In November 1997, Proceedings published my Nobody Asked Me, But . . . entitled “Leave Our Flight Jackets Alone!” I wrote it in reaction to a change in the uniform regulations that prohibited flight jackets from being decorated with anything other than a nametag, a U.S. flag, and a single squadron insignia patch.
I received some criticism in response to my article back then, all of it from surface warfare officers who appeared to be offended by flight jackets. At some point in his or her career, every pilot, naval flight officer, or aircrewman experiences some degree of hostility to flight jackets worn while on naval bases that are primarily home to ships and submarines. I certainly have. I have always suspected the root cause is envy, and it appears I’ve finally been proved right.
I just heard the Navy is going to begin issuing leather jackets to surface warfare officers starting in June. The jackets are described in official Navy communications as being “similar to the aviation bomber jacket.” They sure are, so much so that they would not look out of place if they turned up in the remake of Top Gun that, coincidentally, also is scheduled to be released in June. The only visual distinctions between the new surface warfare officer’s jacket and the traditional Navy G-1 flight jacket is that the new jacket is black instead of brown and its collar is leather instead of imitation wool.
This really bothers me. My leather flight jacket means so much to me. It is one of my most cherished possessions. I retired from the Navy many years ago, but I am so proud of my service as a naval aircrewman that I still wear my old leather flight jacket on a regular basis. Strangers often approach me and say, “I love your jacket,” and I always respond, “Thank you, I worked very hard to earn it.”
Yes, I worked hard to earn that jacket and the gold naval aircrewman wings that it signifies, and that is the point of this diatribe. The leather jacket is, and always has been, closely associated with aviation. Part of the reason I decided to fly for the Navy rather than the Air Force is that, when I enlisted in 1979, the guys who flew for the Navy still wore traditional leather flight jackets while the Air Force guys did not. I’m sure I am not the only one for whom this was part of the decision-making process.
Why can’t the black shoes come up with their own distinctive jacket, something that won’t cause them to be mistaken for aviation personnel? Until the 1960s, the Navy had something called a deck jacket or deck coat that was closely associated with ships. These are fashionable enough that they are still being made for the civilian market. What about the old pea coat? Why appropriate the traditional jacket of aviation personnel—and by so doing diminish its significance and obscure its meaning? It is bad enough that the current green camouflage working uniform makes everyone in the Navy look like they are in the Army. Now the Navy wants all surface warfare officers to look like naval aviators?
What this comes down to, I think, is that aviation has always been perceived as “cool,” and the surface warfare community wants to grab some of that coolness for itself. I’m okay with this in principle, except that in this case the “grab” comes at the expense of aviation.
Isn’t trying to look like a flyer when you aren’t one skirting dangerously close to the edges of “stolen valor”? My advice to the surface warfare community is, if you really want to look like a flyer, then do what I did and earn yourself wings.
