Khaki vs. Green Flight Suits and who can wear brown boots

[A4sForever]

Humor an ol' man w/ a question :

Since the original poster asked a 'green vs khaki' question and titled the thread accordingly ... and we used to wear 'khaki' flight suits/zoom bags (and orange, too, when we could get 'em) ... and, or course, we were saddled w/ the ubiquitous 'green' bags in a couple of iterations, whether we liked them or not ...

Why don't you guys call 'em "KHAKI" ... instead of 'tan' ... ???

"Khaki" = Navy/USMC tradition & all ... ??? Yeah, sure ... I know that times change, but the Navy still wears 'KHAKI' ... not 'tans'.

"'Pinks' (tan) & Greens" -- that's Army; not Navy.

So why don't you call the current version a 'KHAKI' flight suit?? Inquiring minds want to know ...

​

WW2 USN fighter pilot :

• M-450 flight helmet with TH-37 headset
• AN-6530 flight goggles
• Khaki AN-S-31 flight suit
• B-5 "Mae West"
• Chest holster with Colt .45 pistol
• USN issue seat-type parachute made by Switlik
• M-380 flight boots

​

 

[wlawr005]

We always called them desert flight suits...and like Pags said, they were for deployment only. I never even heard of tan flight suits stateside until I got on this forum. Maybe it's a community thing?

I also agree with phrogdriver...no matter what you wear, EVERYONE should wear the same thing. Otherwise it looks kinda stupid.

 

[zippy]

I never understood the Navy way in the VT's where people basically wore whatever they felt like that day for a fashion statement.

I don't know when that trend started. It used to be all students wore green flight suits. period. Instructors did too. Marines could wear subdued patches after they solo'd. I have no problem with MATSG dictating flight suit color changes with the season but there really is no reason to wear tan flight suits in the VTs. You are not going to go down and E&E from emergency services. Thats like the Air Force painting their training aircraft tacticool grey.

I find the lack of uniformity among the rest of the students annoying.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

Humor an ol' man w/ a question :

Since the original poster asked a 'green vs khaki' question and titled the thread accordingly ... and we used to wear 'khaki' flight suits/zoom bags (and orange, too, when we could get 'em) ... and, or course, we were saddled w/ the ubiquitous 'green' bags in a couple of iterations, whether we liked them or not ...

Why don't you guys call 'em "KHAKI" ... instead of 'tan' ... ???

So why don't you call the current version a 'KHAKI' flight suit?? Inquiring minds want to know

I can't say when we stopped calling the "khaki", but I've only heard "tan" or "desert". Then again, I've also never worn a tie with my flightsuit...

 

[A4sForever]

I can't say when we stopped calling the "khaki", but I've only heard "tan" or "desert". Then again, I've also never worn a tie with my flightsuit...

You mean you've never worn Service Dress Zoom-Bag Khaki ... ???

 

[Pags]

I don't know when that trend started. It used to be all students wore green flight suits. period. Instructors did too. Marines could wear subdued patches after they solo'd. I have no problem with MATSG dictating flight suit color changes with the season but there really is no reason to wear tan flight suits in the VTs. You are not going to go down and E&E from emergency services. Thats like the Air Force painting their training aircraft tacticool grey.

I find the lack of uniformity among the rest of the students annoying.

I think it started when they ran out of green flightsuits and just started issuing the next thing they had, the khaki flight suits, to all the kids in API. So not everyone had green flightsuits and not everyone had khaki flightsuits, so folks just had to relax since wearing a flightsuit, not the color, is what's important.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

You mean you've never worn Service Dress Zoom-Bag Khaki ... ???

I suppose that could be one benefit. After a flight you could just throw on a green jacket and then Navy types are in aviation working greens and Marines would be in service A's to be allowed out in town

 

[jarhead]

... I have no problem with MATSG dictating flight suit color changes with the season ....

MATSG doesn’t dictate uniform changes, the Commandant of the Marine Corps does.

 

[zippy]

MATSG doesn’t dictate uniform changes, the Commandant of the Marine Corps does.

CMC dictates the dates everyone changes flight suit colors... noted. Learned something new today.

 

[HeyJoe]

Of course, before we got desert or even green NOMEX zoom bags, there were the High Viz Orange flight suits that went by wayside* after they didn't blend very well in jungles of Viet Nam. Then there were the Blue Angel blue flight suits favored by NALO.

*Our duty Aadvark wore them in VF-114 even after they disappeared from supply system.

 

[Recovering LSO]

One does have to wonder why they TRACOM doesn't adorn its young aviators in orange anymore Maybe because we're not jumping out of airplanes at the prodigious rate that we once were, but why be dressed to conceal and not to be seen?

 

[Pags]

High Viz Orange flight suits that went by wayside

I've tried to get one....some Station SAR guys still manage to find them, but they seem to guard them pretty jealously. My current XO has one that he wears on Halloween. A Gator SAR det from my last squadron considered getting them to stand out on the ship as the "SAR guys" but didn't want to spend the $200/per.

 

[statesman]

One does have to wonder why they TRACOM doesn't adorn its young aviators in orange anymore Maybe because we're not jumping out of airplanes at the prodigious rate that we once were, but why be dressed to conceal and not to be seen?

Probably the same reason they are issuing the brown boots in API.... Money wise it makes far more sense to issue as much 'fleet' gear as possible, as opposed to issuing gear specific to the TRACOM which is only going to be replaced upon check-in to the RAG / Fleet sqdn.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

Probably the same reason they are issuing the brown boots in API.... Money wise it makes far more sense to issue as much 'fleet' gear as possible, as opposed to issuing gear specific to the TRACOM which is only going to be replaced upon check-in to the RAG / Fleet sqdn.

I've got two pairs of black boots I'm not allowed to wear anymore. One slightly worn and the other has never been laced up.

 

[phrogdriver]

"Not allowed" to wear? Is that a command thing? Black boots may not be issued anymore, but they are authorized.

I wouldn't want to wear the black ones, anyway. They're an abomination.