Question about AFI36-2903

[The Little Greek]

Air Force folks please tell me I'm not crazy....

I just kinda take for granted the fact that I know how to wear my ABUs. We get tons of memos about gortex, fleece, watch caps etc so I've never had to refer to the AFI. But today we started our bag drag drills and there was some issue taken over the color socks we should wear. I have searched high and low through just about every AFI supplement on epubs and can find NOTHING about ABUs. Crazy, yes or no?

My socks are not the issued dark green (those are just terrible). Instead I have some brownish-green Smartwool socks that are great and they match my ABUs perfectly. No one has checked my bag yet and I'm not overly concerned, but I'd like to bust out some regs if a certain NCOIC tries to be a smart mouth.

Come on carolinapooh, I know you can come through for me. LOL!

[mobro]

where can i get these socks you have? i bought the green ones from the base and they itch a little- just wanted a back up plan.

[The Little Greek]

where can i get these socks you have? i bought the green ones from the base and they itch a little- just wanted a back up plan.

Google "smartwool light hiker". They are by no means cheap! Sometimes I can find them at SierraTradingPost.com for about $6 a pair. If there is an LLBean outlet near your house you might find them there too. Smartwools last forever and they are super warm so I'm fine with paying a pretty penny for them.

I was just at CASF training in Wichita Falls, TX when we got 6-7 inches of snow. We were outside building Alaskan tents in the freezing wind (temps below 20 with wind chill). One of my tent-mates was FREEZING and almost got frostbite. I let her use a pair of my smartwools and now she's hooked too.

All this said, don't throw away those ugly green issue socks yet. I'm not sure what the AFI says so you may need to wear them over your good socks!

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Sage green socks with the ABUs are the only color authorized UNLESS YOU'RE WEARING BLACK BOOTS, in which case you can wear black socks. Socks must match the boot (stupid, stupid, so very stupid). There is a supplement to the AFI written to cover ABUs. The only place I can find this right now is in the listing from the last uniform board, which I've pasted below (this was a list of stuff they said "no" to, and one of the items was black socks):

32) BLACK SOCKS WITH ABU (SAGE GREEN SOCKS MUST BE WORN WITH THE SAGE GREEN BOOT; TAN OR SAGE SOCKS MUST BE WORN WITH THE TAN BOOT UNTIL 2011)

I'm trying to find the stupid supplement to 36-2903 and I can't find the thing, but I'm still looking.

Get your hands on the UnderArmour ones - they're compression socks, they're warm, and your feet don't sweat as bad. The drawback is they're about nine bucks a pair, but I SWEAR by them. I bought them at two Air Force bases and saw them at two others, so I know they're out there. They're sage green and I love them.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

OK, I found a link to a page at Dover AFB that had this to say:

Making the transition, Airmen change from BDUs to ABUs

Posted 3/17/2008 Updated 3/17/2008 Email story Print story

by Senior Airman Andria J. Allmond

512th Public Affairs

3/17/2008 - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Reservist wearing digitally printed sage uniforms are beginning to be seen across Dover AFB. This may incline some to hang up the old Battle Dress Uniforms for the new Airman Battle Uniform before the mandatory wear date of October 2011. To assist Airmen through the transition from the BDU to the ABU, there are several resources available in print, online and via the phone.

According to Air Force Instruction 36-2903, Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force Personnel, the ABU arrangement includes:

- ABU coat (shirt);

- ABU trouser;

- ABU patrol cap;

- Desert sand-colored t-shirt (light tan);

- Desert sand-colored rigger belt;

- Sage green boot socks and

- Sage green suede boots (Desert sand-colored suede boots authorized until ABU mandatory wear date)

ABU t-shirts must be crew neck style and is authorized for wear with the olive drab green and desert flight suits. Desert sand-colored turtlenecks are authorized in cold weather. ABU sleeves may be rolled per table 2.2 of AFI 36-2903.

Organizational caps are no longer authorized. The ABU patrol cap is the

authorized headgear for wear with the ABU.

