Soldiers are showing some skin.
For the first time, troops facing the summer heat are being permitted to roll up their uniform sleeves as part of a pilot program launched by the Army in Fort Hood, Texas.
If successful, the 10-day trial run, which ends on Sunday, may be extended to bases across the country. It would allow soldiers to roll up their sleeves on the Army combat uniform during the hot summer months — something that has been prohibited since 2005.
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey, left, and Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, right, have allowed Spc. Cortne K. Mitchell, A Company, 15th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and all the other Soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, to roll up their sleeves, for a 10-day trial period beginning June 16, 2016, to evaluate the practicality of sleeve-rolling across the Army. (Photo Credit: SFC Charles E. Burden)
“This pilot program shows soldiers that senior leaders listen to them. Soldiers have been asking me about rolling sleeves since I became the sergeant major of the Army. We’ll take the feedback from Fort Hood and determine the next step,” Sgt. Maj. Daniel A. Dailey told CNN.
The story was first reported by the Army Times, which explained that the ban originally had been put into place to protect soldiers’ forearms from sunburn and insect bites and that the uniform was never designed to have rolled sleeves.
The debate on rolled sleeves been going on for years, particularly as other divisions of the U.S. military have been allowed to do so. For example, while Marines must keep their sleeves down in combat zones and during winter, they are allowed to have rolled sleeves during the summer. Navy sailors are also allowed to have rolled sleeves during the summer.
While rolled-up sleeves might seem like a trivial issue to some outside the military, an Army historian said there’s a reason the policy is in place.
“For some officers, you have to look right to work right,” said Luther Hanson, Museum Specialist at the Army Quartermaster Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia. “Rolled sleeves wouldn’t look proper, you wouldn’t look regulation … everyone has to look exactly the same. It’s a mindset.”
The first time rolled sleeves were seen was in the Army and Navy was during World War II, Hanson said.
Before 1966, commanding officers could grant permission on a case-by-case basis for rolled sleeves. However, Hanson told CNN, “It finally got approved for use in Vietnam … where it was necessary because you were sweating all the time.”
Reaction to the pilot program has so far has been largely positive.
“Even though I am only just starting my Army training, when you look at other branches, they’re all allowed to roll their sleeves,” Will Patterson, 19, a cadet in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Mercyhurst University, told CNN, adding that his opinions were personal and didn’t represent the Army’s. “If it’s what soldiers want, I think it’s a great idea. It still looks professional and I think will improve morale.”
The Army Times published some of the responses it had received on their Facebook page:
“About time! I always preferred to have my sleeves rolled. So much more comfortable. Hated it when the regs came out to not roll them anymore.” — Bob Shabasson
“Having spent a great deal of time stationed in extremely hot climates I agree that troops should be able to roll their sleeves. Stupidity reigned when it was banned.” — Lisa Wililams
But not everyone was on board.
“It looks unprofessional, period. That’s why it needs to be up to the command. If you’re not doing manual labor of exerting yourself in support of the mission then you need to always present a professional appearance.” — Nancy Chisholm
The Army has yet to announce when a final decision on the policy will be made.
“It will review feedback from what happens at Fort Hood, and will look at the practicality of the sleeve-rolling experiment there before making any kinds of regulatory changes to current uniform policy,” according to a statement on the Army website.
