I recently saw something on social media indicating the Coast Guard had a uniform shortage. Is this true? If so, why?
Chuck Hill's CG Blog
I recently saw something on social media indicating the Coast Guard had a uniform shortage. Is this true? If so, why?
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
FOR MONTHS we have seen all the evidence of a growing USCG force. IF the USCG is short of uniforms then . . . someone is asleep at the wheel.
I am long out of touch with this aspect of life in the Coast Guard. I don’t know if it is true. Has anyone been unable to get their required uniforms?
I think for ODU’s we should switch to the Navy Working Uniform
(NWU) Type III. It would save us in the long run and we don’t have a uniform shortage. Just think if the USCG went with that instead of the ODU blues.
I kind of like the current CG working uniform, but I have never had to ware it so maybe there are disadvantages.
Comments welcome.
I would say if Supply chain is a huge issue, maybe going to the Navy Working Uniform
(NWU) Type III would save us money in the long run
I tend to think wearing woodland cammies on a ship looks kind of silly. Almost as bad as “Blueberries.”
The USN does not wear NWU Type III aboard ship, they wear the Shipboard Working Uniform improved flame resistant variant (IFRV) coverall. And are currently transitioning to the Two-Piece Organizational Clothing (2POC) uniform. In solid blue for enlisted sailors and khaki for CPOs and officers.
It’s real. It has been bad for years with specific items in short supply, but it has gotten worse. ODUs are hard to find in typical sizes. There is a running joke about winter dress blue since it is highly desirable. For instance, someone posted their used shirt for $10k on eBay.
Yes, there is a shortage of ODUs. The decision was made long ago to switch to a blue NWU. You even had pictures of MCPOCG Vanderhaden in them.
Hurricanes wiped out Puerto Rico and the textile business there. Remember the President throwing papertowels into the crowd? The uniform shortage started then. I remember an ALCOAST about recruits not being issued a full sea bag.
Missed out on the opportunity to stock up on tiger stripe camo as the Air Force/Air Guard transitioned to the current OCPs Army/AF wear. I joke but the OCP was much more comfortable than the tiger stripe. Maybe go back to the ol’ working blues? Then you can at least wear Dickies pants if you remove the tag (or you could depending on how much of a stickler your command was). Added bonus of being mistaken for a gas station worker (or in my case worker at an industrial marine shop when I was on parts runs)
Hey Chuck this video covers reason for the USCG ODU shortage towards the end, 15 minutes or so.
Thanks, that was both informative and confusing.
Yeah, the highly in-depth collector specific detail stuff does tend to cause the average person’s brain to start tuning out
lol