On deployment, your gear and apparel will be put to the test. A leading supplier of the U.S. DoD for 50 years, Propper knows how to manufacture military clothing that fits a soldier&#;s needs, whether the mission is security, engaging hostile force, or saving lives. From field jackets to uniform pants, caps, boots, and flight suits, the Propper military collection has got you covered.
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Every OCP uniform features the official operational camouflage pattern of the U.S. Army. Build your entire ACU with coats, trousers, caps, and helmet covers from Propper&#;s extensive collection. OCP uniform pieces are available in styles tailored to men and women. Fabric choices include 100% cotton, 50/50 NIR Compliant NYCO, and flame resistant options, all sewn to appropriate military specifications. Every item in this extensive ACU collection represents the pinnacle of modern combat apparel design to handle all the rigors of tour. Thoughtful features and durable construction are built into every piece from pocket placement to range of motion considerations, closure elements, felled seaming, and fade resistance.
Browse our collection for other military uniform essentials, including combat boots, boonies, fleece jackets, crewnecks, and more. Flight crew members can choose from a variety of flight suits that are compliant with U.S. military uniform specifications. Propper military apparel is available in styles and sizes for both men and women.
Propper is a proud outfitter of the U.S. military. Our high standards of excellence are inspired by them, and we are honored to support their sacrifice and success.
Washing your military uniform is easy, the instructions are sewn into the garment itself and are the best way to follow to ensure the longest life of the uniform possible. US Military uniforms are made from a variety of materials from knits to wovens, nylon / cotton blends to FR inherent fiber blends. Using the care instructions found in the garment ensures you&#;re using the best possible method to care for the garment as determined by the fabric manufacturer for the field conditions where the washing will occur. For an ACU garment like the Propper OCP NYCO ACU Coat, the care instructions are as follows. Close all hook and loop fasteners to prevent snagging before washing. Machine wash on cold water using permanent press cycle if possible or hand wash using a mild detergent that does not contain bleach. Rinse completely. Do not wring or twist, use bleach, bleach alternatives, starch or fabric softeners. Dry at low-medium heat. To drip dry, after washing, place on a rust-proof hanger. Do not use dryer sheets. Applying heat to hook and loop fasteners will cause permanent damage. Do not dry clean.
The colored bars pinned to US Military uniforms, particularly those pinned on dress uniforms are called service ribbons or ribbon bars. These represent the ribbons on the medals awarded to soldiers for their personal achievements, length of service in the field, as well as unit recognitions. While awarded individually, these are actual medals on a colored ribbon. When displayed on the dress uniform, just the ribbons are pinned in this folded and compact manner.
Soldiers in the US Military have both dress uniforms and combat uniforms. Service dress uniforms are the tailored uniforms worn for work on a daily basis, typically consisting of a jacket, shirt, tie and slacks for men and a jacket, shirt, tie and slacks or skirt for women. In the US Army, the dress uniform is called the Army Service Uniform. Each branch of the US Armed Forces including the Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Corps have a service dress uniform named after the branch. While technically part of the Department of Homeland Security as well as the US Armed Forces, the US Coast Guard also has a service uniform. Camouflage and functional features like cargo pockets typically identify the US Armed Forces combat uniforms. The Army, Air Force, and Space Force all wear the OCP camouflage and the same design of uniform. The Army call it the ACU for Army Combat Uniform, while the Air Force and Space Force simply call it the OCP Uniform. The US Marine Corps wears either MARPAT Woodland or MARPAT Desert camouflage versions of their MCCUU. The Navy has the NWU for Naval Working Uniform which is issued either in AOR-1 for desert and AOR-2 for woodland environments. The Coast Guard does not wear camouflage, instead opting for Coast Guard Navy in their ODU.
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Uniforms have been worn since thousands of years, beit the old days of traditional army on chariots and horses or the modern dayarmy on tanks be it the Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, etc. The mainpurpose of the uniform is to signify well organized military forces equipped bya central authority. Troops not under government control are less likely towear uniforms. With modern technology and globalization different factors affectthe design and making of the military uniform. This article is intended tocover basic aspects and information related to army uniform beginning frombrief history, to its basic purpose, current technology, and different fabricsbeing used for the uniform. Finally the article also throws light on the latesttechnology being used for the army uniform to provide enhanced protection against environment, enemy at the same time preserving the mandatory aspects of theuniform.
