I have seen other letters pertaining to the dress and appearance of our military members, but thought I would throw my 2 cents out there.

There are some bad examples of military wear out there within all the U.S. branches of service, but none as flagrant and disrespectful as the Army. I know we are at war here, and there is a lot of latitude given toward the wear of the uniform and general appearance, but if the other services can show some pride in their appearance, why can’t the Army?

Does no one in the Army chain of command care at all about what their soldiers look like? It is a travesty when you see a soldier with his pants dragging the ground and he isn’t on patrol; wearing his hat or cover like he just got done driving the farm tractor, with the bill pointed up to the sky, or not even wearing their cover; wearing of uniforms with large and excessive holes in them — not to mention, some of the uniforms don’t look like they’ve been cleaned since the war in Afghanistan started. On Bagram, there should be no excuse for this.

This little example tops it all though, and it was an officer: wearing his jacket (shirt) with his first lieutenant insignia on it, but he still had second lieutenant on his hat. I guess that about sums it all up.

Master Sgt. James Fernacz (retired)Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan