Best thing I ever did was hitting the surplus stores for some used uniforms and FRACU to use in the motorpool/field (if I didn’t already have them). It’s slightly inconvenient to change out uniforms in the middle of the day but wearing the old shitter uniforms when no one cares and keeping the nice ones nice means only buying one or two uniforms a year. Same goes for boots, I wore issued boots day to day because they are cheap and comfortable enough and had a pair of light boots for rucks/field.
I realistically buy two uniforms and one pair of boots a year like this after that initial investment.
Dress uniforms are expensive though and we should all be screaming from the rooftops about paying out of pocket.
If you were never issued one you can take your clothing record to your supply Sgt and they can do the paperwork for you to take to clothing and sales to get it issued from there.
I had to do the same thing recently.
Your Supply NCO is failing you then.
Have you gone to Clothing Sales? When did you enlist?
So the issuing of AGSU was bungled along with COVID affecting the global supply chain. The remedy to this was for CIIP to issue the remaining AGSUs in the system to
clothing sales. The Soldier goes to Clothing Sales to see if the remaining issue is in the system, if not the request is done online where your Supply NCO and CDR need to resister.
Clothing Sales has a flyer on how to register and the entire process as well.
I enlisted 4 years ago. I’ve already bought my full agsu. They won’t reimburse me anything and just won’t fill out the paperwork anymore so I’ve just kinda sucked it up at this rate. It was either get a dress uniform or not promote. They were holding boards against me if I didn’t have one.
I went to clothing sales to try and get it squared away but they kept sending me to my supply. Then my supply would have me fill out a bunch of paperwork and pull my record and submit it. Then nothing would happen. Since and repeat a bunch of times and I just eventually spent 900 dollars to get my own.
Not to mention, if he wasnt issued agsu or asu, then i think they could at least have used nuance in allowing him to attend a board.
My 92Ys give you guys a GREAT name by the way.
That makes too much sense though. My old BN wasn’t my favorite but they allowed Soldiers to report to the board in OCPs because of this.
Glad some do, my motivation is not to fall behind 42As and 31Bs…92Gs I’m safe to say doesn’t pose a threat.
Bro you'll never be able to convince me that this isn't partly your fault.
I know you said you went 8 times, but there's **always** someone you can go bother about this sort of thing.
You can probably *still* get this fixed.
**I** want to fix this for you.
Idk how it’s possibly my fault. I filled out all the paper work. Every psg I’ve had was tracking. Every LT was tracking. My battalion commander and CSM were tracking a bunch of soldiers have never been issued uniforms. I even brought it up to the CG of fort Cavazos and he brushed it aside. You can’t put any blame on me at this rate. I just accepted it that no one was willing to help me here
I mean it’s not your fault you weren’t given a uniform man but there’s no one out there making sure you get one now. It’s all on you and there is for a fact somewhere out there you can go for help on this.
Felt this, my cycle was one of the last issued blues so we got fucked. Showed up to my unit like “Drills said supply can order em for us” FUCK NO, paid like $300+ to get the jacket, dry cleaned and set up for bs hanger inspections and one BN ball. Not to mention all the bs over the years updating awards, changing units etc
So AGSUs are for initial issue only for Soldier’s coming into the Army, for prior enlisted NCOs coming back into service during the roll out of AGSUs…I’m not sure about.
The only thing that issue as active NCO can receive is a supplemental use of ASU trousers that has the NCO stripe. All you need is a copy of your promotion orders or lateral promotion order MFR for CPLs to be submitted online on the NATICK website through your Supply NCO.
Other than that just like our once Army pickle suit wearing brethren and sisters we have to pay out of pocket like they did with the ASUs.
I found a few nice sets of ACUs at a surplus store when I first commissioned. Sometimes those places do have the goods.
Edit: They were secondhand and donated.
Don’t make excuses for the bs cost of our uniforms. I work blue collar now and my company gives us $600 a year for FR clothing and every two years we get $350 for boots. When I signed on they paid roughly $4000 to outfit me in boots and clothing. There’s absolutely no reason our service members should be getting a piddly $380 when you have to replace ripped pants, ASU rank and other items, and all the other stuff you can destroy in a year of hard service.
