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Space Force Offers First Peek at Camouflage Uniform:
The official Twitter account of the month-old military service posted[*] a teaser photograph Friday night appearing to show a variant of the Operational Camouflage Pattern used by the Army and Air Force.
Above the left breast pocket in Navy embroidery reads: U.S. Space Force.
[...] The uniform depicts four-star rank, indicating that the uniform belongs to Gen. John "Jay" Raymond, the first commander of U.S. Space Force. It also has the Command Space Operations badge embroidered above the service nametape.
On the left sleeve of the uniform is the United States Space Command patch, denoting the military's newest combatant command, formed shortly before Space Force itself activated Dec. 20. And above that patch is a full-color American flag patch -- a departure from the muted flags that soldiers and airmen typically wear on their right shoulders in OCP uniform.
Many questions remain. Space Force has yet to announce a rank structure, a full system of uniforms or even what to call members of the new service. In a Thursday briefing, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Raymond was developing a plan regarding every detail.
[*] https://twitter.com/SpaceForceDoD/status/1218335200964464650
(Score: 5, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Friday January 24 2020, @10:02PM (9 children)
In space, no one can see you're a tree.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 24 2020, @10:33PM
Are you signing up then, Fangorn?
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Friday January 24 2020, @10:44PM (6 children)
Maybe they should just adopt the uniforms from the Stargate TV series?
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday January 24 2020, @10:51PM
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/147006/where-did-the-field-uniforms-come-from-that-the-sg-teams-wear [stackexchange.com]
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 24 2020, @11:58PM (4 children)
Or another show? [twitter.com]
Patrick Stewart must be having a meltdown.
(Score: 5, Funny) by SpockLogic on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:13AM (3 children)
Best comment I've seen so far was "Trump's administration is kind of like an episode of Star Trek where every person is wearing a red shirt."
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:30AM
The responses are great if claims of copyright infringement bogus. The federation logo was based on an old NASA logo and LOL [twitter.com]
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:48AM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Saturday January 25 2020, @04:37AM
>Best comment I've seen so far was "Trump's administration is kind of like an episode of Star Trek where every person is wearing a red shirt."
I assume they meant TOS, because in TNG the commanders wore red.
Also, I think that comment is a little insulting to the red-shirts. They weren't shown to be totally incompetent, they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time over and over. If you want to make a Star Trek comparison, I'd say that administration resembles a group of incompetent Ferengi more than anything.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:34AM
Space tree? [fandom.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Informative) by fustakrakich on Friday January 24 2020, @10:03PM (15 children)
Black... with a thousand points of light
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Friday January 24 2020, @10:12PM (13 children)
Nope, reusing Air Force uniforms to save money, but with a new patch sewn on.
If Space Force does send military personnel into space 50 years from now, they should wear orange instead of camo.
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(Score: 0, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 24 2020, @10:40PM (6 children)
The uniforms should be black, and all Space Force members should be required to wear Blackface makeup.
Yeah, I suppose it's also racist for special ops members conducting nighttime raids to wear blackface. Maybe they should wear clown makeup so they can better fit in with all the assholes who go out of their way to be offended at practical things.
Just like when the Navy, who are notorious for having the gayest-looking uniforms, finally did something rad and authorized the Gadsden Flag patch [military.com] you still see today on certain uniforms. Of course the professional outrage patrol was also bitching and moaning about that one.
But what do I think about the Space Force uniform? Well, the only goddamn difference between it and an Army/Air Force uniform is the full-color flag on the other shoulder, which makes sense because real astronaut uniforms have a full-color flag on the left shoulder, and as an added bonus the flag stays in its proper orientation when saluting (which is done with the right hand). We can assume that the dress blues will also basically be a kinda-modified Air-force version, maybe with a silver-colored shirt or pants rather than powder-blue on Navy blue (Air Force dress blues already have silver trim for officers).
What should be done instead for the common Space Force uniform? Ditch the woodland top and bottom in favor of the existing onesie flight-suits used by the Air Force, maybe colored a subdued silver rather than forest green. That would be great because it more readily distinguishes common Space Force with a more "classy" uniform that was formerly only for pilots and aircrew. Jumpsuits are also comfy and easier to maintain than BDU's (or whatever the fuck BDU's are called nowadays).
The Army tried to change their uniform to make the common grunts and POGs feel more special by allowing them all to wear Berets instead of the standard cap. Now this is the perfect example of the above paragraph done totally wrong, as Army people are tough and berets are for Frogs and queers. You may disagree and point out that Delta Force wear green berets, but there's a reason for that. People who could kill a man with their bare hands because that unlucky bastard laughed at their funny hat have earned the right to dress so flamboyantly with a straight face.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday January 24 2020, @10:48PM (1 child)
If they are doing a covert mission in space, they will wear a spacesuit. They can just make that black. Unless it absorbs sunlight + lasers and kills them faster.
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(Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 24 2020, @11:08PM
A good hazing ritual would be to wrap all second-lieutenants in gold foil satellite-style and post them up for bitch-duty like CQ.
When I worked at the shipyards, I would have to be let on board by an ensign who was being hazed by similar bitch-duty. I noticed that one of his collar bars was green and the other was red. Knowing the rank insignia at that time, I asked him why his bars were colored like Christmas lights? He answered, rolling his eyes, "It's because I don't know my left from my right."
(Score: 2, Funny) by fustakrakich on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:34AM (1 child)
Looking for a uniform?
Got what you need [pinimg.com]
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday January 25 2020, @06:11AM
But you can only wear THAT uniform "to the moon!"
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 25 2020, @11:20AM
Onesies? You mean like coveralls? FFS man, people in space still have to shit!!
Speaking of which - when they flush, where do you think it will land?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:09PM
The uniforms should be rainbow colored to reflect that they are the fruitiest of the armed forces. Terrestrial forces will still be required to have a couple percent of gays enlisted. The space weenies will have 97% LGBTWXYZ by congressional order. Still no trannies though, unless they are post-op. The military isn't going to spend money on cutting people's balls off - that's part of what they get paid to do.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:02AM (4 children)
That's my one worry if the US ever faces an invasion on its own soil. At least half the soldiers will be conditioned to not shoot anything in orange from their hunting days.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:29AM
Camouflage for the prez, huh?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:32AM (1 child)
That's odd, the hunters around here all seem to shoot each other, with or without orange clothing. Occasionally they shoot an innocent bystander too...
But, really, who the f cares what Space Force wears, I want to know what the hell they are supposed to be doing.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @02:06AM
What are they supposed to be doing? Why making another line item in the military budget of course! These re-used uniforms probably cost a couple million to design, 50 mil to produce the first batch, and the name tags will be special space-proof plastic coming in at $3.5k each.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 25 2020, @11:22AM
No worries. Some of us are color blind, some more of us aren't blind, but just don't notice color much. Statistics used to be that 1 in 4 males were at least a little bit color blind. I remember a discussion that challenged those stats, but I'll stick with them.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:47AM
Well, orange is the new... oh never mind
It's the new Coppertone tan at least
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:07AM
https://ibb.co/jbv6HS2 [ibb.co]
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Friday January 24 2020, @10:21PM (21 children)
That would be a good poll question. Rocketeers?
I'm happy that the US military is focusing more on space. Beats finding new ways to blow people up. With that huge budget, maybe they can make some non-destructive progress.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Friday January 24 2020, @10:27PM (2 children)
Air Force has airmen, so Space Force should have spacemen.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:35AM
Nah, they will soon all be space cases. All dressed up and no place to go.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:46PM
Which explains why the navy has semen?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Unixnut on Friday January 24 2020, @10:27PM (6 children)
> I'm happy that the US military is focusing more on space. Beats finding new ways to blow people up. With that huge budget, maybe they can make some non-destructive progress.
Its the US military. If anything, they are going to work (and spend money) on finding even more new ways to blow people/things up, either in or from space. "non destructive" doesn't really fit with what the military is about.
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Friday January 24 2020, @10:37PM (2 children)
They used to explore [wikipedia.org], too.
(Score: 1) by j-beda on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:01PM (1 child)
We are talking about the US Military. I don't know that they have any history of exploration like the British did.
