Bell-bottom trousers, coats of navy blue...

About the only thing that makes me laugh harder than wing-wipers all decked out in camouflage outfits is when squids do it.

I mean, those cammie suits'll make you SO hard to see on that ginormous fucking hunk of steel out in the in a fucking hole in the water, right?

What, blue cotton shirts and dungarees too much not-like-a-video-game for ya, Navy? They worked just fine when grandpap went out to sink the Imperial Japanese Navy.

I think what irks me about this nonsense is what some of the other waitstaff over at MilPub have complained about; that this isn't what services at war do, and, at least in theory the armed services are out fighting in various less-paved portions of the world even if the nation as a whole (outside of Victor Davis Hanson's prion-disease-addled brain) isn't. This also, IMO, isn't what services with a better grasp of their actual mission do; this is an artifact that ISTM that our armed services are infected with something that you see a lot if you look around the United States - that it's "better to look good than be good".

I realize that this is an extreme effect of selective observational bias, but...to me the impact of all this fussing about appearance give the impression that We the People (and We the Armed Forces) care if you are terrific at something only if it gets out there in the news, or into social media.

Oh, and the solution to the USN's cammie-pant problem?

Put all the gobs in GREEN cammie outfits.

FFS, people. You're fucking sailors!

Why not be proud to look like 'em?

The Khalsa shall rule!

"In a decision by the U.S. Army Thursday, Capt. Simratpal Singh, a decorated Sikh-American officer and combat veteran, has received a long-term religious accommodation to serve with long hair, a beard, and turban in accordance with his Sikh faith."

But the turban has to be digital camo, I see.

Interesting, in that given the Sikh tradition of military service and the U.S. Army's need for warm bodies I'd have thought this one would be pretty much a slam dunk a long time ago.

But, then again, peacetime armies tend to be kinda anal about uniform regulations. Frankly, I'd have loved to see AR 670-1 updated to include something like this as Sikh dress blue headgear:

Ain't gonna happen, sadly. My Army just doesn't have the passion for fashion. Sigh.

Anyway, consider this an open thread about the minutiae of military dress.

Worth a thousand words

This pretty much says it all.

Look at this fathead; standing on his beater-ass Dodge p-up on a road in eastern Oregon, all camo'ed up with what looks like his ballistic vest, boots and K-pot like he was going in to clean out Fallujah.

The American in me wants to take a piece of dimension lumber upside his helmet for being a dumbass seditionist supporting armed treason.

The drill sergeant in me wants to lock his friggin' heels.

"Sweetbabyjesussonofabitch what fucking dumpster did you dive in to get that outfit, precious? Did you wanna play Army like the big kids, or were they just our of warm clothes down at the Rescue Mission? And who taught you how to lace those boots, hero, your baby sister? Have you ever SEEN a can of boot-polish, slick, or was your plan always "Rub my boots in the dirt"? Or did you rub them on your ass, since you look as dark and dirty as a fuckin winter day?

Fasten that goddamn chinstrap, you sorry oxygen-thief, and what did you shave with, a cue-tip? Have you EVER shaved, or did your mommy teach you not to play with sharp objects? I've seen less hair on my dog's ass, sweetheart, and unless you feel like finding my boot in yours I suggest you get a goddamn shave, lace and polish those boots, and square that helmet away and all in about ten picoseconds or you are likely to have a fucking close encounter with a fucking cattle prod..."

Honestly. These people.

Good news...bad news?

I was pleased to hear that, after the utterly wretched way that the man was made a byword and a hissing by the LoyalBushies for telling the truth to power about war and occupation, Eric Shinseki has been appointed to the position of Secretary of Veteran's Affairs for the incoming administration.

Shinseki always struck me as a decent, honorable man in a career track (Army general officer) that more often rewards venal, self-seeking careerists. His treatment by then-SecDef Rumsfeld and the then-usual Bush gang of idiots was disgraceful; regardless of what you felt about what the man said, respect his service to the nation, dammit.

That said, he is reported to have been the driving force behind getting all of us tree-suit wearers out of our sensible P-caps and into the reviled Black Bag, a headgear of surpassing silliness.Mind you, I wore my Red Beret with pride: it said a lot to me, about my own hard work, the Airborne units in which I served, and the combat history that parachute and paratroop units have earned since WW2. But the beret as hat? Fuhgeddaboutit! Useless in sun and wind, sopping weight in rain, and liable to freakish fashion extremes from the "Jeff Cap" style of Army cooks to the generic "puffball" of those too inexperienced to shave and shape it, the black beret was and is an abomination before the God of War.

So I have great hopes for our new SVA. But, Eric?

Let's leave the fashion to Stacy and Clinton. Okay?Oh, and a warning order.

I've pretty much expended all remaining rounds, politically and militarily, for the rest of December with the "Commander's Intent" series of posts. I'm focusing now on kids, home and family, both mine and those of friends - in particular I want to shoutout to a dear couple now in China on their first week of parenting; yay, you four! - and I'm thinking that the rest of the month will be devoted to thinking and talking about those things. So for those of you who throw up a little in the back of your mouth at the family glurge, be warned: the next couple or three weeks will be mostly yucky domestic and small-ball stuff.

But check back in January for more political goodness.