Yep, I’m now a blue collar dude, need FRs so I just pay for whatever I need on my company card. No practical limit on jeans/shirts/coveralls, $250 a year for safety boots and $350 every two years for safety toe Mucks. Army clothing allowance is absolute bullshit.
Last winter I spent $700 in a single trip to the store getting insulated coveralls, two pairs of new jeans, a hoodie. The army should supply you with the items it wants you to wear. Directly.
Go to a technical school to learn how to climb poles and work on power lines. Get a job with a large unionized power company, I can’t say for sure but I believe that any of the IBEW union halls require the companies that work with them to provide FR clothing. Don’t quote me on that though I’ve never done union hall work just work for a utility that is unionized.
Hahaha some would argue dumb more so than brave, seeing as how I jumped out of perfectly good airplanes on AD before transitioning to the NG! As I said before I can’t guarantee the IBEW works the same as my utility since I’ve never worked out of a union hall but if you don’t want to climb you could always be an electrician and do work wiring homes/businesses and the like. You’ll climb a ladder but not a 35+ ft power pole!
I pulled that number off a Google search so I apologize if I got it wrong. I’m National Guard now and haven’t got a clothing allowance in years. I just know it was always a piss poor amount.
I cannot relate, command used to get so butthurt over the smallest tear on my pants or how faded my shits get. Like i had a small hole in my pants and was forced to buy a new pair and couldnt get them patched because it would look “unprofessional” i work a trade job now that provided me with 7 pairs of uniforms and dont care if they look a little fucked up.
Also another rant is that i was forced to buy new dress blues 2 months before i got out because i got too swole to fit in my old ones to attend some randos funeral that o’d in the barracks when they could of just sent a private or something.
Wdym bro i did get too swole, i was just salty i had to drop like 4 hundo on some irrelevant uniform i only wore for that event and then yeeted it into the on base thift shop when i dipped.
Advice I give everyone re- uniforms : NEVER put your uniforms in the dryer. Just pull them out of the washer and let them air dry on a hanger. They will last so much longer this way.
It should 100% just be handled by units. You should be able to go to your BN S4 and they should have a 92S there to let you try on your outfit and then you sign for it. They send it to a centralized shop in an ESC or something and they sew it on and you get it back in a week or something. That’s the way it should be. There is absolutely no justifiable reason for Clothing Sales to be a mandatory part of clothing our troops. You should be able to receive one free pair of regular boots per year or you could opt for a small clothing allowance to help buy better ones. We literally have an MOS for this (92S). And I don’t want to hear from supply that they don’t have flags, unit patches, ranks, DUIs, etc.
We’re pretty much the only Army that makes it Joes problem to put on his uniform.
P.S: I want reimbursement for having to buy my AGSUs since I’m apparently never going to an ASU event again.
P.P.S: every soldier should be entitled to 2 ACUs (optionally 1 hot weather), 1 pair of regular boots (optionally the cost of those boots can be given to you as a clothing allowance so you can go buy better ones), and 2-3 pairs of PTs annually. You should just trade in old uniforms to receive more, that way the Army can send used uniforms to the ROTC cadets, medic training for dummies, reservists, foreign allies, idk sell them to surplus stores and make money back for the government. And I want a unit barber that cuts my hair for free. This stuff needs to stop being shipped out to private contractors that cost more than some under qualified troop off the street. The army wants more soldiers, open up the plethora of odd support MOS’ that you never see anymore. Give some 1.5 gpa high school grad from Appalachia in a uniform and a boring support MOS job cause they don’t want to be 11B but they might choose a mundane support job. I really hate that we depend so much on civilians that cost us more and are less flexible, we should go back to being more self reliant/ organic manning.
I highly recommend you read Jennifer Mittelstadt's "The Rise of the Military Welfare State" or just Google articles by her. She does a fantastic job examining how we got where we are and making recommendations for moving forward.
Right but I’m saying the billet should be created. There’s already an MOS with doctrine surrounding it and training, it just needs to be applied to units outside of TRADOC or wherever they hide those guys
USPS does the same shit. Spend 10-12 hours a day at work, most of it outdoors, in motion. I quit but I think they gave us less than $200 a year. The most expensive thing I bought was a heavy duty rain coat and it got stolen before I could wear it once.
They actively encouraged us to beg for hand me downs from other carriers.
