A little off topic: uniforms for weddings?

[DD214_DOC]

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I was hoping to be married in my uniform come next May, but of course that is entirely contingent upon even getting into school and landing a HPSP spot.

However, I was curious about an old tradition and if it is still done and, if so, which branch(es) still do it -- the sword.

I know Marine officers still wear a sword in their most formal of uniforms, but is this age-old tradition still practiced by Air Force and Navy officers? I can't really see a sword going with the Navy uniform but I don't think it would look bad with the AF uniform, if they even still do it.

Just curious.

NOTE: I just found various sites displaying swords for all branches, although there wasn't any consistency in which branch used which sword. 😕

 

[Navy Dive Doc]

The Navy does have swords, actually they look pretty good with the Choker/Dress Whites that would be the dress Uniform of the season for May.

 

[flighterdoc]

I was hoping to be married in my uniform come next May, but of course that is entirely contingent upon even getting into school and landing a HPSP spot.

However, I was curious about an old tradition and if it is still done and, if so, which branch(es) still do it -- the sword.

I know Marine officers still wear a sword in their most formal of uniforms, but is this age-old tradition still practiced by Air Force and Navy officers? I can't really see a sword going with the Navy uniform but I don't think it would look bad with the AF uniform, if they even still do it.

Just curious.

NOTE: I just found various sites displaying swords for all branches, although there wasn't any consistency in which branch used which sword. 😕

It's not unheard of in the Army, but it seems the other services tend to do it rather less, except for Academy grads. There is actually an AF sword, but I never saw anyone except an Acad grad with one (I never bought or needed one). The army, btw uses sabers (a saber has a curved blade with an enclosed grip, a sword is straight without an enclosed grip). And, the Navy still has swords that you occasionally see in very formal settings.

However, it's pretty common at weddings. If you're going to get married (congratulations, btw!) in a chapel on base, ask the chapel manager if they have any that the groomsmen can borrow. They usually do.

I've served as a groomsman at a couple of weddings, and it's nice. Very traditional. Just make SURE that the groomsmen get together (sober) and practice with the things before hand. It requires a bit of coordination and skill to draw them safely, and not look like a clown. Also, since they're not typically used anywhere, someone has to be in charge, and everyone has to understand the commands that are given. I have the manual of arms for a sword somewhere (it might be in one of the services "officer handbook" books), but the old-time directions are pretty elaborate.

On the other hand, a friend has an old (early 1900's) army field handbook that has the manual of arms for stretchers, that would be something to see at a wedding!

Good luck, and congrats! 👍

 

[DD214_DOC]

Thanks! She wants it to be at an off-base chapel (if we still do it, we're going through that "we have different views of religion phase 🙄 ") and I don't really know that many military guys who are still around in SC.

Is it unheard of to ask a recruiter or maybe the local Army base's chaplain about having some guys come in for the ceremony? I don't intend to go Army, so finding some AF or Navy guys would be difficult, unless it's acceptable to have Army guys come in for the ceremony of a Navy/AF officer. 😕

 

[militarymd]

Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm almost positive that you will not be authorized to wear your uniform for your wedding.

I pretty sure that only military members on Active Duty and those who have retired after serving in a war zone, and Medal of Honor recipients are authorized to wear the uniform. If you sign, your status will be Inactive Reserve, meaning you are not permitted to wear your uniform.

The reason I know is because 14 years ago, a friend of mine in medical school was getting married, and she asked me if I would attend her wedding in my uniform, and at the time I was informed that I was not authorized to wear it.

Things may have changed, so you might want to research it.

And if you truly are not authorized, I don't think it would be right for you to wear it.

 

[DD214_DOC]

That's kind of stupid. I wouldn't wear it if I wasn't authorized, but I still think it's dumb.

 

[flighterdoc]

Thanks! She wants it to be at an off-base chapel (if we still do it, we're going through that "we have different views of religion phase 🙄 ") and I don't really know that many military guys who are still around in SC.

Is it unheard of to ask a recruiter or maybe the local Army base's chaplain about having some guys come in for the ceremony? I don't intend to go Army, so finding some AF or Navy guys would be difficult, unless it's acceptable to have Army guys come in for the ceremony of a Navy/AF officer. 😕

Well, you can ask, but....

The tradition is that the groomsmen (the guys with the swords) are close personal friends of the groom, and led by the best man. It's perfectly acceptable for them to be from different services (I've participated in more Army weddings with sabers than AF weddings with swords), but it's supposed to be your friends, recognizing your union and offering to protect you and your lady. And, asking the local base to detail some folks over isn't going to fly, either. The military has more important things to do.

One more thing: To me, anyway, having just a couple of guys out there looks pretty bad. It takes at least 4 or so (two on each side) before it starts looking OK.

 

[flighterdoc]

Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm almost positive that you will not be authorized to wear your uniform for your wedding.

I pretty sure that only military members on Active Duty and those who have retired after serving in a war zone, and Medal of Honor recipients are authorized to wear the uniform. If you sign, your status will be Inactive Reserve, meaning you are not permitted to wear your uniform.

The reason I know is because 14 years ago, a friend of mine in medical school was getting married, and she asked me if I would attend her wedding in my uniform, and at the time I was informed that I was not authorized to wear it.

Things may have changed, so you might want to research it.

And if you truly are not authorized, I don't think it would be right for you to wear it.

The AF has rules about when it's OK (actually, when it's NOT OK) to wear a uniform, IR members can wear it within those guidelines. AFI 36-2903 table 6-1 line 6 allows a reservist not on EAD, residing within the US, to wear a uniform "on occasions of military ceremony", a military wedding would qualify, I think. Just don't screw up.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Oh well, guess I won't do it then. Even if I was within the guidelines I still don't know enough people for the arch. 👎

 

[Homunculus]

Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm almost positive that you will not be authorized to wear your uniform for your wedding.

I pretty sure that only military members on Active Duty and those who have retired after serving in a war zone, and Medal of Honor recipients are authorized to wear the uniform. If you sign, your status will be Inactive Reserve, meaning you are not permitted to wear your uniform.

The reason I know is because 14 years ago, a friend of mine in medical school was getting married, and she asked me if I would attend her wedding in my uniform, and at the time I was informed that I was not authorized to wear it.

Things may have changed, so you might want to research it.

And if you truly are not authorized, I don't think it would be right for you to wear it.

two of my army hpsp friends got married in their blues. one while he was in the reserve, the other while he was in medical school. both had military weddings, and neither had their ceremony crashed by rules enforcing sf teams 🙂 🙂

 

[polkadot]

Another thing you could do in lieu of uniformed groomsmen would be to have an additional group do a sword arch for your exit out of the chapel. I've seen it done at a few weddings, and then your close personal friends can still be your groomsmen AND you get the pomp and circumstance. You probably won't get anyone from the recruiting station, but you might find ROTC midshipmen/cadets who will do it if you don't have any other options.

 

[Navy Dive Doc]

A friend of mine from internship/dive school got married at the Arlington chapel. We all attended and were groomsmen in full dress with medals (choker whites, we looked GOOD). Instead of having us do the arch (since some didn't have swords and we're all Docs, not honor guard, we might have screwed it up) he had the honor guard from arlington do the arch. They were great, it cost him $500 or so, the guys were on liberty for the weekend and apparently they do this quite often. I don't know where you are getting married, but like polkadot said, putting together 6 or 8 ROTC guys would likely be easy enough. Most college students would put on their dress uniform for a couple of hours for $50 (I would have, anyway.) It does look good when it all comes together. Of course, partying with a bunch of Divers in chokers after the wedding is a bit hard on the whites. Stealing Ice sculptures in the chokers is harder, my dry cleaner earned a huge tip for getting various foul substances out of my whites, you're more obvious when face down in a uniform (no, that was the dress blues)...anyway, enough reminiscing on the forum's time. I'd go for it if the bride is game. Remember, too, it's tradition for the last man in the sword arch to give her a tap on the ass with his sword as she goes by, so feministas might object. GO for it, we won't dig up the manual regarding Active duty vs inactive, and neither will anyone else at the wedding. 😀

 

[DD214_DOC]

😀

My fiancee is definitely chill, so no problems on the sword tap. She wants the wedding to be done at the church we attend, which is basically in the middle of nowhere. I might could round up some ROTC guys from campus, if any of the instructors are left from when I was in.

I'll be kind of disappointed if I don't get into school or land HPSP, though.

By the way, if not everything works out is it unheard to have just the groom in uniform? Is it also odd to have a best man be enlisted rank and in another service? (He's an E3 or so in the Air Force). I guess if I end up in AF it won't matter, but I'm still learning towards Navy. 😀

 

[r90t]

I'd definitely use the swords for hire method, rather than trying to have a bunch of recent OIS grads trying to operate something with a pointy end. Sounds like trouble to me. As for best man, he can wear whatever you want him to be in.

Dress whites are durable. We'd go into the Severn River after a rowdy dining in (with lots of grog) and have it look good for the next function. The green and red stains came out quite nicely.

