Content Manager posted on November 04, 2011 14:26
The Navy has released the wear rules for its new digital and woodland camouflage Navy working uniforms. Starting now Sailors wearing the legacy woodland combat utilities will switch over to the woodland NWUs, while Sailors wearing the old desert combat utilities will either be issued the new woodlands or, if they meet a set of criteria, the new desert uniform. It means that Sailors who aren't in SEAL or SEAL-support roles and are working inside the wire in the desert countries of 5th Fleet will most likely wear the new woodland uniform. This is one part of the comprehensive new rules behind the $63 million fielding of the desert and woodland pattern versions of the NWU, announced in NAVADMIN 259/11, released Aug. 30. The highlights of the new rules:
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Digital woodland cammies will be issued to 71,000 Sailors working at expeditionary commands. Fielding started in September. They can be worn in the U.S. and abroad, but Sailors must follow the strict wear rules that are already in place for the blue and gray NWUs.
- Digital desert cammies are being issued to 10,000 SEALs and Sailors supporting those in Naval Special Warfare Command. Fielding began in February. These uniforms can be worn only on deployment or in pre-deployment training.
- Commands not authorized in the fleetwide message to wear the desert cammies can petition for a waiver.
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A brown fleece can be worn as a stand-alone outer garment with both new uniforms.
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Staffs located outside the National Capital Region, such as Millington, Tenn., and Pensacola, Fla., where the blue and gray NWUs are not normally worn, are now encouraged to wear them. Sailors inside the NCR are still forbidden from wearing them, but the rules shrank the size of the forbidden zone, so more Sailors in Maryland and Virginia will be able to wear the blue and gray cammies.
By June 1, 2012, the Navy plans to retire both the woodland utilities and the legacy tri-color desert cammies, uniforms that were once worn by all the services; the legacy desert cammies are now worn as hand-me-downs by elements of the Iraqi army.