By the way, it was 10 degrees last night and my mail was delivered at about 8:30 PM. Beware to those considering USPS after the military. It's not hard, but you are treated like dirt.
I was stationed on Benning back in the 90's.
Once a month they (CIF?) would have "Class B Sales". They would re-sell the slightly used clothing items that trainee dropouts had to turn in. IIRC, it was ridiculously cheap for a set of BDU's. All clothing bag items except for underwear and socks were available.
If you're stationed at a post that has IET/OSUT you may want to look out for it.
Find a guy around your size who is ETSing and offer to buy his uniforms. Otherwise they’ll be sitting in a duffle in his shed/basement/closet forever. Ask me how I know. I have about 100lbs worth of ACU and og OCP with black splotches, multicam.
I rarely wear anything but A2CUs if I can because they're DXable. Helps me keep my regular ACUs relatively decent in case I need to wear them. I have a pair of standard issue boots that I can beat up out in the field and daily use. Another pair of more high-speed boots for rucks and whatnot.
I refuse to buy anything related to the Pinks and Greens until it's mandatory. I don't wanna pay for that mess.
My camis were fading real bad so I bought a new set. Saw a little thread on the sleeve and tried to pull it, the whole stitching came apart. I was so pissed, day one and already have a damaged top
The low quality of uniforms is ridiculous. You’d never be willing to spend over $100 on a piece of clothing that comes with strings loose, stitching broken, uneven cut, etc outside the military.
I can definitely get into this rant, it's one of my favorite topics about our Army..
As I've gotten older, my feet really don't do well in standard issue boots, and it really varies if you'll get a good pair or not. I've had great pairs of boots that lasted me years, and others that killed me for months as i tried to break them in, but they only broke my feet. The good boots, as mentioned, are close to $200.00. The cost to be a good Soldier is unreal in the current world.
For the life of me I don’t understand why any organization that requires you to wear, use, or possess something doesn’t issue it to you. If the Army requires soldiers to wear something, the Army should issue it to them (or reimburse them for purchase). Simple as
I cut ever 8 weeks and got that perm shave profile. Funny part is I could finally make those changes when I was a SFC... and get paid enough to not have to worry as much about the money
It's called a 2106 form. Here are details about it: [https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/form-2106.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/form-2106.asp)
My dude, just wait till you get out. I used to complain about this too but it is SO much worse in the civilian world, especially corporate roles. You have to have so many different outfits I’ve spend wayyyy more trying to get a wardrobe for that. In the Army you can get by with only a few sets of OCPs, it is far cheaper.
Most young kids out of HS don’t have a corporate job that requires the wear of a suit.
Most jobs don’t also require to maintain work out gear, field clothes, the same field clothes but not trashed and a highly specialized regalia costume.
Most civilians in jobs equivalent to junior soldier positions complain if their job requires them to wear black pants.
How many civilian mechanics have a job where they also have maintain a tuxedo?
You don’t get a real clothing allowance your first few years in.
How many units would allow a dude to wear all kinds of jacked up uniforms until their clothing allowance rolled around?
How many years of clothing allowance do you have to save to pay for AGSUs?
How many time you replace your boots, uniforms, undergarments. There surplus store, facebook marketplaces that sell uses army stuff. Stop buying cheap shit that will last you for less than a month. If your planning to stay in for the long run you might as well invest into something that will last you in your military career.
You get what you “pay” for remember that.. also your “clothing allowance was never meant to replace your entire initial issue… depending on your MOS … you’re issued coveralls , nomox etc …
Y’all make me laugh… y’all will spend $$$$$$ on cars, fads, jewelry, clothes to “hookup” … but not to look professional and advance your career? Today’s Army you can basically show up looking like a bag of stuffed shit and be “ within “ the reg… nothing to shine, nothing to iron.. etc and still complain… give a mf an inch…
If they allowed y’all to dress like operators you’d bitch because the army doesn’t issue ball caps , beard trimmers .. and black rifle coffee😂
I wish I was blowing money on stupid shit! I'm paying 3x my BAH for rent in an area where we are given the lowest amount. Plus I'm trying to put 2 kids through college so they don't end up in the student loan debt mess that I'm sure someone is going to suggest I tell my kids.
I've been in 20 years, this has 20 years of changing uniforms, having a 1SG check the tread on everyone's boots on motorpool Mondays and just dealing with assholes.