Aeronautical and chaplain badges are authorized. Duty shields are required for Force Protection and Fire Protection. Occupational badges are optional with all other badges being unauthorized. No patches or command insignias are authorized on the ABU. A name tape, a "U.S. Air Force" tape and rank are required on the ABU coat.

Optional accessories such as backpacks, briefcases, hydration systems and gym

bags should continue to be black, olive drab or Air Force sage green.

Do not starch, hot press or use detergents with optical brighteners. A list of approved laundry detergents can be found on the AF Portal at http://www.my.af.mil. Click on the Air Force Uniform Program link and then read the talking paper titled, "What does the term 'Optical Brighteners' mean?"

According to the ABU Policy Message, dated September 2007, the ABU sage green boots are authorized for wear with all utility uniforms - ABU, BDU, Desert Camouflage Uniform, olive drab flight suit and desert tan flight suit. According to the Air Force Personnel Call Center, sock colors for uniform and boot combinations are as follows:

- BDU with black boots wear black socks

- BDU with sage green boots wear sage green socks

- ABU with sage green boots wear sage green socks

- ABU with tan boots wear black or sage green socks

Col. Randal L. Bright, 512th Airlift Wing commander, authorizes the

combination of the ABU uniform with the woodland Gore-Tex coat until June 1 in the following circumstances:

- New Airmen who've only been issued ABUs and have received a Gore-Tex coat here

- When a wing member no longer has a serviceable set of BDUs and is issued ABUs and not an ABU jacket.

Questions pertaining to the ABU wear policy can be directed to the Air Force Personnel Call Center at DSN 665-5000 or toll-free [phone]. More information including the latest news and frequently asked questions can be found on the AF Portal's uniform page.

In COT, we were instructed that sage boots = sage socks, and it's in PRINT SOMEWHERE - I think it's on the Air Force Portal. But it is definitely in print.

I'm still looking because it's driving me nuts.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

I'm still not having any luck and I can't get on the AF Portal.

[midinphx, BSN]

Carolinapooh is obsessive compulsive! Such a great trait!

[The Little Greek]

Thanks carolinapooh! It's driving me crazy as well. I can't stand that something is being enforced (and that someone is being ugly about it) when the information is clearly not easily accessed. So when you were at COT, did you not get those dark green socks? My class was the first to get ABUs and we had to buy those dark green things--horrible! I'm going to look for the UnderArmour socks today. I hope they feel like my Smartwools because I LOVE those socks!

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Having been prior enlisted, I knew that when you can avoid military issue ANYTHING, you'll be that much happier. It took trips to three Air Force bases and a few months (I was trying to buy stuff in the summer, which is harder) for me to get all my uniform stuff. I actually found the UnderArmour socks at the first base I went to - Seymour Johnson. They had two pair and I snapped them up. Then I found more at Bolling, and completed my collection at Charleston. I went to COT with six pairs.

When I finally saw the issue socks (I think it was at Bolling on another trip - my dad's buried at Arlington so I used to go to DC about once a month), I knew the money I'd spent was well worth it!

What I like about them is they're thin, and they're compression, so when I get to work and change into scrubs, I just leave them on and don't bother changing them.

Mid - not just a bit OCD - ha ha - but I'm an ex Air Force cop, and we were OBSESSED with 36-2903...when I got to COT I could still reel off stuff like "the metal rank goes 1 and 1/2 inches from the edge of the epaulet and centered"! Not kidding!

[midinphx, BSN]

With prior service in the Army, I was Soldier of the Year at my base. I used to reel off military trivia without a thought. Most of that is gone, or changed. i wore BDU's and all this stuff is brand new again.

Question: old military awards. wear them or not? (mine being Army).

[UTstudent]

Can us prior service (AF) wear our AF training ribbon?

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Yes. You will get an oak leaf cluster for it once you graduate from COT. The rule with ribbons is, if you've earned it already, you can wear it. You'll have a bunch of non-priors try to tell you otherwise, but they're wrong, unless staff says you can't (which I'd be surprised if they did, since that's an AF reg). What you can't wear is that oak leaf until you graduate, but I bought an extra training ribbon and put an oak leaf on it to wear for my photo.