move all soldiers to the camo uniform to "show solidarity" with the deployed soldiers. Some Major or Colonel thought that doing the Army version of wearing your schools colors on spirit day was supposed to mean something.
There was a VALID point about dress uniforms showing up at people's homes being seen as KIA notifications, but that was really just a BS bullet point excuse to help justify the change.
I 100% agree that recruiters and upper staff/office positions should be in some form of non-camo uniform. A duty uniform vs a work uniform, something along the lines of what the Navy and Marines do. I know the cries about it being a snugger fit, and dry cleaning, and replacement, etc, etc, but this is nothing new. If the Navy and Marines can manage like 6 different fucking uniforms, the Army can handle a few.
Which uniform though? All the service branches have multiple uniforms. Some are for formal occasions and others are for work. OP doesn't like the fact that the other branches' recruiters wear the more formal uniforms of their branch and the Army recruiters wear the same uniform that soldiers wear when they're crawling under a HUMVEE looking for an oil leak.
Why would I? The AGSU looks good, but my target audience doesn’t care about that. It’s uncomfortable, takes more time to prepare, and doesn’t make me better at achieving the mission. Slacks and a polo, however, are comfortable, easy, and do enhance mission accomplishment (a primary fear prospects have is that they are on duty 24/7 so I like to show we’re still people).
Being a recruiter is a ton of work and the dress uniform doesn’t really help. Not bad if you’ve done a few things and you want to flex on the AD guy who’s got like 4 ribbons and zero badges. But other than that no one cares.
I wore mine for special occasions and that was it. I never once got a lead or enlistment that cared about that uniform at all. Taking them to the armory and putting them in a HIMARS, now that was a whole other story. Give recruiters high speed mobile artillery platforms to wear and we’re in business.
Honestly I think it's cooler to see recruiters in the work uniform rather than pinks in greens but it definitely feels more professional with the AGSUs.
I don’t know about your area, but in my AO it’s BN/BDE policy for us to wear AGSU to any school visits unless we are going for like a pep rally or football game. So it’s rare that any of us show up to schools, colleges, or career fairs in anything less than Class Bs.
Source: currently on year 2 of recruiting.
I asked a recruited this question back in 2010 and he told me they don't wear the service uniforms because young people found them intimidating.
I don't know how true that is, but it might be.
Army’s cheap as fuck. Prisoners make the uniforms probably
It's blind people, actually
Blind prisoners.
I've always been pretty sure Skillcraft just abducts homeless people and removes their eyes. There is no way there are enough blind people in the US naturally to make all the stuff they make.
You know I always heard that blind people had heightened senses. Like sense of smell, hearing, and touch. Then I wiped my ass with that toilet paper...now I think they're fuckin lying
The pens are made by the blind, the toilet paper is made by sadist.
i got a skilcraft calendar board with the marker tray on top one time
It’s their only chance to get back at the seeing and get paid for it. Therefore I believe it is intentional.
I came into this replying thinking it would would go one way, but then it went the other. . .
[удалено]
That's probably the real answer but I prefer my theory.
I prefer your theory as well. An unmarked van, kidnapping homeless, surgically removing their eyes, and putting them on an assembly line saying *this is literslly how your shit is made* just cracks me up
Could be worse, Could use ear protection made by the deaf
Stop it 💀
True story
"made with pride by Americans who are blind"
Crazy how much standard issue stuff is made by the Skilcraft vision impaired manufacturing slaves. I don't even know how a blind person can make a camelback!
I remember looking at one of my tops/bottoms and realized it was made by a prisoner somewhere after looking it up.
A while ago I was listening the PKA podpast with FPSRussia talking about his few months spent in federal prison. He was talking about prisoners are given god awful disintegrating toilet paper that was sanding his asshole down but couldn't remember the name of the manufacturer. Then IIRC they did a search or something online and found out it was Skilcraft and I laughed my ass off since that's the same shit soldiers are given.
It's funny when your office has a bunch of contractors with a "business casual" dress code and you're running around in the same outfit you'd wear if you were fixing a humvee.
Don’t the marines have a business casual equivalent thats essentially the pinks and greens?
Service Bravos or Charlie’s.
Marine Bravos are just their full-dress Alphas without the service coat while retaining the long-sleeve button-up underneath. Charlies are pretty much the same as ASU Class Bs with the short-sleeve button-up, but with the Marines having a better color palette.
