Donald Trump’s latest AI-aided idea for dressing the United States Space Force was on Truth Social for approximately five minutes yesterday before being ripped apart by the filthy, tetanus-infested wood chipper that is social media. The stiff-collared charcoal overalls, knee-length leather booties, and slimming midriff belt call to mind anything from an imperial officer aboard Darth Vader’s star destroyer to the best-dressed Nazi SS officer at the Nuremberg rally, depending on who you ask. The post itself says the service dress look offered a "modernized" take on the uniforms in the 1997 film Starship Troopers—perhaps not the best source of inspiration, given that director Paul Verhoeven said the caper was about "fascists who aren’t aware of their fascism." But in truth, Trump could have posted the most beautiful, functional outfit designed by a world-leading fashion house in collaboration with NASA—it still wouldn’t have been good enough.
The problem isn’t the outfit, and it isn't the man who posted it. The real problem is that America’s youngest military service is doing something extraordinarily difficult: manufacturing in a few short years the cultural furniture that the military’s other branches have accumulated over generations. Army was formed in 1775, and the U.S.
Navy was formed in 1775 or 1794, depending on how you measure it. Even the Air Force, which is barely an adolescent by the standards of the other two military branches, has had nearly 80 years of official history with which to fashion its cultural identity and the paraphernalia we associate with it. Take the Navy’s dress uniforms.
The dark-blue jumper or jacket, white sailor’s cap, gold trim and anchor imagery—sometimes adorned with a cute neckerchief—now come together to create an instantly recognizable picture, but they hardly arrived as a complete branding package in 1775. The neckerchief once had a practical use; piping and rank markings were standardized later; even the famous white cap changed shape repeatedly over time. Early versions of service dress were born of a period during which the country itself was establishing its own identity.
What is now a timeless, beloved traditional dress evolved piecemeal over generations. Space Force, by contrast, became an independent service in December 2019, some 243 years on from the founding of these United States. It still needs everything that the other branches of the military have.
It needed a name for its personnel: Guardians; a motto: Semper Supra (always above); rank insignia, emblems, flags, uniforms and even an official song. In January, the service formally introduced its own service dress uniform, replacing the modified Air Force clothing Guardians had been wearing since their branch was founded. Space Force can’t escape this problem.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
