Uniforms of the United States Navy
A black silk or synthetic fiber neckerchief, rolled diagonally, is worn around the neck, under the collar, with the ends tied in a square knot in the center of the chest.
For a brief period in the 1970s and early 1980s, male enlisted sailors in paygrades E-1 to E-6 wore a double-breasted blue uniform based on the version worn by officers and CPOs, but with grey buttons and a combination cap with an emblem consisting of a silver eagle and the letters "USN".
[8][9] This uniform was phased out and was replaced by a female-cut variant of the "crackerjacks" with the transition begun in October 2016 and completed by the end of January 2020 (delayed from its initial date of December 2019).
Full Dress uniforms are worn for ceremonies such as changes of command, retirements, commissionings and decommissionings, funerals, weddings, or when otherwise appropriate.
The female version is substantially the same as Dinner Dress Blue Jacket, but substitutes the mother-of-pearl studs and cuff links for gold.
Colloquially referred to as "Peanut Butters"[citation needed] (due to the color), it is a short-sleeved khaki button-up shirt and matching trousers, worn with a gold belt buckle.
The service uniform also includes a black relaxed-fit jacket with a knit stand-up collar and epaulets, on which petty officers wear large, silver anodized-metal rate insignia.
Accessories included a navy blue cotton T-shirt, an eight-point utility cover, and a web belt with closed buckle.
The uniform was worn with rank insignia on both collar points and on the front panel of the utility cover, with sew-on name and "U.S. NAVY" tapes, also on the new digital background pattern, having gold-colored lettering for officers, CPOs and midshipmen.
[25] The uniforms are composed of a 50/50 nylon and cotton blend, which eliminates the need for a "starch and press" appearance and reduces the possibility of snags and tears from sharp objects (thus making the garment last longer).
It has largely replaced for shipboard use polyester cotton blend coveralls that provided inadequate fire protection and the NWU Type I for the same reason.
All sailors in service uniforms are authorized to wear a black waist-length relaxed-fit jacket with knit cuff worn with appropriate rank devices on the shoulder boards.
The Combat Utility Uniform (CUU) is authorized for those in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Fleet Diver communities.
Also, Navy personnel assigned to some joint headquarters units, like Central Command in Qatar and Iraq, wear Desert Utility Uniforms (DUU).
[46] Naval Academy midshipmen, in addition to standard Navy officer uniforms, also wear parade dress of traditional 19th-century military cut, waist-length tunics with stand collars and double rows of gold buttons.
[48] Introduced in 2008, the Navy Working Uniform in blue and gray pixelated camouflage was only in service until 2019, having already been banned from shipboard use when it was found not to be flame-retardant.
It had been subject to mockery both inside and outside the Navy, as "Aquaflage", "Blueberries", and "Battle Dress Oceanic," and pointed questions about the utility of camouflage for ships' crews.
[50] Naval aviators typically flew patrol bombers from shore bases until the first United States aircraft carrier USS Langley was commissioned on 20 March 1922.
Later on, through the Vietnam War, the trousers and jacket were often made of light wool or wool-blend fabric as routine access to dry-cleaning facilities became available.
The uniform was dropped in 1975 by then-Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral James Holloway, in order to reduce the number of items in the officer's seabag.
This uniform was frequently worn in public by Adm. Mike Mullen during his time as Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Mullen was seen wearing this uniform with the jacket removed in the photograph in the White House Situation Room during the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.
Exceptionally rarely worn, though authorized with this uniform, was a pith helmet, with a Naval Officer's insignia at the front, above the brim.
[61][62] This short-lived uniform for officers and CPOs was only authorized from 1943–49, but was a common sight on the East Coast and in the Atlantic/European Theater during World War II.
The gray uniform was introduced by then-Chief of Naval Operations Ernest King, who thought khaki was more appropriate to land forces; Admiral Chester W. Nimitz disliked it and discouraged its wear in the Pacific Fleet.
Starting in 1995, the white hat was no longer authorized for wear with dungarees, and the command (or Navy) ballcap became the predominant cover.
In fact, until World War II dungarees could only be worn in port in ships' interior spaces, below the main deck or inside gun turrets.
Boots of this type had zig-zag patterned out-soles to avoid gathering FOD (Foreign Object Debris) between the ridges that could litter the flight deck and cause potential damage to aircraft.
Utilities consisted of dark blue chino cloth trousers with a polyester–cotton blend shirt, and were considered an updated version of the dungarees uniform of which they shared an aesthetic similarity.
The "Donald Duck" was worn with the Service Dress Blue uniform on more formal occasions in lieu of the white "Dixie cup."
The ribbon carried the name of the wearer's ship or station embroidered in gold until 1941, when this was replaced with a generic "U.S. Navy" as a wartime security measure.