History
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The exact details of the first military uniform beingmade are still unknown. The soldiers of the roman republic wore army uniforms; Germanlandsknechts of the 16th century wore distinctive military uniform. The style and decoration of militaryuniforms varied immensely with the status, image and resources of the militarythroughout the ages. Uniform dress became the norm with the adoption ofregimental systems, initially begun by the French army in the mid seventeenthcentury.
Eighteenth Century
During the eighteenth century the normal military uniform in Europe comprised of a standardized form of civilian dress tricom hat, longskirted coat, waist coat and breeches. Uniforms displayed colored facings onthe collar, cuffs and lapels of the blue coat, by group of states, notregiment, as in Europe. The color that emerged as the uniform colorduring the 18th century was Army Blue wherein battleformations required soldiers to stand elbow to elbow with smoothbore muskets.Colorful uniforms provided unit cohesion amidst the clouds of black-powdersmoke.
Nineteenth Century
The military uniform reached its ornamental peak in the 19th Century in Europe.British soldiers were known for their striking red clothing redcoats. This was actually a fairly dull shade of madder red until the general adoption of scarlet for tunics in the s. It is believed that the ornate crest of the military uniform was reached in the early 19th century in Western Europe. Napoleonic wars are being identified with the splash of colors and ornate uniforms. By Napoleonic fashion had changed the cut of the uniform worn since the Revolutionary War. The coat now fastened in front and no longer exposed the waistcoat. That garment had become the roundabout fatigue jacket with sleeves, in winter gray or summer white. The skirts of the coat were cut in, straight across, without color facings. However, with undress and fatigue uniforms being worn in the Seminole and Mexican Wars and the costs of the old-style elaborate uniforms becoming a concern for officers, a radical new uniform concept appeared in . A French-pattern, full-skirt tunic or frock coat with black-leather waist belt accoutrements began to replace the old body coat and the white shoulder belts worn since .
In foreign duty and the advent of smokeless powder made
it mandatory to use one uniform for both in garrison and field with seasonal
fabrics of summer khaki or winter olive drab. At the end of the 19th
Century, the Army Blue uniform had battered the ends of frontier duty and
tropical fights. The uniform traveled from garrison to the field by merely
exchanging the natty blue forage cap for the wide-brim slouch campaign hat and
by securing the sky-blue trousers cuffs with a pair of cavalry boots or
infantry canvas leggings.
World War I
The First World War finally put an end to the expensive practice of furnishing colorful uniforms to all ranks of the various armies
World War II
Uniforms of varying shades of khaki and grey were universal in the World War II. Several experiments were made in the look of the military uniform with the advent of reinventing the dress. The olive drab became the new Modern Army Green in . Emphasis on black shoes increased. The uniform rediscovered after the Second World War laid the foundation of the uniform used today.
Also apart from the dresses and uniforms in the old era, beards and moustaches worn by the officers at that time were equally ornamental complementing their rank and age. Some of the styles still bear names paying homage to this age.
Purpose of Army uniform
Distinguished clothing
Army uniforms are used to cater many different purposes and one of the chief purposes is to set the distinction apart from civilians and other people carrying weapons that do not enjoy protection. In ancient times another purpose to use the army uniforms was to locate the soldiers in the deserts with distinctive army uniforms. Also army men being one of most important professionals the soldiers are made to dress to impress the population. The soldiers are also made to dress to impress the superiors. It is believed that attractive or distinctive uniforms can make a military career desirable to young men. During the British Army found that regiments with attractive uniforms found it easier to attract recruits. We can take an example of the four Rifle regiments in their sombre dark green had a higher public profile than the great mass of line infantry in scarlet.
Camouflage
Another purpose of the army uniform was to improve visibility of troops during the war time. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, bright contrasting colors were used which made it easier for the troops to recognize their men amidst of gun power and other dust. But the bright colors brought with them another issues of being easily recognizable by the enemy as well, from about s enemies were able to shoot at distance spotting men in contrasting colors. Taking this issue up the British Army changed the color of their forces to mix with the surroundings, khaki and olive green symbolized the new army power to camouflage. The idea was further explored to come up with different uniforms for different weather white for snowy regions, khaki for deserts and greens for forests. This pattern is being adopted by different armies worldwide.
In current times a universal camouflage pattern is used which blends the green, tan and gray to work effectively in desert and urban environments. Black colors are usually omitted form the uniform as it is not found in the nature. It was found that when night vision goggles are used pure black color appears excessively dark creating an undesirable high contrast image whereas on the other hand gray tends to match the environment, dust could cover up the gray. Also gray is a neutral color and does not catch the eye as more saturated colors do.
