Update: An official Defense.gov article notes the recent changes in Armed Services uniform policies and covers some of the highlights.

Just after the US Air Force abandoned “blues Mondays,” the US Marine Corps has announced that, as of tomorrow, Fridays require Marines to wear service uniforms instead of their utilities:

Beginning Jan. 4, 2013, all non-deployed Marines and sailors assigned to Marine units, regardless of component, active or Reserve, will be required to wear the appropriate seasonal service uniform each Friday.

The reasons given are the “form fitting” nature of the service uniform — which means leaders can “evaluate the personal appearance” of their Marines — as well as a return to the ‘smartly dressed’ Marine image:

“Watching Marines square their gig line away and adjust their uniform is indicative of the ‘spit and polish’ pride we seem to have strayed from,” said [SgtMaj Michael] Sprague.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Mark Welsh recently declined to renew the top-level requirement that Airmen wear their blues on Monday; as a result, most MAJCOMs removed the requirement.

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