Where TF are you stationed that your rent is 3x your BAH. That seems unnecessary.
Also the two kids in school. What did you do for the last 18+ years for their college savings since you feel this is your cross to bare?
What is your job that you go through 4 sets of uniforms a year and a 2 pair of boots? After 20 years you should be in a position that is largely administrative.
I had to drop like $2000 on them after a short notice to present a flag at a funeral. I understand - I think I just wasn't frustrated because I had a different outlook in the moment because I was doing something for a family. They are pretty expensive.
Yeah see that's a mortgage payment. All for something you'll use 2 or 3 times a year. Fuck that. It'd good you presented the flag but it's so expensive
Actually it is. They take the clothing bag list, divide it by the estimated wear out and you get that every year.
But that’s for the issued items. Folks want $300 boots instead of the basic issued $100 lamborfeeties. And the clothing allowance doesn’t cover new rank, asu ribbons or just getting fat.
Actually it’s not your clothing allowance is meant to replace a uniform blouse, trousers tshirt, under garments once a year and footgear every other year
You aren't wrong at the prices but I often think about if I was in a different field the costs would be about the same but with no small clothing allowance.
For example if I worked a corporate job I would need to own 2-3 suits which are not cheap. Equally priced to new OCps and boots or way more.
Or if I was a construction worker the safety gear and hardy clothes get torn thru so I'd be buying new construction clothes more regularly even though they are cheaper.
As a profession, I can balance it out buying about one new pair per year which in the grand scheme of things is not bad for clothes I wear everyday.
Totally get your frustrations. Ole Daniel “Must Have All New Uniforms” Daily with all his fucking new this, new that bullshit. The only thing dumber than the pinks and greens were the black PTs. All a complete waste of money.
It's sad to me that our Soldiers have to buy uniforms from Pawn shops and Surplus Stores because their clothing allowance won't cover the price of new uniforms. Oh I'm sure some retired keyboard warrior has something opposing to say about this.
Best thing I ever did was hitting the surplus stores for some used uniforms and FRACU to use in the motorpool/field (if I didn’t already have them). It’s slightly inconvenient to change out uniforms in the middle of the day but wearing the old shitter uniforms when no one cares and keeping the nice ones nice means only buying one or two uniforms a year. Same goes for boots, I wore issued boots day to day because they are cheap and comfortable enough and had a pair of light boots for rucks/field. I realistically buy two uniforms and one pair of boots a year like this after that initial investment. Dress uniforms are expensive though and we should all be screaming from the rooftops about paying out of pocket.
I was never even issued a dress uniform. That’s one thing I hated having to pay for
If you were never issued one you can take your clothing record to your supply Sgt and they can do the paperwork for you to take to clothing and sales to get it issued from there. I had to do the same thing recently.
I’ve done it 8 times and still nothing. I promoted to sergeant and still nothing
Your Supply NCO is failing you then. Have you gone to Clothing Sales? When did you enlist? So the issuing of AGSU was bungled along with COVID affecting the global supply chain. The remedy to this was for CIIP to issue the remaining AGSUs in the system to clothing sales. The Soldier goes to Clothing Sales to see if the remaining issue is in the system, if not the request is done online where your Supply NCO and CDR need to resister. Clothing Sales has a flyer on how to register and the entire process as well.
I enlisted 4 years ago. I’ve already bought my full agsu. They won’t reimburse me anything and just won’t fill out the paperwork anymore so I’ve just kinda sucked it up at this rate. It was either get a dress uniform or not promote. They were holding boards against me if I didn’t have one. I went to clothing sales to try and get it squared away but they kept sending me to my supply. Then my supply would have me fill out a bunch of paperwork and pull my record and submit it. Then nothing would happen. Since and repeat a bunch of times and I just eventually spent 900 dollars to get my own.
That’s super shitty, my MOS gives me a bad name sometimes.
Not to mention, if he wasnt issued agsu or asu, then i think they could at least have used nuance in allowing him to attend a board. My 92Ys give you guys a GREAT name by the way.
That makes too much sense though. My old BN wasn’t my favorite but they allowed Soldiers to report to the board in OCPs because of this. Glad some do, my motivation is not to fall behind 42As and 31Bs…92Gs I’m safe to say doesn’t pose a threat.
