Comments (0) | |

Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Rules for physical training uniforms strengthened

The Air Force has issued precise guidelines for wearing its new physical training uniform, effective immediately. Lt. Gen. Richard Y. Newton III, the Air Force’s top officer for manpower and personnel, handed down the new regulations last week.

The new regulations “standardizes the wear of the uniform,” said Maj. Richelle Dowdell, an Air Force public affairs officer at the Pentagon.

Previously, the Air Force had not maintained regulations as stringent as those of other services regarding wearing the physical training uniform. As Robins Air Force Base airmen participate in physical training this week, they will take on a far more standardized look.

Now airmen wearing the uniform must tuck in their shirts, wear white socks and salute the American flag when walking by one — among a number of other mandates. Ornate shoes and bandanas are no longer permitted.

The Air Force introduced a new physical training uniform earlier this year. Airmen had been wearing elements of the new uniform with the old uniform. That practice is now prohibited.

“The old ones and the new ones cannot be mixed and matched,” Dowdell said.