During a Senate hearing few days back, Gen. John Raymond, the US Space Force’s chief of space operations, displayed the latest prototype of the service’s dress uniform. After last year’s iteration was panned by critics, the new version includes significant modifications.
Notable changes on the US Space Force uniform that Raymond sported include “adding stripes down the pants, changing the pocket style, adding pockets on the lower half of the jacket, and decreasing the number of buttons on the interior enclosure of the jacket,” Maj. Vicky Porto, a department of the Air Force spokeswoman, said in an email.
The trousers looked reasonably tailored to a Military.com writer who saw Raymond leaving the hearing, although the addition of the stripes made the pants reminiscent of track suits.
When the first iteration of the uniform was unveiled at the Air Force Association’s annual convention last year, critics blamed its science fiction-inspired design and, in particular, the loose pants.
“The new US Space Force uniform … A blend of the Star Trek Enterprise dress uniform, but with the Mirror Universe diagonal,” Peter Singer, a noted commentator on the military and author of “LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media,” tweeted during last year’s rollout.
The criticism dominated the news cycle, and the US Space Force promised to try again.
“We heard your feedback,” the service tweeted shortly after the conference. “New pants, new fit coming soon.”
After the initial prototype was revealed, the US Space Force held a three-month “uniform tour” that visited ten bases to “offer Guardians the opportunity to see the uniform, ask questions, and provide feedback on the design,” according to Porto.
Tracy Roan, chief of the Air Force Uniform Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, helped spearhead a lot of the changes.
“We want to make sure that their fit is the best that it can be because it allows them to perform their job better,” Roan told Military.com in February.
The new US Space Force Uniform provides comfort, and it makes them proud of the way they look and represent the country
One of the main criticisms of the original version was the tight-fitting collar, which has now been reworked to “better frame the tie,” Porto said in an email. In another change, the female version of the jacket was lengthened.
One of the key goals of the design process was to produce unisex pieces, which Roan believes will appeal to nonbinary military members.
“As we look at their new service dress, we’re looking at, in particular, options of neckwear that females, in particular, would be able to wear a tie, like their male counterparts,” she said. “Especially if you’re nonbinary, that you could wear a tie, and there’s no relationship to either gender.”
The pandemic has caused delays in the textile sector, delaying the release of the uniform to the ranks. The formal uniform will most likely not be available to all Guardians until 2025, after it has been tested and approved.
Roan said her agency is working to test maternity gear for US Space Force Guardians in addition to producing the formal uniform.
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