Logistics
Standardization is another purpose of the military uniform. Mass production of army uniforms results in specific cut and color; also it becomes easier to replace uniforms if mass production is done.
Psychological Purpose
Wartime instead of being the game of the battle is also a game of mindset and human psychology and appearance plays a big part in intimating the enemy. For instance the tall, mitre-shaped caps worn by grenadiers in the 18th Century made the soldiers wearing them, larger and impressive. From to Prussian hussars wore the skull and crossbones on their hats. The clothing and the uniform also tells about the financial power of that army, in ancient Sparta warriors wore expensive red cloaks to depict their luxuries lifestyle. There is a belief that the red color was being adopted by the British soldiers as it would not show off the blood stains of their enemy.
Different Army uniform Fabrics
Several fabrics are used for the Army uniform, they are as listed below:
Visa
; Polyester fabric. It is generally used for ladies white (summer) jackets.
Bradman 11
: It is a mix of 45% merino wool/55% polyester. This fabric has lighter & finer finish than the Poly/wool fabric.
Poly/Wool
; a mix of 45% wool/55% polyester for heavy wearing.
80/20
; a mix of 80% wool/20% polyester for long wearing.
Wool fabric: 100%wool, wool & cotton blended wool & polyester blended, wool & cashmere blended. Wool & tencel & modal blended.
Cotton fabric, Cotton/Polyester, Linen fabric for hot weathers
Chemical fiber fabric: Polyester & viscose blended, polyester & madel.
Lining: 100%polyester
Recent research
and technology has enabled development of fibers that automatically remain
waterproof. The particles absorb water and then use its electrical force to
reject what it absorbed.
Different types of Uniforms
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It is beyond the scope of this article to list each and every type of uniforms used by all different armies of the world but some of the most common types of military uniforms are as listed below:
Dress Uniform
White Spring/Autumn Service Uniform
Spring/Autumn Service Uniform
Summer Service Uniform
Winter Service Uniform
Combat Navy Uniform
Combat
Desert Uniform
Combat Snow Uniform
Fight deck
Air force uniform
Female personnel generally have female versions of their respective uniforms, including a skirt to be worn instead of trousers. Also at times their cap and helmet gears are different compared to their male counter parts.
Parts of Military Uniform
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Basic accessories of the military uniform remain somewhat similar for all the armies. The area of focus here is not the navy or the air force but the defense soldiers uniform. Below listed are most of the accessories that comprise a military uniform.
Sweater
Shoes
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Coats
Rank insignia
Collar tab
Cap badge
Name tag
Ribbon bars
Service branch shoulder patch (for Service Uniform)
Army flag shoulder patch (for Dress Uniform)
Service badge
Boots desert operational
DPM (disruptive pattern material) camouflage uniform
Boots barrack light operational
T-shirts
Summer, winter, tropical issues socks
Short and long sleeve tops
Short and long sleeve leggings
DPM shirt
DPM smock
DPM rain suit with breathable material
Helmet
Fleece liner
Shemag
Beret
Water proof cap
Bush hat
Battle
vest
Large backpack
Combat body armor
Hydration systems
Field gear
Sleeping gear
Special-operations gear
Current Technology
Advance technologies are being used to provide better protection to the military. Some of the technologies include double-layer infrared neutral fabric lined with Gore-Tex. The uniform made with this technology is reversible, thereby incorporating day and night use and woodland and desert capability in a single garment.
Companies have also come up with lightweight bulletproof vest to be used continuously under clothing, the vest is designed in such a way that it allows for easy mobility. Also a steel plate can be inserted in the front pocket to give added protection to the heart area against steel-core bullets and pointed weapons; there is also a provision wherein stab resistant panels can also be incorporated in the structure.
Military glove are being made from hydrophobic NATO leather, Kevlar and Gore-Tex and acts as a reliable 'all-rounder' which is adaptable and usable in almost any situation. Special Forces gloves are developed using Nomex, Kevlar, waterproofed leather and Gore-Tex, with special processing to guarantee optimum protection and sensitivity.
Companies are coming up with warrior wear system with built in eight tourniquets, two in each sleeve and each pant leg correctly positioned and oriented to the upper and lower extremities are immediately accessible under existing gear and can be operated by the wearer, their buddy or a medic.