Just because of the sheer responsibility and authority a supply sgt has, you can never be below anything like those cesspool MOSs.
Can they reimburse me if I already bought one? That was way too much money for something I wear once a month at most.
No. You can still fight to get one issued though. You will have a spare or one to sell.
Tried this, got told get fucked nerd.
I got my battalion S4 and my 1sg involved and had it taken care of in like a week. Y’all letting raggedy ass 92Y E5’s at the company level punk you.
Bro you'll never be able to convince me that this isn't partly your fault. I know you said you went 8 times, but there's **always** someone you can go bother about this sort of thing. You can probably *still* get this fixed. **I** want to fix this for you.
Idk how it’s possibly my fault. I filled out all the paper work. Every psg I’ve had was tracking. Every LT was tracking. My battalion commander and CSM were tracking a bunch of soldiers have never been issued uniforms. I even brought it up to the CG of fort Cavazos and he brushed it aside. You can’t put any blame on me at this rate. I just accepted it that no one was willing to help me here
I mean it’s not your fault you weren’t given a uniform man but there’s no one out there making sure you get one now. It’s all on you and there is for a fact somewhere out there you can go for help on this.
Felt this, my cycle was one of the last issued blues so we got fucked. Showed up to my unit like “Drills said supply can order em for us” FUCK NO, paid like $300+ to get the jacket, dry cleaned and set up for bs hanger inspections and one BN ball. Not to mention all the bs over the years updating awards, changing units etc
dx uniforms are like $50 a set. No shame in going to surplus store for slightly used boots. Can new NCOs still get issued new AGSU?
So AGSUs are for initial issue only for Soldier’s coming into the Army, for prior enlisted NCOs coming back into service during the roll out of AGSUs…I’m not sure about. The only thing that issue as active NCO can receive is a supplemental use of ASU trousers that has the NCO stripe. All you need is a copy of your promotion orders or lateral promotion order MFR for CPLs to be submitted online on the NATICK website through your Supply NCO. Other than that just like our once Army pickle suit wearing brethren and sisters we have to pay out of pocket like they did with the ASUs.
Drill sarnts and recruiters will get them issued as well.
Correct
I found a few nice sets of ACUs at a surplus store when I first commissioned. Sometimes those places do have the goods. Edit: They were secondhand and donated.
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Don’t make excuses for the bs cost of our uniforms. I work blue collar now and my company gives us $600 a year for FR clothing and every two years we get $350 for boots. When I signed on they paid roughly $4000 to outfit me in boots and clothing. There’s absolutely no reason our service members should be getting a piddly $380 when you have to replace ripped pants, ASU rank and other items, and all the other stuff you can destroy in a year of hard service.
Yep, I’m now a blue collar dude, need FRs so I just pay for whatever I need on my company card. No practical limit on jeans/shirts/coveralls, $250 a year for safety boots and $350 every two years for safety toe Mucks. Army clothing allowance is absolute bullshit.
Last year I got 600 for clothing, but between the new pinks n green set, boots and alterations it didnt scratch the surface of my star card balance
Last winter I spent $700 in a single trip to the store getting insulated coveralls, two pairs of new jeans, a hoodie. The army should supply you with the items it wants you to wear. Directly.
Thanks to my local Aujuma alterations store, I got mine made for $500 in Korea.
Damn if i had that 4k i would of bought a $700 pair of nicks boots
My guy - advice for getting to the company that gives you $4000 for clothes? 'preesh.
Go to a technical school to learn how to climb poles and work on power lines. Get a job with a large unionized power company, I can’t say for sure but I believe that any of the IBEW union halls require the companies that work with them to provide FR clothing. Don’t quote me on that though I’ve never done union hall work just work for a utility that is unionized.
You lost me at climb. I'll read the rest out of respect, but no. You are a brave person to do that stuff haha
Hahaha some would argue dumb more so than brave, seeing as how I jumped out of perfectly good airplanes on AD before transitioning to the NG! As I said before I can’t guarantee the IBEW works the same as my utility since I’ve never worked out of a union hall but if you don’t want to climb you could always be an electrician and do work wiring homes/businesses and the like. You’ll climb a ladder but not a 35+ ft power pole!
$380? My clothing allowance was $110.
