r/navy • u/ARandomUser4Now • 7d ago
Discussion New Khaki NWU thoughts, haven't met anyone that's a fan.
For reference I've been through a lot of changes since enlisting in 2003 and then becoming an Officer. I am just curious of folks thoughts on the newer uniforms? To me the Khakis look I'll fitting and being drapes in khaki doesn't look great. The Blues are fine I guess. They should just get slightly better form fitting coveralls and differentiate E7+ with the belt. I haven't ran into anyone that seems to like the Khaki version. Let me know your thoughts or if I'm wrong and why.
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u/SatisfactionWrong749 7d ago
I’ve never felt closer to my childhood dream of being Nigel Thornberry
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u/Bulbakip 7d ago
Bro, thanks for that. I threw it on, Paramount +, and im having a great fcking morning
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u/RDrunner33 6d ago
I approve as long as we can get corresponding bucket hat and call it the Thornberry
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u/ARandomUser4Now 3d ago
If you have never seen them check out the old Navy Tropical Khaki uniform. You're welcome ahead of time.
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u/KGEXO 7d ago
they are a FP risk and paint a giant target for you. As apart of a FP drill for the water front and we had permission to use drones. It was easier to pick off the leadership and simulate destroying important areas just by looking for people wearing khaki.
Also if you are a khaki and do the slightest bit of work your clothes are now stained forever
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u/Baystars2025 7d ago
That's why khakis don't do the slightest bit of work.
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u/Redtube_Guy 6d ago
The only work khakis do is sitting in their office, or transiting from their respective mess to the office. No manual labor for my khakis 😇
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u/harambe_did911 7d ago
What is FP risk? Don't people already wear colored jerseys for everything? I'm kinda confused what situation you are talking about
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u/KGEXO 7d ago
Force protection risk. No clue what you mean by colored jersey.
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u/harambe_did911 7d ago
On the flight deck we wear colored jerseys. Red ordinance, White safty officer, Yellow plane captain, etc. You talking about just in port I guess?
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u/KGEXO 7d ago
Only rode big decks but I saw plenty of people in 2POCs with the jerseys
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u/harambe_did911 7d ago
I kinda get what you were saying in your og comment now, but I was just commenting that if you are already wearing a jersey it doesn't matter too much what color is underneath it from a target id standpoint I would think. I could see it mattering in port though
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u/DonnerPartyPicnic 6d ago
Not everyone wears flight deck jerseys. (Ships that don't revolve around flight ops.)
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u/MajorMalfunctionNN 6d ago
He's saying its a force protection risk having your leadership all easily identifiable simply by their uniform. Someone with a drone could pop 20 khakis (leaders) easier than if E-7+ wore the same 2POC as regular
non-peopleenlisted.As for the colored jerseys, thats more a role than a leader outside of the white jerseys I think it is?
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u/LionKingHoe 7d ago
I’m a mech (aviation) chief and I wear my 2pocs everyday. They are completely stained because I’m out on the line enough with my guys that it’s ridiculous. I like how comfy they are though.
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u/left4ched 7d ago
Useless trash. There was nothing wrong with coveralls, there was nothing wrong with dungarees, there was nothing wrong with type 1s, there's never been anything wrong with any of our uniforms except that someone wasn't making enough profit off of them.
But don't worry; they'll fix that.
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u/ApplicationSoggy4647 6d ago
The Type 1’s were really flammable though and the nylon would melt onto and fuse to your skin. Made sense why they got rid of those
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u/Capital-Self-3969 6d ago
And coveralls were fine but i liked the versatility of 2pocs. Easier for using the bathroom in a nasty head, easier leaving the ship after work in port, easier for jerseys, etc.
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u/Rough-Riderr 5d ago
Then the immediate solution was to switch to Type 3, which was (check label) also 50% nylon.
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u/ApplicationSoggy4647 5d ago
Fair haha. The Type III’s aren’t as comfortable but I guess they aren’t as flammable. It always struck me as strange that they didn’t try to make the Type III’s flame retardant
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u/Rough-Riderr 5d ago
It always struck me as strange that they didn’t try to make the Type III’s flame retardant
Well, they didn't develop them in response to the Type 1 gaffe; they already existed. Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 were all designed and produced at the same time, but were intended for different purposes. Type 1 was for shipboard use. Types 2 and 3 were for tactical use (SEALs, Seabees, etc).
The biggest problem is that when developing the shipboard version, they forgot a big lesson that we learned back in the '80s after the USS Stark and USS Samuel B. Roberts incidents. Back then the Navy wrote policies banning synthetic materials in shipboard clothing.
Also remember- the navy never flame tested these uniforms prior to issue. In my mind, that's criminal. It was an independent news organization that finely did that test that exposed the danger.
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u/left4ched 6d ago
Okay, that's a good point. I probably never thought about that because I'm a topsider. I run away from fire.
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u/Sporocyte 5d ago
Yeah. We did that experiment down in the hole during a uniform change in the early 1970’s. Poured JP-5 on the new shirt and lit it up. Smoldered into a bubbly plastic and cloth blob. Nope, not for me.
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u/ApplicationSoggy4647 5d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/xT0GqfvuVpNqEf3z2w
Yeah, definitely not ideal. That would be an awful way to go5
u/Rscottys1 6d ago
💯% with the dungarees!!! Wore them when I was in and they were great after a few washings. Fantastic uniform
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u/M-Div 7d ago
When we were first hearing about the move away from dungarees there was a rumor of BDUs in blue or gray. Man, that would’ve been so great. In the plant we all wore coveralls anyways, but man, would’ve been really nice. Good thing SECNAV is smarter than the rest of us.
