Recent uniform changes have encountered support and opposition. Many complaints concern the appearance of the new Navy Working Uniform (NWU) for petty officers first class and below. There are valid concerns on both sides of the issue, but one little talked about is how uniform changes are blurring the lines between ranks and contributing to the decay of our heritage.
The Navy is unique in the separation between junior enlisted Sailors and Chiefs/officers, with khaki serving as a visible dividing line. Only in the Navy does one's uniform change so drastically with advancement to senior enlisted rank or on commissioning. This is significant because of the considerable changes in responsibilities. Chiefs and officers are specifically charged with the overall success of the organization, not just their division or department, and they must work together to achieve it. That uniform separation is now blurred with every rank authorized a khaki shirt.
Generations of Sailors have been identified by their rating. Not only a symbol of rank, the rating badge provides immediate recognition of a Sailor's role in the command. One glance highlights the rank and specialty of a Sailor. It is the most effective rank insignia in any service.
The absence of a rating badge on a Chief's khakis symbolizes that serving as a Chief is more important than serving in a particular field. "Being the Chief" has implications far greater than one's specialty, and removing the rating badge when advancing to Chief is an important transformation. Considering that the NWU doesn't include a rating badge, the significance of that change will be lost on the new generation of Sailors.
Junior enlisted personnel are happy they can pin a new crow on the NWU upon advancement; sewing is no longer needed. That's a valid benefit of the new shirt, but it comes at the expense of our heritage.
Without sewn-on rating badges, we've lost the opportunity to bring back the lost tradition of tacking on the crow. Not to be confused with the contemporary "tradition" of punching the arm with the new insignia, the true tradition should be resurrected.
At one time, a newly promoted Sailor had his crow tacked, or stitched on, by his shipmates. Each took a turn adding a stitch, a show of support and good wishes. It symbolized the significance of the advancement and the teamwork that helped it occur. This of course only outfitted one uniform. Completing the rest of a Sailor's uniforms served as another lesson, if only coincidentally. Sailors learned that although they had the support of their shipmates, they were ultimately responsible for their own success.
That tradition was lost long ago, continuing only in very limited use. Issuance of the NWU has sealed the coffin on this worthwhile practice and its potential as a training opportunity.
The new Physical Training Uniform continues to blur the lines. Command physical training often had junior Sailors in blue shorts and a white shirt with the Navy crest. Chiefs and officers generally wore blue shorts with a yellow shirt. There was an obvious difference in ranks and leadership on the PT field, but no longer. This new uniform is the same for all, leaving commands to find other ways to identify participants and leaders.
Khaki uniforms for Chiefs and officers separate them from the junior enlisted and make identification of command leadership obvious. What would otherwise appear to be a simple change in uniform color has the potential to seriously harm good order and discipline.
Last year while reading an online discussion board about Chief's Initiation, I found one Sailor arguing his point with a very troubling justification. His views on initiation notwithstanding, he attempted to drive his point home by writing that we (the Chiefs) had to listen to him because "we all wear khaki now." The NWU was merely months old and had not even been introduced Fleet-wide, and already there were signs of the coming contempt, caused but that simple change in color.
There are plenty reasons to cause contemplation of new uniforms. But decisions must consider the potential impact and how best to preserve our rich heritage. Selection of the NWU failed to properly consider either and was the wrong decision.