NaNo griping

[bedlamsbard]

All the research I've got to do and I'm most annoyed at the Army for planning to change the color of their uniforms. They're going over to Army Blue instead of what they have now, Army Green -- which y'all must have seen on TV if nowhere else -- and since Spaceforce is set slightly in the future, well, Beau Lorne wears Army Blue.

Damn, there goes that minor point of contention I was hoping for in the next scene, where Beau feels alienated from the rest of Cheyenne Mountain by the fact he's in Army green, not Air Force blue. Well, there goes that bit. *sigh*

(On the other hand, the fact that the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment is quartered at Hunter Army Airfield, which is an alternate landing site for NASA space shuttles? Too good not to use, and that's not even counting the fact it's two hours less travel time from there to Rock Hill, SC, than it would be from Fort Benning, where Beau was originally stationed. Amd I need that travel time shaved off for minor subplot reasons. *smiles sweetly* Let it never be said that good research nets you nothing.)

Comments

[mentalhygiene.livejournal.com]

But -- what -- how.

Bad Army, no biscuit. Come on now. Just because blue is prettier, don't be stealin' the AF's thunder, now.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I think their general mantra appears to be, "But we had it first!", which is to say, way back in the Revolutionary War.

Oh, Army.

[mentalhygiene.livejournal.com]

That doesn't count children. Besides. It makes sense this way: green is Army because Army = ground. Blue is for Air Force because Air Force = sky. (other shades of blue are for Navy because Navy = water). And the Marines ... well. Are Marines. They can do what they like. ;)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Also, because the Army is going, "Well, we have too many uniforms! We have white and green and blue and we want to simplify it!" It would be fairly simple just to simplify it to green because that's what's most well-known, but no. No, they have to be stubborn, which makes it pretty regulation color throughout the military as far as dress uniforms go. *double-checks* Navy has service dress blue and service dress white, but full dress is white. And service khakis, and winter blues, and...oh my God, the Navy needs to change their uniforms. Wait, hang on, the winter blues are black. Hell, if the Army was this complicated, no wonder they're going for the one single uniform.

Now, the Air Force, the Air Force is simple. They're all blue, all the time no matter what. No switching colors for them. The Marine Corps -- full dress is blues with red striping, looks like, and service dress is full khakis. And then there's red jackets sometimes, and khaki shirts sometimes, and white pants sometimes, and sometimes the women wear short skirts and sometimes they wear long skirts, and seriously, is the boatcloak still part of the uniform?

(Look, half the reason I didn't actually make it the Spaceforce was because I spent too damn long trying to figure out what color the dress uniforms would be. Really dark purple or really dark red, but then again...)

You know what, I'll stop now.

[mentalhygiene.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Air Force has got their act together. The other services ... well, it's probably from being as old as they are. Lots of uniform evolutions, lots of leftovers of tradition. The Air Force is really not even a whole century old.

The Marines ... yeah. There's also sometimes the khaki shirts with bluepants, and I think the white pants might be if someone's died and they need to look really fancy? And I hope the boatcloak is, because that's kind of hot.

The military would never wear purple. ;) Even really dark purple. Burgundy I could see, actually, like a dark, wine red. Brass buttons. White belt, white epaulets? (like a cross between Marine dress blues, and the movie-era star trek uniforms?)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I believe the Air Force is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary this year. And you're right, they don't have two hundred years of accrued tradition. I'm kind of hoping the Navy gets its act together next and clears up their uniform mess; the Marines at least make sense, mostly.

See, that was what I was thinking, more or less. Of course, since it's space, dark blue or black would be the obvious answer, but black is bad just on principle, and blue is used by, oh, every other branch of the service.