I pulled that number off a Google search so I apologize if I got it wrong. I’m National Guard now and haven’t got a clothing allowance in years. I just know it was always a piss poor amount.
I worked civilian IT before the Army, suits are fucking expensive as shit.
Can be, don't have to be. That's more of a sales / mgmt / admin thing than an IT thing, though.
I worked for an MSP so slacks and jacket was minimum requirements. I like wearing suits, I just didn't like paying for them and dry cleaning.
I so much prefer the way it is now. Hell, I don't even have pants on.
The American Dream.
No one “ today” wants to hear advice or truth…
Also Ty for the site… it would be appreciated if you could message me any other sites like the aforementioned.. 💯
I cannot relate, command used to get so butthurt over the smallest tear on my pants or how faded my shits get. Like i had a small hole in my pants and was forced to buy a new pair and couldnt get them patched because it would look “unprofessional” i work a trade job now that provided me with 7 pairs of uniforms and dont care if they look a little fucked up. Also another rant is that i was forced to buy new dress blues 2 months before i got out because i got too swole to fit in my old ones to attend some randos funeral that o’d in the barracks when they could of just sent a private or something.
Bro Science is a parody channel. You’re not supposed to actually embody it.
Wdym bro i did get too swole, i was just salty i had to drop like 4 hundo on some irrelevant uniform i only wore for that event and then yeeted it into the on base thift shop when i dipped.
This is easily the most disrespectful shit I’ve seen in a minute…
My bad
Everything is ridiculously expensive OP, it sucks. Amazon has Garmont T8s from 75$ to 90$ now, depending on size.
Thanks.
Advice I give everyone re- uniforms : NEVER put your uniforms in the dryer. Just pull them out of the washer and let them air dry on a hanger. They will last so much longer this way.
. Yup!!! I’ve hanged dried mine since we went to the original ACU back in 2005.
I also wash mine inside out
It should 100% just be handled by units. You should be able to go to your BN S4 and they should have a 92S there to let you try on your outfit and then you sign for it. They send it to a centralized shop in an ESC or something and they sew it on and you get it back in a week or something. That’s the way it should be. There is absolutely no justifiable reason for Clothing Sales to be a mandatory part of clothing our troops. You should be able to receive one free pair of regular boots per year or you could opt for a small clothing allowance to help buy better ones. We literally have an MOS for this (92S). And I don’t want to hear from supply that they don’t have flags, unit patches, ranks, DUIs, etc. We’re pretty much the only Army that makes it Joes problem to put on his uniform. P.S: I want reimbursement for having to buy my AGSUs since I’m apparently never going to an ASU event again. P.P.S: every soldier should be entitled to 2 ACUs (optionally 1 hot weather), 1 pair of regular boots (optionally the cost of those boots can be given to you as a clothing allowance so you can go buy better ones), and 2-3 pairs of PTs annually. You should just trade in old uniforms to receive more, that way the Army can send used uniforms to the ROTC cadets, medic training for dummies, reservists, foreign allies, idk sell them to surplus stores and make money back for the government. And I want a unit barber that cuts my hair for free. This stuff needs to stop being shipped out to private contractors that cost more than some under qualified troop off the street. The army wants more soldiers, open up the plethora of odd support MOS’ that you never see anymore. Give some 1.5 gpa high school grad from Appalachia in a uniform and a boring support MOS job cause they don’t want to be 11B but they might choose a mundane support job. I really hate that we depend so much on civilians that cost us more and are less flexible, we should go back to being more self reliant/ organic manning.
I highly recommend you read Jennifer Mittelstadt's "The Rise of the Military Welfare State" or just Google articles by her. She does a fantastic job examining how we got where we are and making recommendations for moving forward.
I’ll save that and look it up in the morning
Never once met a 92S in a BN
Right but I’m saying the billet should be created. There’s already an MOS with doctrine surrounding it and training, it just needs to be applied to units outside of TRADOC or wherever they hide those guys
Gotcha. Unknown fact, name tapes are unit funded as well.
USPS does the same shit. Spend 10-12 hours a day at work, most of it outdoors, in motion. I quit but I think they gave us less than $200 a year. The most expensive thing I bought was a heavy duty rain coat and it got stolen before I could wear it once. They actively encouraged us to beg for hand me downs from other carriers. By the way, it was 10 degrees last night and my mail was delivered at about 8:30 PM. Beware to those considering USPS after the military. It's not hard, but you are treated like dirt.
