The U.S. Army's top enlisted soldier released new details Monday about how soldiers will wear the new Army Greens uniform.
It's been about three months since the Army approved the new World War II-style Army Greens uniform as the replacement blue Army Service Uniform, or ASU.
In a new podcast sponsored by the Association of the United States Army, Sergeant Major of the Army Daniel Dailey said the service is working out the details of how soldiers will wear the new Greens.
"There is some talk about, 'should we reduce the amount of things we have on the ASU versus the Army Green uniform to make it more simple?' " Dailey said on the first episode of AUSA's Army Matters Podcast.
The Army plans to issue the new uniform to about 200 recruiters, possibly beginning this month as part of a pilot to work out any minor design changes before it issues the uniform to the entire recruiting force, Dailey said.
The current plan is to field the Army Greens uniform to recruiters first, then begin issuing it as a clothing bag item to new soldiers in 2020. All soldiers will be required to wear the new uniform by 2028, Dailey said.
The current ASU will become the Army's optional dress uniform.
Army officials are considering looking at how the Greatest Generation wore their dress uniforms during World War II as they draft revisions to the wear policy for the new Greens uniform, Dailey said.
"If we look at what they wore during that period, it was much less than what we wear today," Dailey said. "We are having discussions right now with the Senior Enlisted Council, the Army Uniform Board and Army senior leadership, and I think what you are going to see in the future is a change."
But beyond that, Dailey said nothing is finalized as far as how soldiers will wear awards and decorations on the new uniform.
The current guidance from Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley is "just tell them to go with what we have on the current ASU -- minus the name tag," Dailey said.
"I got a lot of comments on the internet about me missing my name tag; I wasn't," Dailey said, referring to the occasions when he wore a prototype of the new uniform. "It wasn't worn during the major portion of the World War II time period, and that is a decision we have already made. We are not going to wear a name tag on the Army green uniform."
New soldiers will be issued the Greens jacket, two pairs of pants, socks, brown leather shoes, a short-sleeve shirt and long-sleeve shirt, neck tie, garrison cap and an all-weather coat, Dailey said.
Female soldiers will have the option of wearing a skirt and pumps, Dailey said.
"This is the first time in history that we put together an all-female uniform board, and we gave them the opportunity to specifically design their uniform for the needs of our female soldiers," Dailey said.
"So there is a difference ... between the male and the female version and some of the items that we issue, but there is also some similarities. They made the decision to go along with the same headgear as our male uniforms and also the same tie. There won't be a neck tab on the new uniform."
In addition to optional items such as an Ike jacket, windbreaker and brown leather bomber-style jacket, Dailey said there likely will be a sweater for purchase as well. Uniform officials are looking at different designs such as a cardigan and pullover version, Dailey said.
"We know we probably want it to be brown, but I don't know the exact design, so we are going to work through that," Dailey said.
He added that the Army Green uniform is still very recognizable as the uniform soldiers wore during World War II.
"The Greatest Generation is still very much in the minds of the American people and that is what we are trying to capitalize on," Dailey said.
-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
