Junior enlisted Marines will just have to keep squinting when a staff non-commissioned officer walks by.
Marine officials said Commandant Gen. James Amos has decided not to change the color of enlisted rank insignia from black to brushed brass, or to make the cross-body Sam Browne belt mandatory for officers' "Alpha" and "Bravo" dress uniforms, two possible changes that the Marine Corps Uniform Board proposed in an open survey to Marines in August.
The Sam Browne belt, which is now optional for officers, dates back to 1920 as an aesthetic and historical uniform item.
"The discussion centered around the cost of the belt and the lack of necessity to add it to an already expensive [second lieutenant's] uniform purchase, as well as the fact that unit supply shops typically maintain several belts that can be used for official functions," Marine Corps spokesman, Capt. Tyler Balzer said. "It was decided that, for personal use, officers who like wearing the belt may continue to, and those who don't, won't be required to purchase one."
The proposal to change the color of enlisted chevrons from black to brushed brass emerged for a purely practical reason.
"When black insignia intersects with black pixels in the woodland MARPAT utilities it can be difficult to discern rank," a Marine news release announcing a Corps-wide survey on the changes read.
Those in attendance of the brief found "the issue only occurs between a junior and senior Marine who aren't already acquainted, and in that case (and all cases) the proper greeting to a senior SNCO should be most about mutual respect between the two, and not about whether one's a first sergeant or master sergeant or master gunnery sergeant or sergeant major specifically," said Balzer. "Of course, when in doubt, a junior Marine can always address a senior Marine as 'sir' or 'ma'am.'"
Senior staff NCOs have been known to object to the term, despite it falling in line with official Marine Corps customs and courtesies.
A version of the phrase, "Don't call me sir; I work for a living" — spoken by a military staff NCO — has appeared in multiple military movies, notably "Stripes" (1981) and "Good Morning Vietnam" (1987).
Balzer said he could not provide the results of the Uniform Board's survey, as they were purely informal.
A decision has yet to be made on a third proposal that would set the annual springtime transition to desert utilities with sleeves up forward by nearly a month to April 1. That change now coincides with the start of daylight saving time, which began this year on March 9.
Historically, Marines have supported few proposed uniform changes.
A late 2013 Uniform Board survey that proposed adopting unisex dress and service caps, with an option for male Marines to change over to the narrow "Dan Daly" dress cover, set off a firestorm of controversy when the New York Post coined the term "girlie hats."
That proposal was quickly quashed, and the Marines issued a new release that said the Corps was only looking to locate a new dress cover for female Marines as a previous manufacturer had gone out of business.
The most significant uniform change in recent memory came in 2011, when Amos and the Uniform Board approved a decision to end the practice of rolling sleeves in the desert utilities. That policy endured until earlier this year when Amos reinstated rolled sleeves in a stunning reversal. He said at a public event following the decision that he had been influenced by the pleas of junior NCOs, who frequently asked him if he planned to bring back rolled sleeves.
The Marine Corps has yet to make an announcement regarding another proposed change that would allow female Marines to wear an adapted version of the male dress blues coat with its distinctive Mandarin collar. Marine officials previously said that wear tests, begun last year at Marine Barracks Washington, will continue at the Basic School at Quantico, Virgina, lasting about six months.
After that, the test results will head to the Uniform Board, which may take up to two years to make a final decision.