Apart from that waterproof fibers are being used in the making of the army uniforms to be used in the humid conditions and in water.
Research into the field
Government is giving grants worth billions of dollars to the universities and research centers all around the globe to come up with technology and design for uniforms which would help enhance the efficiency of their military compared to their competitors. Some of the problem with current material and design of the army uniforms are as follows:
Scientists are doing research to come up with intelligent technology to help soldiers in many different ways. Some of the examples of the smart technology are as follows:
The smart technology will come to soldiers rescue in changing environment wherein the fabric will change colors on command as per the environment
To be able to manipulate light to make soldiers invisible in the field
Technology which would enable the soldiers to change a shirtsleeve into a splint or a pant leg into a rigid cast in the field if a soldier is injured
Possess built-in sensors of each soldier's physical condition and location in the battlefield so command posts can monitor soldiers from a distance
The new technology would also weave radio communications materials inside the uniform's fabric which would in return provide soldiers flexibility and lighter loads
It may be look to be aiming high in the beginning but scientists are actually working to come up with technology which would administer medicines and transmit vital signs to distant medicswho could then potentially perform medical triage on soldiers in the field
Provide impact protection materials and systems including ballistic and shrapnel
Nanotechnology
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To turn the above mentioned aims into reality scientists are relying on the nano-technology. The most important feature of nanotechnology is its microscopic size; to explain it further size of one nanometer is when you divide single strand of human hair into 50,000. The value of nanotechnology is that miniaturized mechanisms that are able to modify molecular structures to gain new abilities.
Use of nanotechnology will help design chemical protective over garments which shield soldiers against hazardous chemicals and deadly micro-organisms. Uniforms equipped with nanotechnology will also make the fabric lighter and breathable by around 20%. Soldiers and military bases make use of large objects such as the radiosized chemical sensors which are large in size, use of nanotechnology will help to reduce the size, thereby increase its portability. ISN scientists are hoping to able to reduce sensors to the size of a dime so they can incorporate them into uniforms that would enable soldiers to know what potentially harmful particles are floating in their environment.
Tom Tassinari a scientist with the Soldier System Center in Natick, Massachusetts says "We are in the early stages of anticipating how nanotechnology will revolutionize army equipment."
Uniform made out of nanotechnology will have properties similar to that of a chameleon which would help change the properties according to the environment. The fabric will have absorbing materials to counter ballistic penetration, for this there would be a need for a lightweight and flexible substance that could instantly turn rigid upon impact. To investigate further for such a substance, scientists are in the process of studying the behaviors of magnetic polarization of a fluid to a solid. ISNs team hopes to infuse magnetized fluid current into the suits fiber, for instance if there is a glove and it is send opposite a large magnet then it instantly becomes stiff. Magnetization would modify the atomic composition of the fiber so the solidification would increase the strength of the Kevlar while the remaining suit will become flexible good enough for mobility, this would help in reducing the weight that soldiers can carry on combat.
Scientists are trying to find cues among the nano structure in nature. Different materials such as composition of marine conch shells, turtles carapaces, insect exoskeletons and spider silk are being examined to find break through in the research. Scientist have found that spider silk is one of the strongest materials in the world because it stretches before it breaks, scientist to utilize the unique property of silk have already built a silk producing machine in order to test ways to make suits stiff, stretchy, light and durable.
Scientists are focusing on sensor studies that could help equip the suit with physiological functions. This would help to regulate health of the soldier, to give an example to be able to detect chemical and biological weapons in the atmosphere. The suit would also assist in stabilizing optimum temperature, blood pressure and bring remedies to open wounds. Scientists also claim to equip the suit with an automatic treatment kit with an antidote system injected into the body once a toxin is detected. The suit would also have in-built systems which would help monitor physiological state of each soldier at a central head quarter which in turn would send data back to the suit.
Military uniform is a wide area of research and different aspects, thought process goes into the making of one. Today each country is putting up research efforts and huge amount of money to come up with uniforms which ensures more protection and efficiency for its warriors.
References
1. www.blupete.com
2. www.defensetalk.com
3. www.viewimages.com
4. www.army.mil
5. www.tekawiz.com
6. www.strategypage.com
7. www.homepage.mac.com
8. www.sinodefence.com
9. www.strategypage.com
10. www.army-technology.com
11. www.fibre2fashion.com
12. www.treehugger.com
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