Uniforms of The United States Air Force - Service Dress

Service Dress

When the U.S. Air Force first became a fully separate branch in 1947 personnel continued to wear uniforms nearly identical to the U.S. Army. The first Air Force-specific blue dress uniform, introduced in 1949, was in Shade 1683, also dubbed "Uxbridge Blue" after the former Bachman-Uxbridge Worsted Company. An Ike jacket, inherited from the Army Air Forces but in Shade 1683, was an optional uniform item.

In the early 1960s the blue uniform, including headgear, transitioned to a new and slightly updated version known as Shade 1549. The Ike jacket gave way to a long sleeve winter blue shirt with epaulettes and ties in Shade 1549. In the case of this shirt, which would continue in use until the early 1980s, epaulettes were unadorned, with officers wearing small rank insignia on the collar and enlisted personnel sewn-on cloth insignia on the sleeves. Service cap devices, "U.S." collar insignia and occupational insignia worn on the left breast had a satin nickel finish, while officer rank insignia had a mirror finish.

Tan service dress uniforms and tan long sleeve shirts nicknamed "silver-tans" for the sheen of the particular shade continued into use into the early 1960s. Tan short sleeve cotton shirts and trousers for males also continued in use until the mid-1970s, while females wore light blue combinations. In the early-1970s, a light blue Shade 1550 short sleeve shirt or blouse and Shade 1549 dark blue trousers replaced these. Early versions of the short sleeve Shade 1550 shirt in the 1970s were characterized by small pin-on metal rank insignia for officers, similar to what had been the case for the Shade 1505 shirt, while enlisted personnel continues to wear sewn-on cloth sleeve rank insignia. This variant was later replaced by a new short sleeve shirt in Shade 1550, plus a long sleeve shirt in Shade 1550 with dark blue (Shade 1549) tie, both of which incorporated buttonable shoulder epaulette straps. For officers, a dark blue slip on "soft rank" shoulder loop was created to slide over the epaulettes, with rank insignia consisting of embroidered metallic thread on a dark blue background, while enlisted personnel continued to wear cloth rank insignia on the sleeves with the shoulder epaulettes unadorned. This 1550/1549 uniform combination replaced earlier duty uniform variants and the blue service dress uniform became the single form of service dress.

The first proposals for a service uniform featured minimal ornamentation, at the request of top commanders. However, many lower-ranked officers requested more specific badges and insignia. This debate continued into the 1980s, at which point the viewpoints in favor of greater badges and insignia had generally prevailed, and badges were issued for almost all occupational areas.

Prior to 1993, all Air Force personnel wore blue service uniforms (Shade 1549 coats and trousers and Shade 1550 shirts) very similar in appearance to the green Service Dress "A" and "B" uniforms of the U.S. Army. A short-lived "ceremonial blue" uniform and "ceremonial white" uniform was also implemented in the mid-1980s and discontinued by the late 1990s. Mandatory for field grade officers and above, the blue version was identical to the blue service uniform with the exception of silver metallic sleeve braid replacing the dark blue mohair sleeve braid and hard "should board" insignia from the officer's mess dress uniform worn in lieu of large metal rank insgnia. The white uniform was identical in cut and style to the blue version and also incorporated the metallic sleeve braid and shoulder board rank insignia.

The current U.S. Air Force Service Dress Uniform, which was initially adopted in 1993 and made mandatory on 1 October 1999, consists of a three-button coat, similar to that of a men's "sport jacket" (with silver mirror-finish "U.S." pins on the lapels), matching trousers, and either a service cap or flight cap, all in Shade 1620, also known as "Air Force Blue." This is worn with a light blue shirt (Shade 1550) and a herringbone patterned necktie (Shade 1620). Metal buttons on the dress uniform were also changed at this time, transitioning satin finish buttons that employed the contemporary U.S. Air Force seal to a historically significant retro insignia that had been used by the U.S. Army Air Forces as a shoulder patch during World War II. This change was also applied to buttons on service hats retaining the chin strap and to buttons on mess dress uniforms, to include mess dress shoulder board insignia for officers.

Enlisted airmen wear cloth rank insignia on both sleeves of the jacket and shirt, while officers wear metal rank insignia pinned onto the epaulets of the coat, and Air Force Blue slide-on loops ("soft rank" shoulder insignia) on the epaulets of the shirt. Officers also wear a band of dark blue cloth sleeve braid loops 3 inches from the cuffs of the sleeves of the coat. Braid is worn in a 1/2-inch width for officers in the rank of colonel and below and in a 1-inch width for general officers.

Prospective commissioned officers in a pre-commissioning status, i.e., USAFA cadets, college and university AFROTC cadets, and OTS officer trainees wear slide-on cadet or officer trainee "soft rank" insignia on their shirts and hard "shoulder boards" (similar to commissioned officer mess dress shoulder epaulette insignia) on their service dress coats, again with cadet or officer trainee rank insignia appropriate to their specific commissioning program. The typical headgear for all is a soft peaked "flight cap," with blue cloth piping for enlisted personnel, medium density silver metallic thread piping for cadets/officer trainees, company grade and field grade officers, and heavy density silver metallic thread piping for general officers.

Air Force personnel assigned to base honor guard duties wear, for certain occasions, a modified version of the standard service dress uniform, with silver trim on the sleeves and trousers, a ceremonial belt (if necessary), wheel cap with silver trim and Hap Arnold cap device, and a silver aiguillete placed on the left shoulder seam.

The service dress uniform currently worn is a modification of the original version envisioned by former Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Merrill McPeak, which featured no epaulets for any rank, and silver sleeve braid loops on the lower sleeves denoting officer rank (see also: United States Air Force officer rank insignia). This style of rank insignia for officers, while used by British Royal Air Force officers and air force officers of other British commonwealth and former commonwealth nations, is also the style of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard service dress blue uniforms, as well as those of navies of nearly all other nations. The insignia was unpopular and many senior Air Force generals commented that the uniforms of the Air Force now looked identical to those of commercial airline pilots. The McPeak Uniform was abolished in 1999 and remains the shortest issued military insignia series in the history of the United States armed forces.

Epaulettes were put back on the coat for metal officer rank insignia and braiding returned to the bottom of the sleeves. But the compromise uniform continued to be unpopular, primarily from its civilian-style cut. Several additional changes were made to make the jacket seem more military in appearance.

The current USAF service dress uniform continues to include the three button blue coat. However, as a matter of practicality for daily duty, particularly in warm weather climates, USAF personnel will typically wear the short-sleeve or long-sleeve Shade 1550 light blue shirt (for men) or short-sleeve or long-sleeve light blue blouse (for women) as an outer garment, with or without a tie or tie tab, with applicable rank insignia, speciality badges and a blue plastic name tag (ribbons are optional). A variety of alternate outer garments are also authorized for this uniform combination such as blue pullover sweater, blue cardigan sweater, lightweight blue jacket, or brown leather A-2 flight jacket (A-2 flight jacket wear is limited to aeronautically rated officers, enlisted aircrew, and officer and enlisted space and missile operations personnel only).

On 18 May 2006 the Department of the Air Force unveiled two prototypes of new service dress uniforms, one resembling the stand-collar uniform worn by U.S. Army Air Corps officers prior to 1935, called the "Billy Mitchell heritage coat," and another, resembling the U.S. Army Air Forces' Uniform of World War II and named the "Hap Arnold heritage coat". If the stand-collar coat was selected, it would be the first stand-collar "everyday" uniform to be issued since the 1930s (the U.S. Navy's and U.S. Coast Guard's male service dress white and full dress white and the U.S. Marine Corps' male service dress blue and full dress blue uniform stand-collar coats are worn for formal occasions only). In 2007, Air Force officials announced they had settled on the "Hap Arnold" look, with a belted suit coat, but with narrower lapels than the original prototype. However, in 2009, General Norton Schwartz, the new Chief of Staff of the Air Force, directed that "no further effort be made on the Heritage Coat" so that the focus would remain on near-term uniform needs. While the evaluation results of the heritage coat would be made available to the Air Force's leaders should they decide to implement the uniform change, the uniform overhaul is currently on hold indefinitely.