Over the centuries, the uniform of the US navy has gone through major changes. The first uniform regulation was passed by the Secretary of War in August 1791. The uniform proposed instructed all the officers involved in the navy to wear a distinct dress pattern. At the time, the dress code for navy officers included a short jacket, long trousers, shirt, vest, and black hat. In 1802, the US Secretary of the Navy determined that Navy officers would be wearing blue and gold uniforms. While there have been several additions and subtractions to the navy uniform over the years, the blue and gold colors have remained standard. This paper seeks to evaluate the origin of the brown shoes and khaki uniforms for the navy chief petty officers.
Discussion
The origin of the khaki uniform in the navy can be traced back to 1845 in India, where the British soldiers were forced to soak their white uniforms in mud, coffee, and curry powder for camouflage. The US navy (aviators and submarines) adopted the use of khaki pants in 1912 and 1931 consecutively (Powers, 2019). In 1941, the khaki uniforms were authorized as the working uniform for all officers in the navy. The service khaki uniform is today worn by all the officers from grades 0-1 and 0-10, chief warrant officers from grades W-2 TO W-5, and chief petty officers (CPOs) from grades E-7 to E-9. The uniform consists of a khaki button-up shirt and trousers worn alongside a gold belt buckle.
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The shirt is characterized by two front flap pockets and a pointed collar. Ribbons are put above the left pocket of the shirt, and a warfare insignia placed above them. Every officer is supposed to wear a name tag above the right pocket and rank insignia on the collar (The Brown Shoes Project, 2013). Officers with awards are directed to wear the three highest ones or all the awards they have ever achieved. The headgear includes a khaki garrison cap.
The tradition of wearing high- laced brown shoes made of leather among CPOs began in 1913. At first, these shoes were authorized for use by aviators with the khaki uniform. The color of the shoes was changed to russet brown in 1922. Currently, black and brown leather shoes are authorized for use by all officers and CPOs. Members of the aviation community, however, prefer wearing brown shoes. The AlNav 151 passed on October 20, 1986, directs all aviation officers, CPOs, qualified flight surgeons, physiologists, and experimental psychologists within the aviation units to wear a brown pair of shoes with khaki clothes (Naval History and Heritage Command, nd). The change was officially effected on April 1, 1987. Further, the directive states that brown shoes and khaki uniforms could be worn during summer. This meant that wearing brown shoes was allowed ashore. The directive also stated that the only shoe that would be authorized is a low- quarter, plain toe, brown, leather dress shoe. The directive does not offer an alternative to the brown shoe or wearing of boots while working.
Conclusion
The uniform designated for use by the US navy dates back to the 18 th century. Since then, this uniform has been changed severally until the 20 th century when the khaki uniform and brown leather shoes were determined as the official uniform for all the officers and CPOs in the navy. Wearing khakis as the official navy clothing was approved in 1941, while the color of the shoes has alternated from black to brown since the 1930s. In 1986, the AlNav 151 act directed all officers and CPOs in the navy to wear brown shoes and khaki clothes while in service.
References
Naval History and Heritage Command. (nd). Uniforms of the US navy: Shoes. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/uniforms-usnavy/shoes.html
Powers, R. (June 25, 2019). Navy uniform history: Pea coats, khakis, and bell-bottoms all came from the navy. The Balance Careers. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/navy-uniform-history-4054148
The Brown Shoes Project. (2013). Whence the term “Brown Shoes”. https://thebrownshoes.org/whence-term-brown-shoes