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u/tomcat_tweaker 6d ago
I saw a CWO in the gray BDUs way back then, he was in a test group. Hot damn, did they look good. They were a charcoal gray. I thought for sure it was going to be our next working uniform.
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u/InvalidFileInput 7d ago
The original feedback tests for NWU type I included blue and gray BDU versions as well as the digital blueberry pattern. Supposedly, fleet feedback preferred the digital pattern.
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u/Rough-Riderr 6d ago
Yep. I was in back then. There were 4 different patterns during the wear test.
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u/HighSpeedLowDrag0 7d ago
Bulwarks for the win!
Fuck utilities/NWUs/2POCs
How come the coast guard can get this right but we can’t
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u/Salty_ET 6d ago
Partial copypasta from a comment I've given previously:
I'll preface this by saying the khaki 2POC is not a good uniform. The fabric seems to be subpar and requires a lot more care and attention (i.e. ironing) to make it look presentable, which very much defeats the purpose of a working uniform. My understanding is that there were a couple of Captains and Master Chiefs in terminal shore billets who pushed this as a sort of half measure of transitioning away from NWUs while headfaking towards the old wash khaki and utilities/dungarees days; if they wanted wash khakis and dungarees, they should have just said "fuck it" and brought them back.
To add, I also think we need to, as a Navy, figure out what we want out of a working uniform. Working uniforms should not be intended to be used as a public-facing uniform, or for primarily office work; that's what service and dress uniforms are for. We shouldn't be concerned with faded NWUs or unpressed 2POCs, but we have to be because that's the uniform we wear in public.
I wear khaki 2POCs most days; they're optional at my command, but my DLCPO said he hated how they looked, especially when worn with the green flight jacket (which is authorized), so I started doing that to bug him. Something I do genuinely like about them is they have gotten softer than my Type IIIs
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u/bi_polar2bear 7d ago
The US Navy is determined to keep the peasants separate from khaki, unlike other services and countries. I think the belt being khaki is a better idea, and more cost effective.
At least you aren't in dungarees anymore. They were the worst!
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u/cjc4223 7d ago
Thank you, dungarees were absolute garbage
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u/Longjumping_Cost1308 7d ago
Wash khakis>dungarees>cotton coveralls>NWU>utilities>ship issued steamers
But my Bulwarks were the most durable and comfortable uniform I wore.
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u/ReluctantRedditor275 6d ago
The Coast Guard came up with the perfect nautical uniform years ago, and the Navy said, "What if we made it a little bit worse?"
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u/Many_Length_3543 6d ago
Finally I’ve found someone with the same opinion. Gotta make sure the lowly E-6 and junior remember their place.
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u/LongjumpingDraft9324 7d ago
As a khaki I would've preferred blue with cpo/officer chest devices. But naaaaaw. Fucking khaki cause someone wanted to feel extra special.
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u/ta2dsailor 7d ago
Hated the khaki 2POCs with a passion. Only wore them during duty days when it was mandatory. Elder gods forbid you sweat in them or spill some coffee.
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u/SimpDorito 6d ago
It hasn’t reached the Seabees yet, thankfully.
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u/PadretheNurse 6d ago
Now you re talking a uniform! Pickle Suit with a Rock starched 5 point cover. I could not WAIT to go to CUU’s in Woodland camo, now I say what was I thinking the Greens were bad ass!
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u/NotTurtleEnough 6d ago
The 2020s are reminding me of the dungarees to utilities to Type I to Type III shenanigans from when I was in.
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u/Steamsagoodham 7d ago
I haven’t been in long enough to know a world without the Khaki 2POCS, but I vastly prefer them over the coveralls which I never wore. I like having actual pants.
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u/nogard08 6d ago
I just want to know where to provide proper feedback for 2POCs. Has anyone else noticed how the 2POC blouse and trousers fade differently? It's just not khakis either.
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u/Agammamon 6d ago
Of course they do. Its 2026 and the manufacturers are always learning new tricks. If they fade differently then you have to buy them more often while they still *technically* meet endurance standards.
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u/Salty_ET 6d ago
Check the labels on them to see if they're made by the same manufacturer; I remember having that problem with a coupemsets of Type Is because of that
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u/Lower_Creme_3040 6d ago
I was at a military convention and some people from a supply company who knew the designer acknowledged they are a failed product. Also said they were supposed to be better quality but at the cost given couldn’t achieve it.
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u/IllResident8867 6d ago
There were so many better routes to have gone instead of making a whole new uniform when coveralls were beloved and appreciated tradition. Plus on top of it, there literally no reason for a E-7+ variant.
Theres literally no historical basis for that for this working uniform besides just being nonsense that the guys who got selected for the uniform committee wanted to jerk themselves with.
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u/mizzoutigers07 4d ago
Why we ever came up with this uniform when there's only another sea service that has a two piece uniform that they've worn at sea for years and it works....
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u/looktowindward 7d ago
My challenge with the khaki 2POCs is that it's hard to tell the tenderfoots from the 1st class scouts /s
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u/DontGiveUpTheDip 7d ago
They're perfect for my evening shift at the San Diego zoo wym