Friday, April 20, 2012

Women & Combo Covers

Oh come on - almost all of us have seen women wearing combo covers that men wear ... just not outside the bedroom (Am I bad for saying that? Deny it .... ).

This is interesting.
1. Purpose. To publish the policies and procedures governing a Department of the Navy initiative to conduct a fit and wear evaluation of the current male combination cap by female Midshipmen assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy and female members of the U.S. Naval Academy Band. This is part of the Department of the Navy’s goal to further a climate of inclusion for female Sailors and officers. Enclosure (1) depicts the proper wear of the male combination cap.
Ummmmmm, yea. It is the combo cover that is making women want to stay at home with their children in the 30s instead of doing the LCDR to make CDR grind mid-career. I knew it was something that simple.

Should be interesting to see how it works out. I am sure women will find it just as difficult to fit in a seabag as the men ... and it won't make a hill of beans difference. 

For a lot of the smaller women with small nogg'ns - they may look a bit Soviet .... but good luck.

Yep .... look at page 4 of the link above (the pic above ain't it). It actually manages to make the female in uniform even less attractive - and almost Soviet with the comparative size of the lid.

Note to the Navy. If you want a good female uniform; go visit the French Air Force or the Czech or Slovak military for a start.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Gather feedback from the Staff and Brigade of Midshipmen." Ha! What are the odds they're going to solicit "feedback" from anyone wearing fewer than three (half-inch) stripes? Apparently EVERY female on the USNA uniform board said not only "No," but "HELL NO!" Every. Single. One.

For a culture that (loudly) proclaims its EEO policies, this is a remarkably head-in-the-sand action. If USNA's policies are so supportive of EEO, there should in fact BE no "circle of exclusivity" for females to be subjected to, as this Instruction implies. By doing this, they're putting the lie to the much-touted policies put in place previously.

This "trial run" is just a smokescreen to mask the fact the decision has already been made by someone above and outside USNA. The USNA leadership is just playing along because it's politically expedient to do so.

After four years there, I'm still proud of the fact I went there, because it's definitely a place with a proud legacy. At the same time, less than five years out I'm turning into one of those old guys who shakes his head and says "What is happening to my alma mater? Things were so much better when I was there." It's sad to see the place that produced the likes of Farragut, Nimitz, Halsey, and Stockdale reduced to political pandering in order to keep its public image a popular one.

Guinness said...

The brunette in the tube top is wearing the combo cover correctly. The midship-person in the Navy instruction, not so much...

Anonymous said...

Worked with Clark in New London, kind of surprised he's going along with this one. He's old school.

Anonymous said...

I spent a semester of my 4 years by the Bay up at West Point with the whoops. The female cadets wear the same male combo cover, and they hate it. One of the only good things about Navy female uniforms is the more comfortable, more flattering combination cover.

Instead of trying to pretend that all midshipmen, regardless of gender or race, are the same, why don't we embrace the differences and use everyone's talents to the best of their ability?

Anonymous said...

Instead of going with the cover, couldn't they have given female mids the same style pants as the guys? I mean seriouly, female blues pockets were barely functional, and made it so we had to have different pants for our SDB's! Plus they sat so high up I looked like I was either trying to be an elderly man or a nerd. I had to get them taken out by a civilian tailor in order to get them to sit at my hips, while the guys' pants already did.

Anonymous said...

Can we just stop changing the female uniform based on a handful of folks in DC? Between the female uniform and overall uniform changes...I have likely spent a years O6 salary....what now have to wear a cover like the males...that's supposed to do something about attitudes?? It is bad enough that we now have a great uniform that ensures you are not be seen if you fall overboard...now another good idea fairy idea to ensure we spend more money to support bubba's uniform factory....

Anonymous said...

Get in the game stop with seperate but equal crap
How bout understanding there are far less differences among men & women
and far greater differences among individuals.
It's about time females wear the combination hat and start acting like they have respect instead of wearing uniforms that make them look like 2 nd class. Trade those 1940's pants for some up to date low rise waist- pants