 

[Navy Dive Doc]

😀

My fiancee is definitely chill, so no problems on the sword tap. She wants the wedding to be done at the church we attend, which is basically in the middle of nowhere. I might could round up some ROTC guys from campus, if any of the instructors are left from when I was in.

I'll be kind of disappointed if I don't get into school or land HPSP, though.

By the way, if not everything works out is it unheard to have just the groom in uniform? Is it also odd to have a best man be enlisted rank and in another service? (He's an E3 or so in the Air Force). I guess if I end up in AF it won't matter, but I'm still learning towards Navy. 😀

The Air Force is a viable alternative to military service, but you'll look better in Navy dress whites. It's your wedding, as long as the particpants/guests/etc. are active duty, I say wear whatever works. If it's just you, so be it, you're serving your country in a time of war, wear your uniform proudly. 👍

 

[DD214_DOC]

The Air Force is a viable alternative to military service

Greatest line ever.

Honestly, the only reason I'm even considering AF is because of my fiancee. She really dislikes the possibility that I could be on a ship for 6 months. I really don't know how to supress this fear, or how accurate it really is. 😕

If that wasn't an issue, though, I wouldn't even be considering AF.

 

[Fiend]

People who can't get AF scholarships end up in the Navy and Army.
They are still smart though.

 

[flighterdoc]

People who can't get AF scholarships end up in the Navy and Army.
They are still smart though.

Well, the average IQ of all the programs increase when someone is rejected for the AF and goes with the sailors.

 

[HeavyD]

Fiend,

I was accepted to AF and Navy HPSP, and chose Navy. FighterDoc, the only thing that went up when I turned down the Chair Force was the percent of Utah-educated individuals in its Medical Corps. Good luck trying to find a fellow AF doc who will have a beer with you following a shift! 😛

 

[flighterdoc]

Fiend,

I was accepted to AF and Navy HPSP, and chose Navy. FighterDoc, the only thing that went up when I turned down the Chair Force was the percent of Utah-educated individuals in its Medical Corps. Good luck trying to find a fellow AF doc who will have a beer with you following a shift! 😛

I never had any trouble finding a flight surgeon at the stag bar.....usually starting about 1500.

 

[HeavyD]

This was perhaps a little off color (now deleted initial post). After thinking about it, it might have been offensive to some and that wasn't my intent. Appologies to any who might have been offended.

 

[DD214_DOC]

This was perhaps a little off color (now deleted initial post). After thinking about it, it might have been offensive to some and that wasn't my intent. Appologies to any who might have been offended.

Something I figured you would know by now is that every service branch rips on every other service branch. In the naval unit, we always poked fun at the Air Force guys and Marines, and the Marine option people always poked fun at every one. An army WO I knew always picked on the Navy guys as being fat and lazy. Oddly, she had a lot of respect for the Air Force. I give my Air Force friends a hard time for being in the (ch)Air Force (although some of them agree with me 😀 ) My Marine buddies pick on all three branches, but they earned that right. 👍

It's all in good fun, so don't take any of it personally. In the end, every branch has their "niche" and all contribute in equal but different ways to the protection of our country. A lot of the stereotypes are true, but they're still fun.

Each branch has their stereotypes to exploit for fun, but also specific reasons why they're all deserving of respect. The Air Force is basically the crux of the military now a days, so they are allowed to have the creature comforts and slack discipline. Isn't that what a flyboy is?

While I'm not sure what the Navy's position in the world actually is anymore, sailing the seas has always been historically dangerous. It takes a special type of person to spend months at sea on a ship or, god forbid, in a naval battle. In years past, I imagine a naval battle was something akin to standing on a 200' plataeu suspended above a 2000' deep gorge while being shot at with mortars. Almost like Army soldiers being shelled in an open field.

I like the Navy because, of all the branches, I believe it still carries with it tradition -- something a lot of services have since lost. There's a lot of history with the Navy and they don't let you forget that. Not to mention there's just something different about the brotherhood amongst sailors. But naturally, the Navy is still considered the "gay" service or the service with the "Fat and nasties".

The big thing about the Army when I was around was that they didn't do anything and accepted everyone. The Army has some very, very rich history. 101st Airborne, 507th, EZ Company, anything in WW2. Most of the casualties in Iraq have been army.

The Marines are, well, Marines.

You get the idea.

 

[HeavyD]

It wasn't a service branch thing, I was prior Air guard and have some idea of the 'harshness' of AF life. It was relating to future AF docs who might have once wore a tie and backpack while cruising neighborhoods on bikes trying to introduce folks to a friend of theirs.

 

[Spang]

If Navy folks play Ship, Captain and Crew at the bar, what do the Airforce guys play? TV, Remote, and Cheetos?

