ROTC Uniform questions

[Guest masterchiefll]

I'm a college freshman and I'll be starting AFROTC this spring. I don't receive my uniform 'til January (when school starts), so I was wondering...how many sets of uniforms am I gonna get? Do they issue the shoes/boots as well or do I need to buy them on my own?

[WHAP]

you should get enough to get you by, the boots and shoes will be issued, other things like shirt garters you may have to buy. Other guys grab things like sweaters and the like on their own, but you will get what you need. How many sets i think sometimes depends on the det. We got two sets blues and one bdu before we went to FT, then we got some more for that.

[Guest Flight]

Since I'm the uniform office guy at my det, I can tell you exactly what you will get.

1 LS Blue shirt

2 SS Blue shirts

2 blue trousers

1 pair of low's

tie

service coat

blue jacket

and all the the other little things. This is what is approved by HQ. For the BDU'S, you are allowed 1 set with boots. Any more questions, just ask.

[Toasty]

It depends where you go. Since I goto school in Florida, no one gets issued long sleeve blues. Our freshman also get a set of BDU's. It depends on your Det.

Don't waste another second thinking about it. You will get what you need.

[R-Dub]

Originally posted by toastychicken:

Don't waste another second thinking about it. You will get what you need.

Agreed. It's completely dependant upon your detachment.

[Guest skipplet]

You'll be issued boots with your bdus.

Originally posted by toastychicken:

Don't waste another second thinking about it. You will get what you need.

Seriously.

[Wolf424]

It really does depend on your det. At my det, we don't get BDUs till about March of our AS200 year, unless you go on a PDT the year before.

[F16Deuce]

Dammit, you're going to college, you should be worrying about who can hook you up with a 30 rack of shit-beer (you can progress to say Newcastle or Guiness senior year), no more of this worrying about getting your uniforms!

[Guest redthunder]

Word in my ROTC detachment is that we're going to have to pay for the uniforms that were issued to us (even if we were on scholarship!) when we commission... does this make sense?

Has anyone else seen this at their other dets?

Thanks!

[Guest Rainman A-10]

Makes sense to me. You're an officer.

[Whitman]

Yes, if you want to keep your uniforms you can purchase them at half price. Otherwise, take them to the dry cleaner and return them to the Det.

You can also check out the thrift store on base for cheap uniforms

[ 17. August 2006, 09:26: Message edited by: whitman ]

[brabus]

Just buy what you need (assuming you haven't destroyed them in the past 4 years). Going out and spending twice the money for new uniforms is retarded unless you have no choice (b/c you destroyed your ROTC issued ones). I've seen some dudes return perfectly good uniforms and spend 500 bucks on new stuff...I spent 120 bucks or so.

[barney]

yes you have to buy your uniforms-in your freshmen year you gave the uniform guy a deposit to "rent" the uniforms for four years. if you make it to commissioning then you pony up and pay the piper for the rest of what is owed. it is a far supperrior deal to buy them at your det. especially if you go in and get new ones 1/2 way through your senior year.

[Guest redthunder]

at my det, you only paid a $50 deposit if you weren't on scholarship. by that logic, the scholarship should cover the cost of the uniforms issued to you, right?

[Guest hockeymv]

Not really there Red, plus, as an officer you get a one-time uniform allowance upon your commissioning. So, the real decision is how MUCH do you want to spend? 100-150 for the stuff you've been wearing or 3-400+ for the new versions from your friendly AAFES retailer.

If you're on scholarship, why so worried about buying the uniforms? You're getting that LT paycheck soon enough! It'd be one thing if you were sweating a lot of student loans or something, unless your scholarship didn't cover all your tuition.

Bottom line: Get used to buying uniforms. Ask any O about the 'new PT gear'.

[brabus]

And on the PT gear note, get the freakin PTs issued to you before you commission...I was too lazy/busy to do so and had to buy some out of pocket...fvcking PTs.

[dontshavemyhead]

our deposit was 40 bucks. Why not walk with your unis and keep your 40 bucks?

[Guest waxgoblin]

I just got my uniform for AS100 and they didn't ask for a deposit, I just signed a paper saying I'd return them if I drop out or graduate.

[brabus]

Yeah that's what my Det did too...never heard of the deposit thing.

[Guest Gator-boy]

It depends on what the detachment wants to do. Some require a deposit and others don't care-they take into account that you want to be an AF officer, so hopefully, you follow core values.

[jazzdude]

At my det, the deposit was mainly for dry cleaning- when you returned the uniform, you were expected to turn them in cleaned. For example, the blues needed to be dry cleaned. If you got them dry cleaned, and washed your BDUs, you got the deposit back when you turned in uniforms (or if you kept/bought them). But if you were turning in your blues and didn't get them dry cleaned, you lost your deposit, which went towards cleaning the uniform.

If we just walked away with our uniforms without paying the half price for them, I'm pretty sure they (the det) would put a hold on your college transcript until you payed for the uniforms you took

[ 07. November 2006, 22:03: Message edited by: jazzdude ]

[Guest pstephens]

When I commissioned we had the option to purchase all our uniform items for cheap. The new PTs were issued to us so we didnt drop a dime for those. But we got to keep our service dress, 2 sets of bdus, 2 sets of blues, all the covers, etc for 75 bucks. So by my calculation I had a 400 uniform allowance - 75 in purchased uniforms = 325 slush fund. And at UPT, they issue you a whole bunch of stuff so you will never have to pay for a uniform again.

[brabus]

Holy crap man, that's a hell of a deal. We had to pay 50% of the original price for what we wanted...still not a bad deal (as opposed to buying all new stuff), but sure as hell not 75 bucks for everything. Either way, I still only bought one set of BDUs/blues...who needs more when you just end up wearing a flight suit every day.

[Whitman]

So there I was....getting ready to cough up $149 for my service dress jacket, one pair of pants and 2 BDU's (half price) and I decided to stop by the thrift store on base before paying my det. for the used uniforms. Picked up two full sets of blues, service dress jacket, and mess dress pants for 18 bucks. BTW, the blues were right out of the dry cleaner and the service dress already had officer braids sewn in.

[Guest josephperez826]

Originally posted by barney:

yes you have to buy your uniforms-in your freshmen year you gave the uniform guy a deposit to "rent" the uniforms for four years. if you make it to commissioning then you pony up and pay the piper for the rest of what is owed. it is a far supperrior deal to buy them at your det. especially if you go in and get new ones 1/2 way through your senior year.

You are not supposed to pay for uniforms as a rent or anything else while you are ROTC, you only pay a fraction of the cost once you are about to commission. I only paid $100 for all my uniforms, that was the week before commissioning.