Airmen stay cool by cutting up uniforms

Airman 1st Class David Bear, assigned to the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron in Iraq, shows the inside of his uniform with the map pocket.


Airmen stay cool by cutting up uniforms
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, November 12, 2007


BAGHDAD — Most airmen like the Air Force’s new camouflage uniforms. They say they’re more comfortable and easier to maintain, and they dig the digital tiger print.

Except there is one thing that gets them hot under the collar: The uniforms can be sweltering in warm weather.

The Airman Battle Uniform, or ABU, is more rugged than the old uniforms, partly because the fabric is thicker. But in locations such as Iraq and Kuwait, where temperatures often reach the triple-digits in summer and remain in the low 80s in November, the last thing somebody wants is thicker clothing.

“Whoever designed this obviously designed this for someone sitting in an office, not for out here,” said Airman 1st Class David Bear, 22, who is deployed to Iraq and is attached to the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron.

But it’s not just the thickness of the threads. What really have some airmen steaming are the map pockets on the inside of the uniform jacket.

To stay cool in the warmer climates, some airmen have secretly taken out the pockets. Alterations shops on bases in Iraq and in the United States offer to “mod” the uniforms for a few bucks.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50207