Uniform Hokey Pokey

At the most recent Army birthday ball, the Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) announced that the Army would do away with the beret (that black wool rag that has less than zero utility as a hat) and return to the old fashioned patrol cap (the one that is a real cap, with a bill that keeps the sun and rain off your face) for the Army Combat Uniform (ACU - the funny looking camouflage uniform most soldiers wear every day).  He got a standing ovation.  Then a few days later, the 37th Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) made it policy that, starting on October 1st, every soldier in the Pentagon would start wearing the Army Service Uniform (ASU - the new blue version of "dress greens") as the daily duty uniform.  First, every soldier in the Pentagon said, "crap, we still wear the beret with that uniform".  Then a gold rush of sorts started as everyone went out to get multiple pairs of pants and shirts, a second pair of shoes and all the accessories they'd never bought because you only wear that uniform once in a blue moon.  The clothing sales stores at the Pentagon, Ft. Meyer, and Ft. Belvoir have been totally picked over and all the popular sizes have been gone for weeks.  Add to that the fact that AAFES is short on many items system wide and the situation is starting to get a little desperate, now that October 1st is just around the corner.

As you probably know, almost as soon as the 37th took the job as CSA, he left to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Well, today the 38th CSA signed out a memo that said we will still wear the ASU to work - but only on Fridays.  First, there was a collective sigh of relief.  Then, there was a collective realization that we'd all just spent all that cash to buy the new stuff that we won't be needing now and the pants are all hemmed and the shirts are all laundered and pressed, so they can't be returned.  Oh well, I guess I'll need all that stuff eventually and I'd rather it hang in the closet than wear it.