The Navy's search for a comfortable and flame-resistant uniform continues.
Sailors complain that the rapidly fielded flame-resistant variant coverall is not breathable and doesn't wear well after coming back from the laundry.
Fleet sailors have been testing two updated versions of this uniform. One is a better fitting coverall and the other is a blue flight suit, both of which the service may field.
The brass is also looking in a new direction after feedback from sailors who tested the uniforms aboard attack submarine Newport News, amphibious assault ship Kearsarge, and destroyer Carney also has the brass looking in a new direction.
"Sailor feedback continues to affirm, one, the need for FR layering options for use in a wide range of working environments and climates, and, two, the continuing requirement for a two-piece flame resistant (FR) uniform that could be worn afloat, ashore and off base," Rear Adm. Pete Stamatopoulos, the director of fleet ordnance and supply at Fleet Forces Command, said in an email. "Consequently, the Fleet is now in the process of working with Navy Clothing Textile Research Facility in Natick, Massachusetts to develop prototypes of two distinct variants of a two-piece FR working uniform as shaped by Fleet focus groups."
Navy officials are still working towards a prototype. The result is likely to resemble Coast Guard's working uniform. Their Operational Dress Uniform is a solid blue, utility-style blouse and pants.
Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke says the Navy won't know what the seabag will look like until all the details are worked out, but sources tell Navy Times the most likely scenario is the seabag will have woodland cammies and two of these yet-to-be-designed FR uniforms.
"Our goal would be to minimize the variations of the working uniform as much as possible to standardization — to simply, effectively and cost efficiently bring this into the seabag," Burke said in an interview. "What that looks like, whether it's two variants or one, I can't say right now."
Mark D. Faram is a former reporter for Navy Times. He was a senior writer covering personnel, cultural and historical issues. A nine-year active duty Navy veteran, Faram served from 1978 to 1987 as a Navy Diver and photographer.
