No new uniforms for America’s newest military service

The U.S. Space Force — America’s newest military branch — is finding ways to distinguish itself from its sister services beyond its mission.

For one thing, there won’t be a unique U.S. Space Force uniform so applicants who hoped they would dress like Captain Kirk are out of luck.

The service displayed a photograph on its Twitter account displaying the first set of identification tags, replacing “U.S. Air Force” with “U.S. Space Force.” The uniform in the photograph has four stars, indicating it belongs to Gen. John Raymond, the recently sworn in founding commanding general of the U.S. Space Force and the newest member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But the uniform itself looks familiar. It’s called Operational Camouflage Pattern or OCP and is currently worn by troops in the Army and the Air Force. That wasn’t a coincidence.

 

The first #SpaceForce utility uniform nametapes have touched down in the
Pentagon. @EsperDoD @SecAFOfficial @SpaceForceCSO @GenDaveGoldfein @DeptofDefense@usairforce pic.twitter.com/Jvzt5bvNl7

— United States Space Force (@SpaceForceDoD) January 18, 2020

 

 

“Members (of the U.S. Space Force) will look like their joint counterparts they’ll be working with on the ground,” U.S. Space Force officials said.

Cost savings was also a factor in the decision because rolling out a new uniform for a military branch is not cheap. The Army spent $5 billion to test and distribute the predecessor to the OCP known as the Universal Camouflage Pattern.

The UCP was noteworthy for its grey, beige and green pixelated pattern and its generally poor reputation for camouflaging troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.