A Fort Knox, Ky., AAFES employee checks the fit of a new Army Green Service Uniform coat on a student recruiter on July 8, 2020. The recruiting students, who are about to graduate from the Army Recruiter Course at the installation, are some of the first to receive the World War II-style uniforms. (Eric Pilgrim/U.S. Army)
A Fort Knox, Ky., AAFES employee checks the fit of a new Army Green Service Uniform coat on a student recruiter on July 8, 2020. The recruiting students, who are about to graduate from the Army Recruiter Course at the installation, are some of the first to receive the World War II-style uniforms. (Eric Pilgrim/U.S. Army)
A recruiting student from the Fort Knox, Ky., tries on a pair of brown shoes that are part of the new Army Green Service Uniform, similar to uniforms worn by soldiers during World War II. They will become the official service uniform of the Army, replacing the Army Service Uniform, or ASU. (Eric Pilgrim/U.S. Army)
A female soldier attending the Army Recruiter Course at Fort Knox, Ky., has the hem of her trousers measured by a seamstress after receiving the Army Green Service Uniform from the installation???s military clothing Sales store July 8, 2020. The new uniform will replace the Army Service Uniform, or ASU, as the official service uniform of the Army. (Eric Pilgrim/Fort Knox News)
A Fort Knox, Ky., AAFES employee measures the chest of a soldier to determine the right size coat for him on July 8, 2020, when he and other student recruiters were issued with the new Army Green Service Uniform, which was inspired by uniforms worn in World War II. (Eric Pilgrim/U.S. Army)
Soldiers training to become recruiters at Fort Knox, Ky., were the first to receive the standard-issue Army Green Service Uniform, inspired by the pinkish-brown trousers and dark olive jackets worn by troops in World War II.
Students at Fort Knox’s Recruiting and Retention College received the uniform, sometimes called “pinks and greens,” early this month, the Army said in a statement.
“This is kind of cool, especially for the students, because they’re going to be the face of the Army when they go out there,” Sgt. 1st Class Wesley Wills, a recruiter course instructor, was quoted as saying in the statement. “To put them in the new uniform makes sense to me because they’re going to be engaging the public.”
The service greens offer a more casual alternative to the Army Service Uniform and are considered a better option for an office setting, the Army said.
Soldiers will continue to wear their blue dress uniform for formal occasions, the Army said.
Before the rollout at Fort Knox, some 850 service green uniforms had been tried out for feedback by senior leaders, the Army Band, recruiters and the Old Guard ceremonial infantry unit.
Sgt. Rochelle Walsingham, a soldier at Fort Knox who received the retro-style polyester and wool mix uniform, said the new jackets are “a lot heavier and more durable than other jackets.”
The AGSUs are also “more form-fitting” for women, she said in the statement.
“That was a big problem for the ASU for the females,” Walsingham said.
Drill sergeants are expected to be the next group to receive the uniforms, the Army said. The uniform will be issued to new recruits in the fall and to other installations later this year, the statement said.
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