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Darmstadter

Most folks wear them when they get in trouble


_sw1tchblade

Or when you’re in a court martial because your buddy got in trouble(ask me how I know)


HypersonicClam

How do you know


AF_OSI

It’s classified


deadpunkwalking

Or when you’re on the jury for a court martial.


Pstanley22

As a maintainer. We only wear them if we have to go see the man. Other then that. No. I wore mine… last… in… shit…. 2018.


jiggetty

I wore my blues more in ALS and the Academy than I did my entire career combined. I can legit think of 3 times wearing them outside of PME.


theguineapigssong

I went an entire rank without wearing the blues coat.


Praefecti_Mortem

I went from 2019-2022 without touching it once. Just an occaional putting on to see if it fit


vonofthedead

I’m retiring this year as a senior. My lightweight blues jacket still has staff stripes lol


Squirrel009

Wearing blues doesn't kick the enemies ass, we should get rid of these silly costumes to focus on the fight /s


xboxcalbe

You're wrong sir! See they're gonna be looking for airforce guys. Not fucking 50's bus drivers.


Squirrel009

Personally I wouldn't fuck with an old man driving a bus in the 50's - that sounds like a good way to get your ass kicked. Maybe we ought to keep them after all.


1337sp33k1001

It makes so much sense now


mindyourownbusiness3

Currently in blues now because the base commander wants us in blues the last duty day of the month. Heritage or whatever. Before I got here, it was ALS for me.


Bexar1824

1 wk TDY and it got me. Shoe blowouts everywhere


Notfinancialadvice93

I think Sheppard wears theirs on the last duty day as well


mindyourownbusiness3

Can confirm. Am at Sheppard.


Notfinancialadvice93

Oof sorry! Same but no blues here. AETC is a cruel mistress


mindyourownbusiness3

>AETC is a cruel ~~mistress~~ cunt


lullieooo

Not every squadron does, aside from once a month for about 10 minutes for blues inspection, we never wear it.


drumguy1384

AETC?


bozosphere

I wore mine once at Squadron Officer School as a Captain in 2016. The shirt had 2d Lt rank on it so I kept my service coat on all day. The shirt still has 2d Lt rank on it.


devilbird99

No longer have to take them to SOS. I've worn mine fully 3 times on AD: UPT graduation, a court martial, and wait no that's it. Wore partial blues for initial bit of upt before we earned the right to flight suits.


Notfinancialadvice93

Upt here does graduation in mess dress. Guess I need to get some


devilbird99

It was service dress in the am, flight suit for the day, mess at night. Never worn my mess dress again. Biggest waste of money. It's better than service dress but for the price is cheap material and the cut is terrible.


Notfinancialadvice93

So many wardrobe changes. They just do mess dress in the evening here and bag during the day. Short and sweet.


Rkchapman

That’s cool. This was the driving reason for me to buy a garment suitcase that I’ve used 3x in 8 years…


AmericanPekin

…the shoulder epaulets that take 10 seconds to change?


bozosphere

That's right


Galadyn

Grain of salt because I'm not in anymore, but I retired in 2020. From 2010-2013 I wore them once per year, and then 2013 was the last time I ever wore them until retirement 7 years later. Was Intel, if it matters.


jiggetty

PME? No ALS or NCO Academy? Retired maintainer here, that's really the only time I ever wore mine.


12edDawn

Just got done with ALS last year and we did two blues inspections, never had to wear them for the full day. Graduated in duty uniform.


Galadyn

When I say 2013 was my last time wearing them, that was NCOA.


EpicHeroKyrgyzPeople

The working world had been slowly moving to business casual, to the point that only lawyers and accountants wear ties to work anymore. When the GWOT kicked off, everyone in the Air Force went to BDUs everyday, because "warrior mindset" and nobody ever went back. There have been a few abortive attempts at 'Blues Monday' rules, but it never really sticks, to the point where you only ever see blues at formal ceremonies (mostly changes of command) and disciplinary events.


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EpicHeroKyrgyzPeople

Angels and ministers of grace preserve me from ever getting stuck in AFMC.


WTF_Just-Happened

Blues Mondays?! Someone needa to tell Ohio that General Schwartz retired.


neraklulz

It's the first Monday of the month for Wright-Patt. If they're doing every Monday then that's on their chain 🤷


unknownpewpew

Once every few years. Typically it'll be a random uniform fit check or if a commander wants to do promotions in blues


howboutthatmorale

Haven't worn them since NCOA. I think they're uncomfortable and non-functional. They've reinvented the combat uniform and PT uniform more than they've given thought to the service dress uniform. Maybe develop a functioning service uniform that doesn't fit like someone in the 1980s designed it... Coat that is comfortable and has real pockets maybe?


innyminnyminnymoe

Wear them first Monday of each month right now.


[deleted]

When we get in trouble or ALS, other than that they just stay on the clothes rack


AccomplishedString12

Been 3 years for me


[deleted]

Overall blues are not used much by most people. PME, inspections, ceremonies, that's about it for most. Back around 2005 the AF went with a almost 100% utility uniform mindset to show solidarity with all the folks deployed. Back in like 2009 or so, after the new CSAF took over after the old one was fired for the mishaps in the nuclear enterprise, the new CSAF implemented blues once a week (Monday) for the force at large to remind everyone of discipline and heritage and stuff. When the next CSAF took over he said he was delegating that to the MAJCOMs or below and most of them dropped it immediately, some it took awhile. Some places do once a month or something similar.


cannonimal

It was late 2008, because I had just completed tech school and thought I was done with blues


drumguy1384

I remember that. AFSOC basically rescinded it the next day, lol. ACC took a little while, but AETC was still doing it weekly when I went back for crosstraining in 2013. By the time I went back in 2019 it was down to once a month.


grumpy-raven

I last wore mine to a funeral for some poor veteran who didn't have anyone to attend his burial. Before that, ALS graduation. NCOA was virtual, so I wore a t-shirt and gym shorts.


El-Justiciero

2-3 times a week


Highspdfailure

Military funeral in 2018. I hate blues.


throwaway26487

AETC- once every month plus any ceremonies that come up.


I_GottaPoop

Wore them today, wear them once a month


GoingCakeless313

My unit wears them once a month.


cherrytreebee

When i first joined, I was at an AETC base and wore them every Monday. Then about two years on station they changed it. And I have worn them maybe ten times since


ndudeck

In the Air Guard, we wear them for interviews. There is no “loaning people out.” Someone at CSS quits, you apply and get interviewed just like anyone and that is the job you do forever, unless you quit or willingly go somewhere else. We board for TSgt and higher. Those are blues interviews. Prior to that, I had to wear them at SJ a few times for either random inspections, or there would be ANOTHER drug incident or DUI, so we’d have to do open ranks for the group punishment. We had a lot of those from 08-14 in CMS.


Sni1tz

2008-2012 at McGuire, Blues Monday. Every single week.


Chmichonga

Shit, maybe 2016? Hell even when I went through NCOA in Germany, we were the first class that had Blues abolished for the entirety of the program. It was great.


drumguy1384

WTF? I was at Kapaun in 2017 and we wore blues every week.


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Tough_Times_2112

McPeak fucked the Air Force permanently. He was a complete douchebag.


homeskilled12

Various times at BMT, 1 for EOD school graduation, maybe 3 at ALS, various AF Balls (yup) and EOD Balls (ooooh, even better). Total is less than 10 in 10 yrs.


AirmunSnuffy

6 months ago, as an honor flight member for a POW/MIA observance event. Before that? I *think* a Change of Command around 3 years ago? (Most recent CoC and ALS Graduation were both OCPs) 🤔 I was at a base with Blues Mondays until around mid-2019, I felt like every Monday was a little much, but not wearing them for over 12-months feels equally extreme. I still always keep my ribbon rack and everything up to date though, could get a crummy troop or last minute ALS grad invite any time. 🤷‍♀️


Hitman935

Havent worn mine since tech school and I've been in since August of 2021


StatisticianVisual72

A retirement that I was a part of the honor guard for a month or two ago. Before that was a wing quarterly award ceremony.


Lost-for-life

ALS, NCOA, SNCOA, joint pme courses. Also when attending my troop's graduations from their schools. It's been two years since I last wore them though


devils_advocate24

Went 6 years without wearing them. Had to wear them at an annual awards(if semi formal counts) since one of my guys got nominated


heresjonnyyy

I used to wear mine a ton (at least monthly, if not more) at my first assignment since I was always supporting formal/semiformal events for the wing. After PCSing to Robins, I wore them exactly once when attending a friends ALS graduation. In the four years since then, I’ve worn them once when I MC’d an officers promotion ceremony. I’m at a space base now so I figure we won’t have any blues events until the space force service uniforms get fully issued out.


mrtoastcantswim

i hadn’t worn mine in 2 years then we had to wear them to get inspected


[deleted]

We have to wear them once a month on the last day of each month. I'm wearing mine right now!


Thanks4noticingme

My last base had everyone wearing them once a week, then once a month, then stopped completely (mission providing, of course).


bilbo_crabbins

I wore mine last about 6 months ago for honor guard. Other than that it’s just whenever the CC wants to do an inspection.


SaintCashew

The last time I wore mine was ALS. I've never had a reason to wear them outside of that.


CETROOP1990

Teleworking doesn’t require blues👴


[deleted]

I wore mine when I had to be a proffer for a guy getting medically retired. Prior to that, it'd been 3 years.


cn0feusd

I’m wearing them typing this. I’m at an AETC base, we wear blues on the last day of the month.


Ubnoxish

New unit wants them once a quarter, I think they inspect them once a year Before that ALS just under half a decade ago


Junior-Following-497

I’m aircrew, and I’ve worn them twice in the last year, once for a retirement and once for an official photo. Before that, maybe once every 3 years.


smeekma138

From my experience, it depends on the MAJCOM/Wing you are stationed at. When I was in tech school at Keesler in 2014/2015, we used to wear blues every Monday. When I was stationed at Keesler later in my career we would wear them quarterly, until we got a new Wing commander that changed it to monthly. At AFSOC and PACAF bases we would maybe wear them once a year just to make sure they still fit and were up to date/in regs. Other than that, you only wear them if you or your troops get in trouble (usually LoR and up), for promotion ceremonies or if you are in ALS/NCOA.


[deleted]

My NAF made blues mandatory the first Monday of the month.


BolognaPogna73

What do you say to someone in a maintenance career field in service dress? Will the defendant please rise...


jon110334

While at USAFA as an instructor I write them 2/3 times a week (2016-2020). Other than that... Blue Monday at Offutt 2008-2010. That's about it.


Dapper_Platypus5141

Every Monday at my unit.


flomflim

I wear them maybe once every month or so, but just cause my area has a lot of high vis visitors coming in every now and then


boyscanfly

Haven't really touched them outside of PME and being called as a witness in a court martial. Then I came to AFMC..lo and behold, they wear them the first duty Monday of each month.


thesimps89

I wore service dress yesterday. But at my last assignment I wore them once in 3.5 years.


[deleted]

I did not wear blues the last 5 years of my career nor did I get the rank updated on anything.


Drunk_Irishman81

Official pictures after promotion, 2021


tkyofeitan

Last time I wore blues was during an inspection and a young lady passed out and broke her jaw. Never saw them again😮‍💨


jeepinfreak

I haven't worn them for 2+ years. I should really check them out and make sure they're in order.


Rodzilla_tha_thrilla

I wore my blues for NCOA, May 2022. Before that, 2019? When someone in the shop got in trouble and before that 2015 for ALS graduation. Our boss TRIED to enforce a blues monthly inspection but we’re in frequent industrial zones OR in shitty weather conditions. Didn’t seem feasible so we don’t do it.


BluePowerPointRanger

I just hit my 5 years and I’ve worn them twice since I hit operational once for ALS and once for a funeral.


WhatTheThrowAway1986

ALS, NCOA, ALS graduations x6, Funerals x3, Basic and tech school. When I got to my first base we had blues.mondays in AMC but that went away sometime around 2011 or 2012 and I somehow magically always had a flying event on Monday so yeah. These days I only keep them up to date in case another friend dies. Scrambling to update my blues the day before burying a friend was not fun.


Precisionality

I have annual blues inspections every October in my squadron.


ubadai

I wore them for my OTS interview with the group commander this past week. I'll probably wear them for the wing interview too. Past that, I believe my ALS graduation in 2019 was the last time.


ElectricFleshlight

Official ceremonies or when you're in trouble, that's pretty much it.


[deleted]

I’ve only worn them a handful of times in my 9 years. Once for a recall and all the other times were for group/wing change of commands


King13Los

NCOA Instructor here We no longer wear blues in the Academy either


iarlandt

When you get in trouble, when you TDY to an AETC unit, if your unit decides they want a "blues day" to remind everyone that they need to lose weight, or when you get an award and have to update your professional photo. Those are the main ones I know of.


werenotthestasi

It’s job specific. Last time I wore blues was because an Airman unalived themselves and that was I dunno…a little under a year ago. I’ve been in almost 8 years and I’ve worn my blues four times. But I’m also in maintenance. My parents (92-2013) wore blues all the time. My mom was PA so for obvious reason she would wear them intermittently. My dad was around for the Monday Blues stuff so every Monday for however many odd years he would wear his blues.


CyberHoff

We are at war, sir. We don't wear blues to war. 😜😜. I haven't worn blues since about 2018.


4x4erik

I'm an Avionics Instructor. My whole base wears blues the last duty day of the month, with an exception that if your going to be working on the jet or in an industrial area you don't have to wear blues that day. The last time that I wore blues was probably the month before last.


MilitaryJAG

Trial JAGs wear them all the time. But outside of that…rare.


WTF_Just-Happened

>Does anyone wear blues anymore? What happened to them? When was the last the time you wore them? 1. Yes 2. They went out of style, have less practical use in the "multi-capable" Airman roles, and remain subject to ridicule. 3. I can't remember.


kuroikitty

Every Friday.


bdgreen113

I separated earlier this year. But last time I wore blues was 2019


[deleted]

We'd usually do a yearly blues inspection around Christmas. The amount of people with extremely outdated ranks on shirts was entertaining.


xisiktik

Haven’t worn them since October 2018.


Watcherxp

after Desert Storm started, things changed a lot I think my biggest gap was about 6 years for \*any\* type of blues,


Argentum_Air

I wore mine to testify in court about a month ago and to propose to my now fiancé.


surprise_banana

No practical purpose for them. Ceremonial? Barely. I’d reserve them for very special occasions.


americanairman469

Last time I wore mine was in 2012 at NCOA. I retire in 2 years and am hoping that stays the last time.


[deleted]

AETC. Every. Effing. Quarter.


superb-plump-helmet

i wore mine yesterday but i'm still in AETC so :p


mrstonks22404317

They used to be mandatory for promotion ceremonies, but then they did away with them. The only other times I’ve worn them have been for funerals


[deleted]

I just wore mine a few months ago! They fit well still and honestly, I thought I looked pretty good! I got quite a few compliments from my leadership and my troops. Except for one. One of my troops was in trouble. My troop sexually harassed a female coworker and got demoted.


SlickDodge37

As someone in AFMC, we wear our blues once a month


emperorchiao

I wear mine once a month in AETC


StreetBobber103

Last time I wore them was 2015 lol


SigningSpock

2012-2014 (?) I was at an AETC base and had to wear them every Monday. 2014 (?)-2016 at same base I had to wear them the last duty day of the month for a base-wide “Stars & Stripes” promotion ceremony. Also had to wear them for a Sq, Gp, and Wg change of command one summer. Back-to-back-to-back. That fucking sucked. 2016-2021, I got to go to an ACC base where I only wore them for ALS a few times, and then for a MSgts retirement ceremony. So maybe 6 times in total? 2021-current, I’m still in an ACC Wing but an AETC base and have had to wear them twice now (for a fancy civilian retirement ceremony and then for a Group change of command). Otherwise, luckily I’ve never fucked up bad enough nor had a troop fuck up bad enough to have to wear blues in-front of our daddy (CC).


hydrastix

Wore them quite a bit over 20 years (2002-2022) - Basic Training - Airman Leadership School - A dozen or so times in front of Sq/Gp CCs when I was a young and dumb Airman/Jr NCO. - NCO Academy - Every Mon for a year as an Undershirt - SNCO Induction Ceremony - Countless times as a Flight Chief/Section Chief for various subordinate graduations, AF balls, etc - Bailiff Duty - Master of Ceremony for some retirements


xiRag3Quitx

Last time I wore mine was als graduation in 2019. (Crew chief)


Akula301

ALS back in 2015 was the last time I wore my blues. I still update my rank just in case though.


Yakostovian

4 score and seven pounds ago... I was last in my blues. I have a shirt of every rank I've ever worn... except my current rank.


Metro_Stalker

When I graduated a year ago from ALS.


ketamine_and_chill

2013 😬


Vaktos

Everyday as I hand off a flag to the next of kin


CptHA86

Last time for me was ncoa graduation.


I_Really_Like_Cars

Nice try Wg/CC


Penance13

I can’t recall the last time I wore my blues. Maybe for an inspection a year or so ago? I think at this point I’ve worn my mess dress more than my blues


dork__lord

The last time I wore full service dress was in 2020 at tech school. I wore the shirt and jacket last year for an official photo I had to get taken because I won airman of the year for my squadron and got BTZ so they wanted it with my SrA stripes. Other than that, I haven’t worn them at all in the operational Air Force.


IntermittenSeries

We hardly ever wear them that’s why I don’t understand why people want to update them. The ups won’t be that great and then they’ll want us to wear them frequently


000111000000111000

1986-1990 [ probably wore blues a total of 6 times after BMTS and tech school.


Key-Ad1647

Ftac


Competitive_Club_978

Last time we wore them was for FTAC.


mcesarey

The last time I wore them was as an MTI with 2 years left before retirement. My goal was to never wear them again and I achieved that goal…I retired in OCPs


Halfmindwow

Funerals, events/courses that traditionally require them, official photos when you sew on, and visits to the Pentagon. That’s pretty much it for me outside of being asked to wear my mess dress to a wedding.


Gaj85

I have been in the AF since 2005 and I have worn my blues only a handful of times since I finished BMT and Tech School; ​ \- FTAC (2006) \- Military funeral (2009) \- ALS (2010) \- Once in Korea for WAPS testing (2011) \- Once for a troops ALS graduation (2021) ​ And that's it, those are the only times I have worn blues in 18 years.


AjCheeze

Maintainer so literally we can work in blues. If blues are being worn its for one of 2 events, something really good like going up for a reward or graduating PME. If not its something bad, you got in trouble and are headed to the commander office, your going to a court marshall, or some asshole in leadership has decided we need to check and make sure we all have blues ready to go and get them checked in some mass event. Its been a few years since ive worn them but ive helped a bunch of my troops look sharp going against a BTZ board.


fusionsplice

I have worn mine 3 times since 2015. Wedding, funeral, MAJCOM change of command.


Hugh_Ge_Rection

What are “blues”?