Forum: Air Force Life

I'm sure many of you remember wearing these (beat the Sierra out of BDUs any day!). Can anyone tell me exactly when they were no longer authorized for wear by the AF? I remember Pops changing over his uniforms in about 1988, but also remember people beginning to wear BDUs in the AF before that (about 86-ish?). So, that's kind of a two part question, 1) When were BDUs first authorized in the AF, and 2) When were OD Green Fatigues no longer authorized for wear? Gracias!

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I remember when my dad switched to the BDU's. I think it was late 89 or 90 when they made them stop wearing the pickle suit. He went to Gunsmoke in 89 and that is when he stopped wearing the fatigues. But i remember him getting a few pairs in 88. So if i had to guess i bet it was 1oct89 when fatigues had to go. that is my guess, but i was only 9 then lol. wow that was like 18 years ago or something.

Racer is probably as close as you can get. I know when I got out in mid 88 we still had the perm press uniform. When I joined the reserves later that year I was issued the BDUs. I still think the cotton fatigues were by far the most comfortable uniform I got to wear.

I remember being issued the "Green's" at Basic Training in July 1988, but having to wear the new "BDU's" when I arrived at my first base, Hahn AB, Germany in late 1988.

It's funny that you ask this. The reason we were told that we had to convert over from the "Green's" to the BDU's" was to simplify the supply chain and save money. We were also told that we needed to "look" like our brother's and sister's in the other branches of the military. Now 18 years later and the Air Force can't buy the numbers of Airplanes that it "need's" and we are downsizing the Air Force as a way of saving money........now we have to have new "distinctive" uniforms that separate us from our brother’s and sister's in the other branches of the military.

My new ABU's are due to arrive in 2 weeks.....

I was issued greens at Basic in Feb '87 and got out of them just a quickly as possible - hated those damn things - and was into BDU's at MacDill in June '87.

Mike

People still wore them at the Kun in 91. Can't beat 15 dollars for a complete set.

Wore some BDUs that were authorized for my unit when on a deployment to Korea in '84, except it had the aircrew style name-rank patch.

The above is correct. BDUs came in late '88 and ODs went out in 89 where I was at (varied by command?).

Liked the ODs better as a work uniform. Might not have been great looking but it worked. And great point about uniforms getting more expensive. Certainly there is a thing called inflation but still, it is getting a bit much. There are a lot of jobs in the USAF that destroy uniforms, something that some of the PowerPoint warriors still don't get.

I'm not sure about the 100% compliant date to be out of the fatigues. I was issued and wore fatigues from 86-88 and voluntarily bought BDUs when they first came out because I thought they looked cool...heh. When I Palce Chased to the ANG in 90 I was issued BDUs...all except my field jacket. I wore my fatigue field jacket until around 92 (I still wear it as a civilian winter work/fun coat...dang thing lasts forever!).

I loved the fatigues. I had a few shirts with cut off sleeves (it was authorized)...saved having to roll them up. No blousing the pants, could wear the shirts tucked in or out. I hated the green utility hat though...looked like Gomer Pyle.

BDUs were fine until they started making us blouse the boots. That sucked back in the '60s when I was at Fork Union Military Academy, and it sucked in the late '80s with the BDUs in the ANG and it sucked in 2005 when I retired. I have NEVER understood why we needed to blouse our boots.

That being said, I think the USAF BDUs look better than those of any of the other services. Second-generation DCUs look better than first-generation ones do (see Desert Storm) and again USAF's look best among all the services. I know nothing about the new fatigues or whatever you call 'em, but I'm glad I don't have to wear them any more.

I was at my first base in 91 when around mid-Sept clothing sales was wiped out on most sizes of BDU's because of the mandatory wear date coming up on Oct 1. I didn't get to wear the OD's at all but I remember a few people wearing them all the way up to the end because they had them and they were determined to get their money's worth out of them!

SixerViper wrote:

That being said, I think the USAF BDUs look better than those of any of the other services. Second-generation DCUs look better than first-generation ones do (see Desert Storm) and again USAF's look best among all the services. I know nothing about the new fatigues or whatever you call 'em, but I'm glad I don't have to wear them any more.

Is there / was there a difference between the AF BDU's and the other services? A good portion of those I wore came from Army bases (where clothing sales had a much better selection, though still AAFES) and my only pair of 5-color 'chocolate chip' deserts came from Brigade Quartermaster when supply couldn't keep up during Desert Storm.

Mike

I know the original BDUs (for Army personnel) had the "Elvis Collar", if you will. Other than that, not a whole helluva lot different. I do remember people switching over voluntarily, because it was something new. I too never saw much use in blousing the legs. The mosquito straps worked fine, until some jackass with rank on his collar said "Use blousing straps only". Well hell, I thought that's what those damned things were!

Also, I never saw much point in changing over. The argument was to better prepare for future "joint forces" missions. Well now, isn't that what we do today?...and don't we all wear different uniforms now?

Somebody had better be glad that I'm not king of the military. We'd be wearing 1505 khakis, and OG-107 green fatigues. Oh yeah, and the Navy could have their dungarees with blue jeans back if they wanted them (and they do!).

Thanks for all the info folks. If you know more chime in!

The last time I wore them was in early 1988, after that, I never saw them again.

Damn good question you got there, I too cant remember the official last date for the cross over but you know how the old break-in dates were but the drop date for last wear of that uniform is a great question, I don't know it either and I worn most of the changes in my tenure (well at least from 1969 to 1996 is concerned) Smile

I will be interested to hear the official drop dead date or phase out date myself - nice topic

Having yet another new uniform type is easier than buying enough spare parts in the MICAP USAF. Image over substance.

Word.

I loved the old cotton OD's........with enough starch they could stand up all by themselves. But I did hate the button fly.

Forum: Air Force Life

OD Fatigues