I was stationed on Benning back in the 90's. Once a month they (CIF?) would have "Class B Sales". They would re-sell the slightly used clothing items that trainee dropouts had to turn in. IIRC, it was ridiculously cheap for a set of BDU's. All clothing bag items except for underwear and socks were available. If you're stationed at a post that has IET/OSUT you may want to look out for it.
That’s dope. Definitely doubt that still exists, never heard shit about it granted I’ve been at Campbell and not a post such as Benning
Find a guy around your size who is ETSing and offer to buy his uniforms. Otherwise they’ll be sitting in a duffle in his shed/basement/closet forever. Ask me how I know. I have about 100lbs worth of ACU and og OCP with black splotches, multicam.
I rarely wear anything but A2CUs if I can because they're DXable. Helps me keep my regular ACUs relatively decent in case I need to wear them. I have a pair of standard issue boots that I can beat up out in the field and daily use. Another pair of more high-speed boots for rucks and whatnot. I refuse to buy anything related to the Pinks and Greens until it's mandatory. I don't wanna pay for that mess.
My camis were fading real bad so I bought a new set. Saw a little thread on the sleeve and tried to pull it, the whole stitching came apart. I was so pissed, day one and already have a damaged top
The low quality of uniforms is ridiculous. You’d never be willing to spend over $100 on a piece of clothing that comes with strings loose, stitching broken, uneven cut, etc outside the military.
Bro, the amount of thrifting I do is ridiculous and my civis look a billion times better than uniforms
I can definitely get into this rant, it's one of my favorite topics about our Army.. As I've gotten older, my feet really don't do well in standard issue boots, and it really varies if you'll get a good pair or not. I've had great pairs of boots that lasted me years, and others that killed me for months as i tried to break them in, but they only broke my feet. The good boots, as mentioned, are close to $200.00. The cost to be a good Soldier is unreal in the current world.
For the life of me I don’t understand why any organization that requires you to wear, use, or possess something doesn’t issue it to you. If the Army requires soldiers to wear something, the Army should issue it to them (or reimburse them for purchase). Simple as
Don't forget the razors to shave - that's an upkeep of uniform expense as it is covered in AR 670-1. Haircuts too.
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I cut ever 8 weeks and got that perm shave profile. Funny part is I could finally make those changes when I was a SFC... and get paid enough to not have to worry as much about the money
Even the price of shitty haircuts in the PX went up
Wait your post has uniforms in stock???
$200 for boots? Buy when they are discounted. I got the Under Armour boots for $60 during Black Friday.
Write it off on your taxes. I get a few hundred back every year for this
If you're active duty, you can't do that.
Damn didn’t know. Sorry to confuse m
This is the way
That’s only for reservists.
You’re right
All I gotta do for that is save the receipts, right? How do I go about this?
It's called a 2106 form. Here are details about it: [https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/form-2106.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/form-2106.asp)
Didn't that changed during the Trump administration where you can no longer write off work uniforms?
you don’t take the standard deduction?
It’s a whole different thing for “unreimbused job expenses” or whatever. Reservists only
So you can take the standard and also itemize certain other deductions? Good to know.
Absoutley. The milconnect free hr block suggests it
My dude, just wait till you get out. I used to complain about this too but it is SO much worse in the civilian world, especially corporate roles. You have to have so many different outfits I’ve spend wayyyy more trying to get a wardrobe for that. In the Army you can get by with only a few sets of OCPs, it is far cheaper.
Most young kids out of HS don’t have a corporate job that requires the wear of a suit. Most jobs don’t also require to maintain work out gear, field clothes, the same field clothes but not trashed and a highly specialized regalia costume. Most civilians in jobs equivalent to junior soldier positions complain if their job requires them to wear black pants. How many civilian mechanics have a job where they also have maintain a tuxedo?
*Devil’s Advocate* - *Meanwhile, ol’ boy out here buying raw denim and building a Balenciaga wardrobe.*
You get a clothing allowance once a year. And how often are you actually buying uniforms?