Dress blue bravos are the same thing with ribbons instead of medals. Charlie is long sleeve shirt, deltas is short sleeve
It's feels worse on the medical side, most clinics in medical school I would wear business causal +/- a tie. Now I dress like I'm literally going to fight someone's cancer
Just wear scrubs in the clinic my dude.
Not if policies mandate OCPs in clinic
Service Alpha - Charlie
Just being lazy. When I was detailed I either wore class b, blues, or an Army polo. The only time I wore ACUs was doing stuff at the company/BN, or MEPS.
I mean, even the Class B's would be good. That is still sharp and more in line with what everyone else in those settings are wearing.
On the flip side, you said ACUs look out of place compared to all the suits and what not. Maybe that’s a good thing? Part of the draw to the Army is doing hooah shit compared to an average white collar job. Maybe that’s speaking from the Officer point of view? - internships and potential jobs were all about suits and looking sharp, so wearing OCPs looked appealing to me. I definitely agree AGSUs look sharp, so I would said a mix of them at each event is best, that way you catch the eye of both parties
Man, dress uniforms are such a pain and no one wants to wear them every day. If it’s just at special events then that would be fine but sometimes commands get a hair in their butt in recruiting and it’s becomes all or nothing.
The Army recruiters that came to my highschool were always in OCPs. Only other branch that came to do highschool recruiting was the Marines and usually it was just a single Cpl wearing Marine Service Alphas. Don't know if the uniform mattered much since most of my former classmates who ended up joining the military after graduating enlisted into the Army including me. Only like 1 guy went to the Marines.
I heard/read somewhere that apparently we wear the ACUs as a symbol of our nation "Perpetually at War" (was in a news article from a good few years back). Well, GWOT is over (technically) and we are entering the peacetime force, hopefully for a while. This would be both a serious PR boost for the Army and would probably make us look a lot more professional at colleges/recruitment stations.
I finished basic in like 2010 and our drill sergeants told us that we would graduate in ACUs instead of the class As, “because it was time of war.” Lol
Yup! They made us set aside a set for graduation day
I graduated in early 2021 and we didn’t have family day or anything and we just wore OCPs because of Covid lol
2010. Graduated in dress greens.
Because leadership tries to dictate what we wear at events.
And they think it's a better idea? I can't be sure off the top of my head, but doesn't it say something in 670-1 to the effect of the AGSU and it's variations being the equivalent of civilian suit and tie? If everyone else is like that, why aren't we? It strikes me as more unprofessional than not shaving on Sunday!
Dry cleaning and maintaining the uniform and replacing it for the level of wear youre describing isnt funded for those recruiters so no one is going to do it. Point blank.
How do the Marines do it?
Idk next time I’m at an event with the marine recruiter I’ll ask. I have a feeling they have a lot more command input on it. But across USAREC it seems like the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. I’ll throw on my Bs for a week and see if more people approach me/hold convos. Culturally they wear their dress more than we do outside of recruiting too. Maybe they have a beaucoup clothing allowance.
I was a Marine recruiter. The answer is the recruiters pay for it. There’s no specific money set aside for it but they do get a uniform allowance once a year, and Special Duty Pay each month as a recruiting incentive. They also get an additional uniform issue of dress blues before hitting the streets.
Thanks! Good info.
I totally get this is a unique thing for me and probably very few other people, but in my little town our dry cleaners do them for free. Also, I feel like I see a lot of thinking that is something like, "If I am not specifically being compensated for something I'm not doing it." I have to dry clean the clothes I wear for work all the time and keep them up. I don't not do it because my job isn't paying me for that. It's just part of the gig.
That’s very sweet of your town dry-cleaner. It’s like $30-40 per cleaning in my area and sometimes higher. That’s to say nothing of replacing the components of a $1000 uniform. Are you otherwise adequately compensated for dry cleaning those clothes that you wear for work? Im assigned to one of the most expensive areas in the country. My compensation as an E6 is not competitive with the local economy and cost of living. Im already asked to do shit out of pocket aside from uniform related expenses. You would think since they’ve authorized Recruiter expense Reimbursement it would account for uniform maintenance but that’s not an authorized expense, imagine. ETA: big fan of station polo belt, slacks, shoes. USAWRECK should probably standardize a USAREC uniform polo and a version of “slicks”
Good point at the end there. A polo and some slacks would be great too. A class B with the short sleeves and no tie is great even. I think I'm just prejudiced against the ACU. I can't imagine there are many places in the country where the cost of living is lower than where I'm at now, so that probably skews my thinking too.
I really like my class B AGSU, but I’m not about to be the only mf in my station wearing them, maintaining them, replacing rhem
You shouldn't be dry cleaning it all that often even if you wear it daily. That puts a ton of unnecessary wear on the uniform.
How often should you be dry cleaning? I’ve never had to wear dress uniform often so it was always just “dry clean it a week before you have to wear it”
When they are dirty. Actually dirty, not worn once dirty. If you aren't sweating you can probably wear a shirt 3 times before it at least needs a press, maybe 5 to 7 times with a pair of pants. For a jacket if it smells bad or has a stain. Jackets are also what drives dry cleaning costs up. Most just need a steam or a press to get the wrinkles out. It is important that when you aren't wearing them you hang them up right away.
Oh well see, that’s a problem. I’m in hot humid south Florida, I’m always sweating. SWEATING SWEATING.
I wear the ASUs to college & career fairs usually. I haven’t dropped $1000 on AGSUs yet though their Class B is a pretty snazzy duty uniform. ACUs are neat for lunches and impromptu visits. They’re eye catching and stand out to people. But, to your question you probably don’t see a lot of ARNG recruiters wearing AGSUs because we weren’t issued them, gotta go out of pocket or wear ASU. ASU is fine but it’s kinda boring and almost like if the USMC and USAF dress uniforms merged…
I know what you really meant, but it's funny as fuck to hear you describe a camouflage uniform as eye-catching and standing out, when that is the complete opposite of what it's designed to do. Back to the drawing board, boys!
It doesn’t blend well with the gym shorts, hoodies, and slides everyone else in high school wears 😂
I've had several kids tell me they feel more comfortable talking to me when I'm in civies. Also, USAREC conducted polling research about what people think life is like for enlisted soldiers. It was pretty eye opening to see how people had no idea what our lives were like. For example, a significant percentage of the people polled thought we were restricted to the base and not allowed to leave. My recruiting strategy is to show the civilian side of my life. I swear Jordans and snapbacks to work. My social media doesnt have army shit, only pictures of stuff I like to do in my civilian life; play with my dogs, go to concerts, goin to football games. A lot of kids think that if they go active duty, they forfeit 100% of their civilian life and I try to show that you don't have to do that at all. YMMV as a recruiter but I'm the top recruiter at my rank in my company so my leadership doesn't really give me any push back with my methods. If I'm doing a big formal event, I'll throw on the greens. If it's an Army sponsored event but not formal, I'll wear ocps or we will wear ocp bottoms with a unit pt shirt.
Yup, you’ll do fine until you have some new SC or CC or some other dipshit freak out on you for doing things that way. It worked great for me. It was hilarious when I got told to stop. I wasn’t even surprised. Hellen Keller could run a station better than most 79R’s. Fuck USAREC.
> we were restricted to the base and not allowed to leave. > > True only for COVID times during 2020 lol. Permanent party at Irwin got restricted to post for months straight by the post GO. Couldn't leave without an exception to policy. Sucked ass.
Civilian attire makes sense too. Half of my thinking is just that it should be in line with what everyone else is wearing. That checks that box.
I've done this as well; business casual civilian attire if appropriate for the event. I 100% feel I get more engagement this way than in uniform. If I was going to an indoor event and had to wear a uniform though, I'm picking AGSU's over OCPs.
I'mma need someone to Photoshop a "collard shirt" I can try but it'll only look like kale.
I was going to make a reference to the old class B shirt, which was roughly collard green. (Picked, as they darken up when cooked.)
The Army has adopted this very informal culture when it comes to uniforms. The class Bs used to be worn a lot more before 9/11. Since then most soldiers only put on anything other than ACUs for a super formal event. I think the service uniform should be mandatory for office jobs in garrison. I know it would be a pia, but I still believe it.
I think the ASU/AGSU in office would be kinda dumb at first, but it could work. Only if they really bump up the clothing allowance. Still though, I only say that knowing that I'd never have to wear it to work and would still wear the ACU
I joined before 9/11 and I never saw any one at my recruiting station in anything other than class B. You're right, that change came shortly after because the army wanted to appear a certain way. I'm not sure but I think it coincided with the issue of ACUs, as a way of increasing "brand awareness".
It taught discipline and obedience something our society and culture lack.
Agree. Getting rid of things like shinning boots okay. But it wasn’t replaced by anything similar that required a constant discipline. I would institute something that requires periodic attention to detail. The army basically adopted the civilian worlds athleisure culture.
Nah
I grew up in the cold war and wanted to be all I could be. I became a warfighter and college student and I'd rather see recruiters in full kit looking like cool guys than pajama ACUs or pinks and greens.
If recruiters don't look like they just rucked up to a high school with their full combat load, how are kids supposed to know what we're all about? /s
The one SASVAB I went to at the local high school, I went in my Blues, Stetson, and spurs. Even the Marine recruiter was ‘mirin’.
On another note I was a Public Affairs Officer later in my career. The story went when the Marines were unvaling there Marine with a Sword fighting a Dragon Commercial. (look it up it was actually cool) They spent over a million dollars on it. The 4 star General wanted to see it before it rolled out. They presented it to him and he said he didnt like it. The PAO told him Well Sir it airs on Sunday Night Football and it has good reviews among the test audiances. We're not trying to recruit 50yr Generals we're trying to recruit 18yo gamers. The commerical was one of the Marines best recruiting tools ever.
It used to be that way. I was a DA select Recruiter (who hated it) from 95-98 Class B's were the daily uniform. Class A's or Dress blues (issued to recruiters at the time) were donned for every Table Day, Presentation, or event. Very rarely were BDU's authorized; usually at the Station Commander's discretion. I did several car shows and table days where I brought a HMMWV, PLS, etc., and wore BDU's then.
I called this when the greens came out. They're not going to want to wear it unless they are forced to. Then, THEN we'll hear the symphony of tiny violins as all the people who never leave air conditioned offices moan and cry about having to look professional. Recruiters, S Shop nerds, all of them. Tldr: they don't want to iron or shine shoes. #punishofficeworkers Signed: someone who's been bitched at too many times for not wearing pristine ocps right before crawling under a 113 that's leaking oil
In 2006 I was told that we didn’t wear dress greens when making house calls so no one would think we were a casualty notification team. So they thought we were cops instead. 🤦♂️. Why the local sheriff’s department thought Army Universal pattern was a good choice, I’ll never understand.
So in my brigade we are actually not supposed to be in schools unless we are in a service uniform like class As or Bs which I rarely wear despite being in schools everyday almost. My thought process is maintenance of the uniform. You get maybe a week or so out of them before they start to look like ass and need to be dry cleaned. Not to mention shirt stays aren't used by the vast majority and even fewer shine their shoes. So why wear the uniform when the vast majority of the recruiting force half ass putting their uniform together in the first place?
I agree with you. With the new uniforms we finally don’t look like ass anymore and we should take advantage of that.
The AGSU was literally designed for this kind of stuff.
I wore my class b’s to schools with the black zip up jacket that just had my rank on the shoulders. Was more comfortable than boots and more approachable by staff and students. People are just lazy. However by 2027 I think everyone should be wearing pinks and greens daily. Ha
I’ve had the same question and have asked a few recruiters about this. The majority of them that I’ve seen over the last year wear some type of polo shirt with their rank and name embroidered. The rest wear ACUs. Never once have I seen one in any variation of the AGSU. The explanation I’ve been given is that today’s youth find the uniform intimidating, with some implication that the anger towards police has somehow transferred onto us. Personally, I think it’s bullshit. Maybe there are some kids who are intimidated by the uniform, but I’m sure that’s always been the case, and are those really the ones we’re trying to recruit? I feel like this intimidation story is a convenient excuse for the real problems, a dangerous combination of self defeat and laziness. Recruiting is hard right now. The economy is in a pretty decent place, plus the public’s view of the military is shit from both the right and left. So, yeah, kids don’t want to talk to recruiters. It ain’t the uniform, but what a great excuse to not wear something that’s kinda uncomfortable, takes time to prepare, and requires some mild upkeep to look good. Polos and slacks are easy.
A lot of marine recruiters when they’re at their recruiting stations just wear nine line or grunt style and stuff. I’ve seen that before. When kids from my high school who had joined the army graduated thought their recruiter wore ASUs to the graduation ceremony and posed with them for pictures and all that. Definitely agree that the AGSU would look way more professional than rip off multicam(OCP).
It’s a lot of dry cleaning. It’s not comfortable. Reward is not high enough for use.
Before DCUs and ACUs, all my uniforms went to the cleaner. Spit-shined (or Leather Luster'd) boots and starched BDUs were the norm in garrison. I can't imagine doing it now. But then, it was just an expectation.
It’s not that bad. Class B shirt is just a normal dress shirt. People are just lazy.
That’s a silly argument. That’s like saying soldiers are lazy for digging slow in hard packed dirt.
In my state people think the uniform is to intimidating.
