More comfortable uniforms needed for great power competition

What, yall thought I was done?

https://vision.il4.afwerx.dso.mil/initiatives/3876

Synopsis

Uniforms need to be more comfortable, and the material exists. People are getting out of the service because the uniforms are abrasive and hard to find. The blues pants, for instance, haven't been in stock above a size 26" in months. If we really care about retaining the best talent, we should prove it with comfort.

Problem

In a post-COVID world, clothing supplies continue to run low. The blues pants are nearly impossible to find except in the extreme skinny and plus-sized sizes. The "froggies" on the back of our ribbons constantly pop off and create headaches. We make service members blouse the bottoms of their pants despite not fighting in a proper jungle in decades. Our belts are painful, shirts are less than comfortable, and socks can be infuriating. Boots are a huge pain. The uncomfortable ones need to be forcibly ejected. If there's anything a force needs, it's quality boots.

Solution

Service dress / Blues:

Pants: They need to be more comfortable and more available. The current material is very hot and tight-fitting. The uniform requirements mandate a specialized design that isn't practical, especially if under wartime conditions. We allow nice comfortable Brooks Brothers shirts, but so far no good pants.

Accoutrements: Enough with the pop-on, pop-off blues pins, ribbons, and froggies. We use Velcro for basically everything else anyway. We should use soft ribbons and name tags on Velcro, like ordinary fatigues and flight uniforms have. These would be ready for action, instead of constantly worrying about if it's falling apart.

Belts: They're uncomfortable. We need more comfortable belts and a suspenders option for both blues and fatigues.

Camies / fatigues:

Pant bottoms: Whether tucking the whole pant leg inside boots or old-school blousing the bottoms of pants with the green stretchy hooks, both are quite uncomfortable. Two piece flight suits don't need to bother with such things, so why should anyone else? There are contingencies that can be enforced under conditions that require them, like trudging through ant or tick country. In an information age where a lot of the lifting is done by knowledge workers in an office, however, they will depart if not comfortable.

In that line, everyone should be entitled to wear the Massif two-piece flight suits. They're ridiculously more comfortable and practical.

Again, suspenders definitely need to be authorized for fatigues.

Lastly, the Air Force's shirt and sock offerings are atrocious. We need to take a page out of the Marine Corps' book and find new ones. There are much better alternatives below. Also, "olive drab green?" Really?

By making the military more accessible, we can avoid shooting ourselves in the foot. Discomfort leads to deviance (from the military).

Here are some quality alternatives with perfect or close-enough colors:

- Mizzen and Main, Helmsman Chino Pant: https://www.mizzenandmain.com/products/navy-solid-helmsman-chino-pant

- Men's Ultra Soft Bamboo Viscose T-Shirt (almost Marine Corps green) https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BX73SV9M

- Thorlo unisex adult Max Cushion Combat Over the Calf Hiking Socks, Coyote Brown - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000AXGRZO

- Massif flight suits and uniforms: https://www.massif.com/shop/flight-suits.html

- Rocky S2V Tactical Military Boot: https://www.rockyboots.com/s2v/rocky-s2v-tactical-military-boot/RKC050.html