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Organization:Alexa Crawls

Starting in 1996,Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to theWayback Machine after an embargo period.

Collection:38_crawl

this data is currently not publicly accessible.

TIMESTAMPS

The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20070202154555/http://www.af.mil:80/news/airman/1296/duds.htm

by Tech. Sgt. Pat McKenna

Today, some Americans can distinguish an airman from a soldier, but backin 1948 telling the two apart was a whole lot harder. That's because airmenand soldiers dressed almost identically for several years after Sept. 18,1947 -- the date the Air Force became a separate service.

It wasn't until January 1949 when the Air Force adopted its shade 84 blueuniforms; however, most airmen didn't have a set of "blues" hanging in theirwall lockers until late 1950. In the interim, officers wore the Army's "pinksand greens" and airmen wore ODs (olive drab).

The Army began planning how it would clothe the independent Air Force in1946 by conducting clothing studies, convening uniform boards, and makingprototype outfits. The Army entertained several color proposals for the newuniform including dark gray, chocolate brown, medium green and sapphireblue.

One challenge facing the Air Board: designing a uniform that would appealto the younger generation while appeasing the old-fashioned sensibilitiesof the service's leaders. John P. Langellier and Robert L. Sanders wrotein the fall 1987 Aerospace Historian that some feared "the Air Force uniformwould be too somber instead of colorful with eye appeal. Lt. Gen. Hoyt Vandenbergwent on to note that Secretary of the Air Force [W. Stuart] Symington evenexclaimed at one time, 'For God's sake let's not have ODs because it meansolive drab. And it means drab. That's the thing we ought to stay awayfrom.'

"Another general further underscored the desire to establish a positive imagecontending, 'young soldiers want some class, want something with pep in it;old clowns like us maybe want something subdued, but the vast majority ofenlisted men and young officers want some color to these things.'"

Secretary Symington and Gen. Carl Spaatz, Air Force chief of staff, gathereda panel of fashion designers in September 1947 to tackle the problem of designinga uniform that would please both camps. What they agreed upon was a colorknown as Uxbridge 1683, later referred to as Air Force shade 84 blue, andsilver buttons emblazoned with the Air Force seal instead of the gold colorworn by members of other branches.

General Spaatz favored a braided rank insignia on the sleeve for officers,much in the same fashion of the U.S. Navy and Royal Air Force, and silverwing chevrons on the upper sleeve for enlisted troops. The Air Board, however,recommended keeping the Army rank insignia as a stopgap to expedite productionof the new uniform.

Historians credit Gen. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold as one of the original architectsof Air Force insignia and badges. He sketched out designs for the first militaryaviator badge or "wings" when he was a major in 1917, and he also championeddistinct garb for fliers.

Many of the unique badges and special clothes previously worn by aviatorsin the Air Corps and Army Air Forces were removed from the new Air Forceuniform, because the Air Board advocated an uncluttered, plain blue suit.Even the propeller, a longtime symbol of military aviation, was jettisoned.Maj. Gen. Hugh Knerr, then Air Board secretary general, said, "You don'twant any propellers in a jet age."

The "Air Force Public Relations Letter" (Feb. 11, 1949) urged commandersto explain to their troops and the public "that the uniform is NOT gaudy'glamour' type ... BUT is plain, distinctive, practical garb which symbolizesAir Force personnel -- men and women who are technically trained specialists,average citizens, members of a highly proud service organization. Uniformswill be identical for officers and airmen, with exception of insignia."

The material used for the jacket and slacks of the Air Force blue uniformwas a wool serge. Between then and now, uniform fabrics have also includedcotton, 100-percent polyester and the current polyester-wool blend.

From 1955 to 1977, retired Master Sgt. Dave Menard wore almost every combinationof the Air Force uniform except for bush jacket and matching shorts.

"It was despised ... it was hideous. Nobody working on the flightline would'vebeen caught dead wearing them," said Menard, a 32-year veteran machinistfrom Chicago. "It didn't say 'Air Force' to me. You had this khaki bush jacketwith big ammo-pouch pockets, khaki shorts, a big belt, black knee socks,and to top it off, you wore a pith helmet. You looked like a big-game hunterin that outfit."

Menard was no fan of khakis either. The original tan khakis, called 505s,were composed of 100-percent cotton trousers and shirt.

"You'd starch the hell out of them until they had razor-sharp creases, butafter a couple of hours of wear, they'd look like you'd been on a three-daydrunk," said Menard, 60. "As soon as you could afford it, you got rid ofthe issue khakis and bought what were called 'officer material' 505s, whichheld a crease longer."

The Air Force later replaced the 505s with "1505" khakis, which requiredless starch and elbow grease to maintain. The service eventually mothballed1505s and also removed from its closet herringbone twill coveralls, whichwere worn by maintainers, mechanics and other airmen who got their handsdirty for a living. Menard said during basic training the quartermaster issuedhim two sets of "HBTs," as they were called.

