In World War 2, the famous "Stars and Stripes" cartoonist Bill Mauldin drew a comic of two soldiers seated on the ground, looking rather bedraggled. They are looking up at a rather stocky officer in a clean uniform, and one of the troops is saying to the other, "He's right. When we ain't fighting, we should ack like sojers." While some officers went a tad overboard - General Patton's insistence on neckties for men very near, if not actually on, the front lines, for instance - my father, a WW2 veteran of the Army Air Forces, always noted that he wore a tie every day he wasn't actually in an airplane. That was the standard. I have plenty of pictures of Dad taken during his WW2 service, and yes, he was almost always in pressed khakis, sometimes his "pinks" and green jacket, and always, a tie.
In my own time, we didn't wear ties, but the pride in appearance was a big part of soldiering. When on base, we generally wore the old battle dress uniforms - BDUs - and most of us kept them pressed and starched and our caps blocked, despite the rumors that we weren't supposed to do so. We reserved our issue boots for the field and wore the famed Corcoran jump boots in garrison - spit-shined to perfection. Soldiers weren't allowed to travel or even go off-post in battle dress, except to commute to home if you lived off-post. The minimum uniform for travel was Class B - the green uniform trousers, and the green uniform shirt with ribbons and badges, as shown above.
Looking strack was the order of the day. We took a lot of pride in it. We looked down on those who didn't.
So when I saw my friend, fellow veteran, and colleague Streiff take issue with the reception Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth received from a 3-star general in Germany, I was pretty amazed.
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Streiff wrote:
I'm old school on uniforms. I think the custom of wearing BDUs (utilities, fatigues, whatever you want to call the field uniform) all the time is horrendous. When I was a young officer, you weren't allowed to wear BDUs off-post. Period. You couldn't go to a fast food place or run an errand on the way home or at lunch wearing BDUs. In my view, if you can't break out the Class A uniform to welcome the SecDef and note the color guard is in dress uniform, then there is no possible occasion that calls for them. But, if you do wear BDUs to greet the SecDef, show him the respect of wearing a fresh set. Meeting the head of the Department of Defense in wrinkled BDUs is a calculated insult because I really don't believe this three-star or his aide are that stupid.
The only reason I won't say that I agree with this take is that I must, in all fairness, say that holy crap, yes I agree in every particular. When I was re-activated in 1986 for Operation Enduring Freedom, I ended up in Germany myself, on the staff of the Command Surgeon, U.S. Army, Europe (USAREUR). You'd better believe that even in BDUs that headquarters was spit-shined. And when you briefed the CINC, USAREUR, as we all did at one point or another, you'd better go the extra mile on that uniform. The fact that this sad sack didn't is telling.
There was a time when we took pride in "acting like sojers." And maybe, now, with better leadership, that will return. Besides, think of all the great late-night boot-shining parties the young troops are missing out on.
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What's more, we looked down on the sad sacks who didn't bother. I'm not talking about the line troops, the young enlisted guys, the E-4 Mafia, and the NCOs that were in the motor pool, on the range, in the chow hall, or anywhere else doing to work that kept the big Green Machine moving. I'm certainly not talking about being in the field. But during a parade? While conducting a briefing? During an inspection? Take some damn pride. There were always those who looked like they had been sleeping in their uniforms, and like they had polished their boots with a Hershey bar, and yeah, the rest of us didn't think much of them. They lacked pride, they lacked self-respect - at least, that's how we saw it. Many of us old vets still do.
And when receiving the Secretary of Defense? Seriously? That 3-star looked like he just fell out of a duffle bag. Shame on him. SecDef Hegseth, who knows what soldiering is, would have been justified in jacking that guy up in front of the troops.
There's a great pride in being a soldier. There's a great pride in looking like a soldier. The military bearing, the appearance, and the attention to detail, all demonstrate pride and discipline. That's something we need to bring back. Starting with that general.