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:39PM
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corps_of_Discovery [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday January 24 2020, @10:40PM (1 child)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Space_Command [wikipedia.org]
Space Force has been around since 1982. It just wasn't a service branch.
They will probably try to find new ways to blow up satellites or prevent them from being blown up.
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(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Friday January 24 2020, @11:07PM
I'm imagining that the US and China could have a race toward claiming sovereignty on Mars. If they blow each other up in space, it's a good way to vent some anger. Beats having a hot war on Earth.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:15AM
Actually, it fits with what many military services over the years have done: Cause the least amount of destruction to achieve whatever the mission is.
Does that always happen? Nope, there are lots of counterexamples, punitive destructions and scorched-earth objectives abound.
But in Army basic training in the late 80s I still remember a lecture on movement and our First Sergeant asking us why we as soldiers should stick to established paths and not tramp all over the grounds and grasses. We suggested the right answers of not giving away our position to easy tracking, our numbers, making more noise in movement. And then he looked back and said, "Yes. All right answers. But how about also 'Preserving the environment?' As soldiers you have the responsibility to not cause unnecessary destruction, as well, and that includes the environments you travel in." Still haven't forgotten that over 30 years later.
Knowing how to destroy things, to a intelligent human, also means learning when to spare things as well.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 24 2020, @11:01PM (8 children)
I'll add it to my list of pole questions.
What to call members of US Space Force?
* Spacemen (spacepersons)
* Rocketeers
* Space Cadets
* Spaced Out
* Other (please specify in comments)
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 24 2020, @11:49PM (5 children)
Geeks
Unlike the other forces, physical strength has no advantage and every task *is* ‘rocket science’
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday January 25 2020, @04:43AM (4 children)
>Unlike the other forces, physical strength has no advantage and every task *is* ‘rocket science’
If they ever have to board crewed enemy spacecraft, this won't be true.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 25 2020, @11:27AM
Similar thoughts here. In space, great strength *may be* less of an advantage than in a gravity well. But, there will always be things that are easier if you have a little brawn on your side. That old classic ninety pound weakling will still be a weakling in space.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 27 2020, @02:45PM (2 children)
But the enemy spacecraft may have a completely different atmosphere than humans breathe.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday January 29 2020, @01:40AM (1 child)
I'm not talking about alien starships, I'm talking about other human vessels. If aliens from other star systems ever attacked us, we'd be toast: their technology would be so far ahead of ours that we wouldn't stand a chance.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 29 2020, @02:51PM
Bu, bu, but . . .
Space Force!
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday January 25 2020, @06:13AM
"Names Barf!"
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:47PM
Operators. Most of the folks will be baby sitting and coordinating comsats and generally hanging out in operations centers of one form or another.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Friday January 24 2020, @11:28PM
Assignment in Space with Rip Foster [gutenberg.org] (I refuse to use the revisionist "Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet" title.)
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:18AM
Space cadets, of course! More importantly, have they decided on an actual mission yet? I mean, other than just being a bunch of space cadets, that is.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 24 2020, @11:03PM (17 children)
Is there a defined purpose of Space Force?
Are they astronauts? Or pilots of space drones?
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 24 2020, @11:14PM (4 children)
For the near future, dicking around with satellites and possibly orbital weapons.
For the far future, deflection and destruction of asteroids, and shielding Earth from magnetic anomalies.
For the very distant future, space colonialism. To seek out new life and new civilizations, and enslave them and steal their technology while mining their minerals.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 25 2020, @11:30AM
God damn it EF! We aren't going to mine the alien's minerals. Are you just another poser, or what?
What we WILL DO is, after enslaving them, we'll make the aliens mine their minerals, and give them to us.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:00PM (1 child)
I could see a useful role for them in cleaning up space junk [imdb.com] and removing orbital litter. That would be useful in and of itself and good practice for when they need to take out all non-allied satellites, starting with the newest first, without kicking off the Kessler Syndrome.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 27 2020, @02:40PM
But then shouldn't they be called . . . Space Janitor Force!
And wear plain gray uniforms?
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 27 2020, @02:39PM
To seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly enslave them and steal their technology while mining their minerals.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday January 24 2020, @11:49PM (11 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Space_Command [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Space_Force [wikipedia.org]
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(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:16AM (3 children)
Which of those objectives requires camouflage?