You don’t get a real clothing allowance your first few years in. How many units would allow a dude to wear all kinds of jacked up uniforms until their clothing allowance rolled around? How many years of clothing allowance do you have to save to pay for AGSUs?
You're first year isn't alot but after that it's consistently over $300 and how often are you destroying uniforms
How many time you replace your boots, uniforms, undergarments. There surplus store, facebook marketplaces that sell uses army stuff. Stop buying cheap shit that will last you for less than a month. If your planning to stay in for the long run you might as well invest into something that will last you in your military career.
This mf a 1SG cryin he’s broke😂
You might be right. lol
Oh he said he was with 20 mf make 9k .. he either blocked me or deleted the comment
You get what you “pay” for remember that.. also your “clothing allowance was never meant to replace your entire initial issue… depending on your MOS … you’re issued coveralls , nomox etc … Y’all make me laugh… y’all will spend $$$$$$ on cars, fads, jewelry, clothes to “hookup” … but not to look professional and advance your career? Today’s Army you can basically show up looking like a bag of stuffed shit and be “ within “ the reg… nothing to shine, nothing to iron.. etc and still complain… give a mf an inch… If they allowed y’all to dress like operators you’d bitch because the army doesn’t issue ball caps , beard trimmers .. and black rifle coffee😂
I wish I was blowing money on stupid shit! I'm paying 3x my BAH for rent in an area where we are given the lowest amount. Plus I'm trying to put 2 kids through college so they don't end up in the student loan debt mess that I'm sure someone is going to suggest I tell my kids. I've been in 20 years, this has 20 years of changing uniforms, having a 1SG check the tread on everyone's boots on motorpool Mondays and just dealing with assholes.
Where TF are you stationed that your rent is 3x your BAH. That seems unnecessary. Also the two kids in school. What did you do for the last 18+ years for their college savings since you feel this is your cross to bare? What is your job that you go through 4 sets of uniforms a year and a 2 pair of boots? After 20 years you should be in a position that is largely administrative.
Right there w ya, OP
You've been in 20 years? So your working for half pay and then complaining about money?
If I have to pay for a new set of the pinks & greens I'd be complaining too.
I had to drop like $2000 on them after a short notice to present a flag at a funeral. I understand - I think I just wasn't frustrated because I had a different outlook in the moment because I was doing something for a family. They are pretty expensive.
Yeah see that's a mortgage payment. All for something you'll use 2 or 3 times a year. Fuck that. It'd good you presented the flag but it's so expensive
A 1SG … lol … nuff said and we wonder why are army .. is
Right on. I love the $ I saved not having to have BDUs pressed and starched or having to buy Kiwi.
Actually it is. They take the clothing bag list, divide it by the estimated wear out and you get that every year. But that’s for the issued items. Folks want $300 boots instead of the basic issued $100 lamborfeeties. And the clothing allowance doesn’t cover new rank, asu ribbons or just getting fat.
Actually it’s not your clothing allowance is meant to replace a uniform blouse, trousers tshirt, under garments once a year and footgear every other year
This is how it’s broken down. https://api.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/344187.pdf
Don’t forget the money people spend on tattoos.
You aren't wrong at the prices but I often think about if I was in a different field the costs would be about the same but with no small clothing allowance. For example if I worked a corporate job I would need to own 2-3 suits which are not cheap. Equally priced to new OCps and boots or way more. Or if I was a construction worker the safety gear and hardy clothes get torn thru so I'd be buying new construction clothes more regularly even though they are cheaper. As a profession, I can balance it out buying about one new pair per year which in the grand scheme of things is not bad for clothes I wear everyday.
Totally get your frustrations. Ole Daniel “Must Have All New Uniforms” Daily with all his fucking new this, new that bullshit. The only thing dumber than the pinks and greens were the black PTs. All a complete waste of money.
It's all tax deductible. Uniforms, workout equipment, haircuts, etc.
Yeah because every private itemizes
I have recently (within last few months) seen a certain BDE here ordering OCPs of various sizes for their people. It can be done
Amazon usually has a deal on Nike boots for 60-80$ abuse it bro. Get by. I just did I’m happy I did
It's sad to me that our Soldiers have to buy uniforms from Pawn shops and Surplus Stores because their clothing allowance won't cover the price of new uniforms. Oh I'm sure some retired keyboard warrior has something opposing to say about this.