"No matter what size they were, HBTs never fit right. The crotch of thosethings were always hanging down around your knees. They were green and fadedpretty quickly. You could line a bunch of guys up on the flightline and notwo pair of HBTs would be the same color," said Menard, now a historicalresearcher for the U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,Ohio.

The item Menard missed the most after it was scrapped from the Air Forcewardrobe was the battle, or "Ike," jacket. "It broke my heart when they tookit away," he said. "If you had to travel, and you had to wear wool, thatwas the way to do it. It was cut short so you weren't sitting on it and wrinklingit. It was a lot better than the service jacket, which, when combined withthe wheel cap, made us look like bus drivers."

Menard said that during the early years of his career, airmen were requiredto wear ties when off base. Many GIs would tuck their ties in between thesecond and third buttons of their shirts, because tie clasps and tie tacksweren't authorized at the time. This fashion custom is said to have begunwith soldiers wanting to avoid getting their neckwear snagged in the breechesof firing howitzers and rifles. The style, however, was considered dapperby the public and became the vogue, possibly because people like SpencerTracy and Gregory Peck modeled it in Hollywood war movies.

Menard said civilian fashion trends oftentimes influenced military dressand grooming. "Hem lines changed with the times," said Menard. "But the WAFs[Women in the Air Force] never went for the mini-skirt craze. You'd onlysee skirt hem lines change a few inches either way, at the most. But therewere always a few people trying to get away with bending the rules."

Like bobbing skirt lengths, hairstyles have also come and gone ... and returnedagain. The 1950s flattop made a brief comeback a couple of years ago andthen faded. From the mid-1960s until the mid to late 70s, long locks werethe trend, and the Air Force even relaxed its grooming standards during thisperiod to allow airmen to sport slightly shaggier hair.

Airman 1st Class Don Allred wrote in the February 1971 "Airman" about theservice's revised reg and the elaborate techniques some airmen used to disguisetheir derelict "do." With tongue in cheek, he wrote, "[The regulation] providesa middle ground between military decor and the hairy civilian trend thathas everyone from janitors to corporation presidents wearing infinitely longsideburns and hair, endless thatches that flow over the ears and down theneck, to points unknown. . . . Before the reg, people who stuck rigidly toAir Force policy had so much skin showing they had to give the head an "X"rating. Fortunately, the policy wasn't too strictly enforced, so most airmenpracticed what was politely called 'hair-styling duplicity.'

"The duplicity arose from an effort to look decent on duty and still be coolwith the local chicks. From this came the phenomenon known as hair hiding,accomplished in many ways. Foremost was the Grease-Ball look. You took twojars of paste wax, one bottle of glue, two sticks of paraffin and three packsof chewing gum, mixed 'em in a pan and brought 'em to a boil over a low flame.The mixture was then allowed to cool.

"In about 30 minutes, the concoction condensed to a mucky consistency, whichwas then troweled onto the hair. This hairstyle proved very effective ifyou worked outside in the wind. Your hair simply would not move, man."

The practice of grooming duplicity is still witnessed today by a minorityof male airmen attempting to hide developing pierced ears. To prevent theirpunctures from plugging, these fashion slaves must leave studs in their earlobesuntil their skin heals. Since the Air Force bans men from wearing earringswhile in uniform, these airmen must disguise the illicit adornments -- usuallyby covering them with a Band-Aid -- during a month of cosmeticconvalescence.

And with the new rage in body piercing, we may see Band-Aids covering moreand more exterior parts (pierced tounges, lips) of airmen.

Recent trends in Air Force grooming and dress concern Menard. He especiallydetests society's embracing of political correctness and its fallout on themilitary. On a glass partition in his cubicle is a bogus cloth badge thatsays "Politically Correct Squadron Patch," which is illustrated with a plainblack-and-white bar code.

"What I've heard is that many squadrons aren't allowed to have patches thatshow demons, skulls or anything that implies death. Some of these squadronshave worn these patches through three wars, and now they're having to changethem because someone's afraid others will be offended," said Menard. "Theworst story of political correctness I've heard is about a squadron symbolizedby a buccaneer wearing an eye patch. It was suggested the squadron removethe pirate's eye patch, because it might upset people who are 'visuallyimpaired.' Give me a break!"

The 1993 uniform change -- the biggest modification to the Air Force wardrobein its nearly 50-year history -- also disappointed the historical researcher."The blue is too dark on the pants and jacket. It looks almost black. Sofrom a distance, I can't tell whether I'm looking at a sailor or an airman.I'm glad they decided to get rid of the sleeve braid."

Menard does have one suggestion if and when the Air Force plans to alterthe uniform of the future.

"Please, no Spandex," Menard said. "If the guys I used to work with woreSpandex, we would've never got any work done ... we'd be too busy laughingat each other."

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