This sig for rent.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @03:13AM
Stalking outrageous budgets, of course.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 25 2020, @11:32AM
The camo will be worn to the local bars, to impress the women.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by EvilSS on Saturday January 25 2020, @07:55PM
* "Let's make them blue so they don't look quite so stupid. Plus it will better camouflage sailors if they are in the water"
"But sir, won't that make it harder for our crews to spot people who go overboard?"
"Eh, I can live with that."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:21AM (6 children)
Uh, the US Air Force already does much of this; I know, I work for USAF. Is there some foreseeable benefit to separating these functions from the Air Force?
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:40AM (1 child)
Self-aggrandisement not enough of an excuse?jk
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday January 25 2020, @07:58PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:40AM
> Is there some foreseeable benefit ...
Sure, Trump gets to add another section to his big military parade.(/sarc)
And of course there is more attack surface for corruption with the large aerospace companies.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:41AM
It is technically a part of the Department of the Air Force, like how the Marines are part of the Department of the Navy. There may be more clear benefits to the re-establishment of U.S. Space Command. There will probably be better recruitment and visibility for the new Space Force (formerly Air Force Space Command).
You can check out editorials promoting Space Force:
Why the United States needs a Space Force [spacenews.com]
The Case for a U.S. Space Force [soylentnews.org]
Advocates think it will save money (maybe that is what USSPACECOM is doing by consolidating stuff), and that the Air Force just doesn't handle the "domain" properly. For example:
That sounds like it will drive up spending though.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by EvilSS on Saturday January 25 2020, @03:58AM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:58PM
I was not in commo, but for obvious civilian professional reasons I kinda hung out with the commo guys when I was in the reserves, in a galaxy far far away a long time ago.
As they probably should, as they have zoom zoom airplanes as their primary mission. But somebody gotta run the satellites and the entire military was really getting into satellite uplink and downlink stuff and the system, although it was extremely mysterious, none the less worked per the guys I talked to. And there's just more and more military telecom as time goes on.
There really is a justification for some kind of "telecommunications rangers" or "special satellite forces" or WTF. There are "top down" orgs that put a lot of work into infosec securing army.gov and CAC cards and there are bottom up orgs like the NSA that like to do blue sky research into crypto algos, but there really isn't, or wasn't, an independent force dedicated to centralizing all the military's radio telecom and satellite stuff.
I would not be entirely surprised if these space force guys wedge themselves into the special forces comms slots, somehow. Guess what, you comms sgts with all this satellite uplink and datalink gear and stuff, you're now reporting to space forces... hence the camo uniforms.
My guess is as a long term doctrinal shift you're gonna see lots of reliance on satellite comms going right down to individual military member and individual vehicle in the future. Or even lower level. Like the now "old" blue force tracker system, but all IoT'd up, probably via unjammable satellites. Like I bet every crate of M-16 ammo and every grenade will be serial number GPS tracked world wide by satellite and RFID and similar.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:12AM (8 children)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51245262 [bbc.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @12:33AM (1 child)
explained here [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:41AM
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=35719&cid=948246 [soylentnews.org]
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(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:48AM (1 child)
It's similar to the Air Force Space Command emblem [wikimedia.org] as the article points out, but the trail that was added makes it look incredibly similar to the Star Trek one.
If that was intentional, it is probably a good move. A cultural flex. I hope they keep it like that.
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(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday January 25 2020, @04:06AM
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday January 25 2020, @04:52AM (3 children)
They picked the wrong Star Trek logo to copy. They should have used this one [nocookie.net] instead. (Here's [imgur.com] another)
(Score: 3, Funny) by mhajicek on Saturday January 25 2020, @06:05AM (2 children)
I hate it when people design sword and dagger hilts that would impale the users wrist.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday January 25 2020, @04:11PM (1 child)
The second link I provided shows a better design I think. Unfortunately, the official Terran Empire logo appears to be the first one, as seen in the excellent Star Trek: Enterprise opening sequence here [youtube.com].
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Sunday January 26 2020, @08:18AM
Those were good episodes.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek