Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia / How to Know Rank, Corps and Service in the Military and Naval Forces of the United States and Foreign Countries - Dion Williams

General Tasker H. Bliss, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army,
and Major General Hugh L. Scott, U. S. Army

It is a general rule that the officers serving with the troops in garrison or in the field must appear in the same style of uniform as that prescribed for the enlisted men.

During peace times officers serving on detached duty or in the offices of the Departments where there are no enlisted men on duty ordinarily wear civilian clothes, but in time of war all officers and enlisted men are required to wear the olive-drab service uniform at all times except when the full dress and dress uniforms are prescribed for some appropriate special occasion. Officers ordered on active field service are required to carry with them only the service uniforms.

UNITED STATES ARMY OFFICERS’ UNIFORMS

Commissioned officers of the Army are required to have complete outfits of service uniform (woolen olive-drab for temperate and cold weather and cotton olive-drab or “khaki” for the tropics and hot weather), dress uniform, full dress uniform, white uniform and special evening dress uniform, and for wear on certain occasions in the evening a mess dress uniform of blue and one of white is optional.

The occasions upon which these uniforms are usually worn are given in the regulations as follows:

TABLE OF OCCASIONS FOR UNIFORMS

Occasions.	Uniform.
1. For habitual garrison wear at all times when under arms, and until sundown when not under arms.	Service uniform, woolen or cotton depending upon the temperature.
2. For duty in the field.
3. For ordinary wear after retreat by officers not under arms.	Dress uniform (in the Tropics and during hot weather in other places the white uniform may be worn).
4. For social uses before retreat.
5. When off post, except that when riding or taking physical exercise the service uniform may be worn.
6. When on duty with enlisted men for whom dress uniform is prescribed.
7. When on duty with enlisted men for whom mounted dress uniform is prescribed.	Dress uniform (mounted).
8. When riding off the reservation.	Dress uniform (mounted).
9. State occasions at home or abroad.	Full dress uniform.
10. When receiving the President of the United States.
11. When receiving or calling officially upon the President, sovereign or a member of the royal family of another country.
12. Ceremonies and entertainments when it is desired to do special honor to the occasion.
13. When full dress, dismounted, is prescribed for enlisted men.
14. Special or official functions of a general nature, when prescribed.
15. When on duty with enlisted men for whom full dress, mounted, is prescribed.	Full dress uniform (mounted).
16. Social or official functions of a general nature when prescribed.
On the following occasions when officers are required to be mounted.
17. State occasions at home or abroad.
18. When receiving the President of the United States.
19. When receiving or officially calling upon the President, sovereign or a member of the royal family of another country.
20. Ceremonies or entertainments when it is desired to do special honor to the occasion.
21. Social or official functions of a general nature occurring in the evening.	Special evening dress uniform.
22. For private formal dinners and other private formal social functions occurring in the evening.
23. For ordinary evening wear when desired.
24. For private formal dinners and other private formal social functions occurring in the evening.	Blue mess dress uniform. In the Tropics and at other places in hot weather, the white mess dress uniform may be worn.
25. For ordinary evening wear when desired.
In the Tropics.	White uniform.
26. Until sundown when prescribed.
27. For ordinary wear after retreat.
28. For official occasions, under arms, when prescribed.
In the United States in warm weather.
29. For ordinary wear after retreat.
30. For social use after retreat.
31. When off the post, or reservation.

Throughout the military and naval services of the United States when officers of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps appear together in uniform upon occasions of ceremony the following are the uniforms designated for each of the three services:


Designation of Uniform	Composition of Uniforms for
Designation of Uniform	Army	Navy	Marine Corps
Uniform A	Full dress	Special full dress, or white special full dress.	Special full dress (with full dress trousers if in line with troops), or white special full dress.
Uniform B	Dress	Undress, or white undress.	Undress or white undress.
Uniform C	Full dress or evening dress.	Full dress or Evening full dress; or evening full dress without swords or belts, and with blue caps; or dinner dress.	Special full dress, or mess dress.

The service uniform consists of a single-breasted sack coat extending to one-third of the distance from the point of the hip to the knee, fitting tightly at the waist, with a standing collar, buttoned down the front with a row of five army buttons of dull finish bronze, having four patch pockets closed by pocket flaps buttoned with small size army buttons of bronze, one pocket on each breast and one on each side of the front below the waist, the shoulders having straps of the same material as the coat extending from the shoulder seam to the base of the collar secured with a small size bronze button at the collar end (the insignia of rank are worn on these straps), and the sleeves being trimmed with one row of half-inch braid three inches above the end of the sleeve, the braid being black for officers of the General Staff Corps and brown for all other officers; breeches of the same color and material as the coat; tan leather shoes and tan leather strap puttee leggings; the service hat, commonly known as the “campaign hat,” a wide brimmed drab felt hat worn to a peak at the center of the crown and having the officers’ hat cord around the base of the crown; or the service cap, a bell-crowned cap of the same material as the coat with a sloping visor of tan leather and a one-half inch tan leather chin strap above the visor secured by a bronze button at each end of the visor. Olive-drab woolen gloves are worn with this uniform when required. For garrison wear a white shirt, collar and cuffs are worn with this uniform, but in the field a flannel olive-drab shirt is worn.