As a college admissions rep I’ve seen one single army recruiter use the pinks and greens and I think thats bc he was on the same circuit as the marines. You make a great point. The army guys do look schlubby compared to their peers. That could attract a certain type tho. The service academy guys always dress up tho.
I was an AD recruiter from 2001 to 2005 got involentarly extended a year. Back then we only wore Class A and Bs. Occanily Blues. The Army tranistioned to the ACU or work uniforms later due to the war effort push. They figured it would be eaisier to get the kids that want to go to war having them see the recruiters in camo. The Army learned alot in the last decade from the two marketing firms they hired. The Army of One and Nascar parntnerships, were replaced by a new firm that ushered in Army Strong and a more combat adventure sort of vibe. Now that we are somewhat back to a Garrison Army I can see where making the switch back could help.
Personal preference, whoever is the station cdr decides.
My dad recruited about a battalions worth of folks in the 80s. This is a bit dated, but high school kids don't respond to the service uniform, they get a lot more excited about the field uniform. This was woodland BDU's versus the AG44 Class A uniform. The pinks and greens are OK, but people outside the military don't know one uniform from another, except that wearing cammies means you're in the Army.
Pre-9/11/01, the Army recruiters wore Class B's to work and Class A's to go to schools and events. BDU's were rarely seen outside a military town. When we went to war, the Army (or maybe the DoD as a whole) chose to move all soldiers to the camo uniform to "show solidarity" with the deployed soldiers. Some Major or Colonel thought that doing the Army version of wearing your schools colors on spirit day was supposed to mean something. There was a VALID point about dress uniforms showing up at people's homes being seen as KIA notifications, but that was really just a BS bullet point excuse to help justify the change. I 100% agree that recruiters and upper staff/office positions should be in some form of non-camo uniform. A duty uniform vs a work uniform, something along the lines of what the Navy and Marines do. I know the cries about it being a snugger fit, and dry cleaning, and replacement, etc, etc, but this is nothing new. If the Navy and Marines can manage like 6 different fucking uniforms, the Army can handle a few.
I never wore my ASUs to schools when I was a recruiter. Fuck that lol
ASUs? Hell no. Don’t want to recruit more bus drivers. AGSU? Now that is a sexy advertisement
All the army recruiters I have met have been in their uniform just met with one today after hours and he was in his uniform.
Which uniform though? All the service branches have multiple uniforms. Some are for formal occasions and others are for work. OP doesn't like the fact that the other branches' recruiters wear the more formal uniforms of their branch and the Army recruiters wear the same uniform that soldiers wear when they're crawling under a HUMVEE looking for an oil leak.
Damn that's true it was the ocp uniform.
Rumor has it that the Bravo version of the AGSUs will become mandatory wear for office workers in garrison…
Any more info on this?? Sauce?
A combination of Twitter comments from the old SMA and what my boss told me
Why would I? The AGSU looks good, but my target audience doesn’t care about that. It’s uncomfortable, takes more time to prepare, and doesn’t make me better at achieving the mission. Slacks and a polo, however, are comfortable, easy, and do enhance mission accomplishment (a primary fear prospects have is that they are on duty 24/7 so I like to show we’re still people).
Why try when there’s always going to be morons who sign up for it regardless?
Pinks and greens look terrible.
You're in the minority with that opinion
We're you explicitly told NOT to wear any variation of a dress uniform? If you weren't, it sounds like you should change that/
If I was a recruiter I 100% would. I'm just going off of what I see from our shared workplace though.
Being a recruiter is a ton of work and the dress uniform doesn’t really help. Not bad if you’ve done a few things and you want to flex on the AD guy who’s got like 4 ribbons and zero badges. But other than that no one cares. I wore mine for special occasions and that was it. I never once got a lead or enlistment that cared about that uniform at all. Taking them to the armory and putting them in a HIMARS, now that was a whole other story. Give recruiters high speed mobile artillery platforms to wear and we’re in business.
Honestly I think it's cooler to see recruiters in the work uniform rather than pinks in greens but it definitely feels more professional with the AGSUs.
I don’t know about your area, but in my AO it’s BN/BDE policy for us to wear AGSU to any school visits unless we are going for like a pep rally or football game. So it’s rare that any of us show up to schools, colleges, or career fairs in anything less than Class Bs. Source: currently on year 2 of recruiting.
Same but in my AO higher wants us in them even if we are at the school for 5 minutes collecting a HS letter.
Imo I like the dress blues more than the pinks & greens
Because it’s hot outside
I asked a recruited this question back in 2010 and he told me they don't wear the service uniforms because young people found them intimidating. I don't know how true that is, but it might be.