Recent history has seen the introduction of the Navy working uniform, fire-resistant variant coveralls, unisex combination covers, etc. While these changes sought to produce more comfortable, smart, and uniform uniforms, they failed to address a modern and growing problem: where to stow the ubiquitous smartphone. Nobody asked me, but the Navy should add a “smartphone pocket” to service and working uniforms. We need a 21st-century pant.
Consider the following points:
• Nearly 100 percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 own cell phones, 98 percent of those aged 30 to 49, and 94 percent of those 50 to 64.1
• Mobile phone size is increasing. As mobile devices have evolved from simple voice and text message communicators into video, gaming, and social-media platforms, so has screen size increased. The first iPhone boasted only a 3.5-inch screen as compared to the current iPhone X’s 5.8-inch display. Some Android “phablets” can be upward of 6.5 inches in screen size.
• Most servicemember cell phone owners wear pants.
Now consider the current Uniform Regulations concerning “mobile communications device” wear:
No articles shall protrude from or be visible on the uniform.2
And:
Only one communication device is authorized for wear and can only be worn on the belt of working and service uniforms aft of the elbow.3
These outdated regulations no longer are appropriate or enforceable. For purposes of independent research, I am fortunate to be stationed at the Pentagon, where the daily uniform for Navy personnel is service khakis. Over the past few weeks I have—hopefully subtly, so as not to weird out anyone—monitored whether any of my shipmates had the regulation belt cell phone holder attached. I saw nary a one.
What I did see was most people either holding their phones or phones protruding from front pants pockets, in contravention of the first article quoted above. Understandably, it is hard to take seriously the second regulation as, honestly, belt cell phone holders are about as fashionable as fanny packs or pocket protectors. We can do better.
I don’t buy many clothes—one of the benefits of the Navy is that someone else tells me what to wear everyday—but my wife recently became disgusted enough with the state of my wardrobe to order me a new pair of khaki pants. I was surprised to find an additional small pocket sewn to the inside of the front right pants pocket. As I detest having objects in my front pocket, I fell in love with this convenient and comfortable “smartphone” pocket. No longer did I face the dilemma of having to choose among carrying my phone in my hand, putting it in my backpack, or sucking it up and putting it in the uncomfortable position of my front pants pocket. I was sold.
The smartphone pocket makes the device more easily accessible, presents a much smarter appearance, and recognizes the fact that nearly everyone who wears pants also is carrying a large mobile device. Rather than the horrible protrusion presented by traditional pants pockets, an observer from the front will behold only a small portion of the smartphone seemingly placed on the wearer’s lower right hip. As long as the phone and/or case is a conservative color, the overall aesthetic is much more professional.
The Navy does not need another transmogrification of its venerable traditional uniforms. What is vital is the modern evolution of our working and service uniforms to comfortably and fashionably accommodate the ubiquitous large smartphone. I am confident that, instead of yet another color change or cover shift, nearly 100 percent of the pant wearers and cell phone users fleet-wide would appreciate the update to a 21st-century pant.
1. Pew Research Center, Mobile Fact Sheet.
2. U.S. Navy Uniform Regulations, Article 2101.3.C.(1).
3. Ibid., Article 2101.3.C.(1).b.
Lieutenant Cordial is assigned to the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations, Surface Warfare Division. He previously served as an assistant professor of naval science at the George Washington University NROTC unit.