Airmen conduct an open ranks inspection at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla, Oct. 4, 2024. (Samuel King Jr./U.S. Air Force)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Some airmen are scouring thrift stores and other outlets to find proper attire as the Air Force ramps up uniform inspections ahead of a new policy requiring quarterly checks.
Quarterly inspections begin March 31 and unit commanders began scheduling inspections shortly after receiving the Jan. 30 memo from Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus, Air Force director of staff. That led to a surge in demand for certain required uniform items.
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which sells uniforms on Air Force bases worldwide, has struggled to keep up. Some locations have run out of stock of various items and all stores have seen a marked increase in sales in recent weeks, according to Chris Ward, an AAFES spokesman.
At Ramstein Air Base, AAFES has seen a 94% spike in sales of the service dress uniform over the last four weeks compared to the same period last year, Ward said.
Similar shortages have been reported at other locations and some uniform items are sold out online as well. Air Force service dress trousers, in particular, are on backorder, Ward said. He didn’t specify how long it would take to meet demand.
With required uniform items unavailable through AAFES, airmen have turned to thrift stores, eBay, and other secondhand sources.
“I’ve noticed a huge influx of people coming in, in the past two months,” said Timothy Whalen, a volunteer at Ramstein’s Airman’s Attic, a donation-based store that offers free clothing and household goods to junior enlisted service members and their families.
Whalen sees anywhere from 20 to 50 airmen visit the Airman’s Attic in search of second-hand uniform items each day, many of them “panicked” by the widespread lack of availability as unit inspections loom. He often sees the same people returning multiple times per week in hopes that additional items have been donated.
“I’ve even heard people say they went to Stuttgart to get stuff, which is smart on their behalf but also crazy that they have to drive an hour away or longer to acquire those items that they need,” Whalen said.
Despite the shortages, the Air Force has not announced any adjustments to the inspection schedule or the enforcement of uniform standards.