 

[Spang]

An army WO I knew always picked on the Navy guys as being fat and lazy. Oddly, she had a lot of respect for the Air Force.

Please. She probably can't even spell "Respect" unless that's a new brand of unfiltered cigarettes. 😀

While I'm not sure what the Navy's position in the world actually is anymore, sailing the seas has always been historically dangerous.

The Navy's position is pretty much at the tip of the spear. I don't know who you think is dropping bombs on desert convoys over there or providing close air support in the mountains, but it's not the Air Force guys flying in from Missouri every day. Espcially not if it's night-time or raining! It's the Super Hornets and Bombcats doing cyclic ops from the big gray boat. 🙄


Unlce Spang

PS: As an officer and a physician you will not be part of any "brotherhood of sailors". Sorry. You will have some close friends, and yes you will get to do someone else's sword arch in your career (I've done four), but no below-decks bonding like you see on the old Eroll Flynn movies.

 

[flighterdoc]

Please. She probably can't even spell "Respect" unless that's a new brand of unfiltered cigarettes. 😀




The Navy's position is pretty much at the tip of the spear. I don't know who you think is dropping bombs on desert convoys over there or providing close air support in the mountains, but it's not the Air Force guys flying in from Missouri every day. Espcially not if it's night-time or raining! It's the Super Hornets and Bombcats doing cyclic ops from the big gray boat. 🙄


Unlce Spang

PS: As an officer and a physician you will not be part of any "brotherhood of sailors". Sorry. You will have some close friends, and yes you will get to do someone else's sword arch in your career (I've done four), but no below-decks bonding like you see on the old Eroll Flynn movies.

Oh please. The Navy can't do squat without USAF Tanker Support. More than 50% of the tanker offloads are done to keep the navy's short-legged airplanes in the air. Know what the first call an F18 driver makes after launch?

Bingo!

(thats out of fuel, for the non-aviators)

In DS, the Navy provided something less than 1/3 of the total tactical aviation sorties flown, while requiring more than 50% of the tanker support.

Naval aviations contribution is a big boat off shore, letting the illiterate know in clear and simple terms that if they keep screwing the pooch, a B2 will be dropping a present on them shortly.

 

[Spang]

Ok, thanks for the gas. (take that however you want!) 😀

We need the gas because our planes have shorter legs to lessen the gross trap weight. Something AF guys don't have to sweat. If you've ever boltered twice in dog sh$t weather on bingo + 1 pass, you know what sweating is!

My point to the OP was that the Navy doesn't really go broadside and swap cannon balls with the other guy anymore. We launch Hornets and Cruise Missiles, which by the way don't ever seem to need a drink from you guys !


Who loves ya,

Spang

 

[Globus P]

Yeah, thanks for the gas, now get out of my way!

Funny how our EA-6Bs escorted the B-2s.....all in jest, we're all a big happy family. Nothing worse than finding out the tanker cancelled on deck when we would be at the prebriefed rendeveous pt watching our fuel needle drop. I hate that.

We did enjoy the AF amenitites at PSAB and your good looking female Mode 4 IFF checkers on deck. We would often call up the AWACS to listen to the sweet voice of that little 19 y.o. hottie (pure perception, if not reality) giving us BRA (bearing, range, aspect) and updates. If nothing else, the AF recruits much better looking women than the Navy does.....

Picking your service is more about personality than anything else. My twin bro is a USAF Major and he fits the AF great, he enjoys the business-side of the AF while maintaining a pseudo-military appearence. Yet the Navy would appear a little too dirty, cowboy-ish for him. He's not into grease, steel, salt, strong coffee, & dirty women in dirty ports. He likes his remote controls, his color printers on every desk, his shined shoes, his stuffy dinners, gripin' & grinnin', butt-kissing, etc. USAF for me? No, the Navy fits me best. I'd rather do with less creature-comforts and more camraderie than vise-versa.

AF philosphy tells it's members what they CAN do.
Navy philosphy tells it's members what they CAN NOT do (leaving the rest to good judgment and sense). There's a big difference between the two. That's aviation, yet I doubt it's as apparent in Navy or AF medicine.

Again, it's all about personality, just choose wisely.

 

[Spang]

I concur. It's anyone's guess where'd they'd fit in better but I suspect that each service makes you into the kind of person that fits that service. I know I was Joe-****-the Rag Man when I went to AOCS and probably would have turned out as good, just different, if I had gone AF or Army (well, maybe not Army 😉 ). A little inter-service rivalry is a good thing.

I remember when that Illinois Air Guard guy frag'd those Canadians, I thought that was a weird thing for an AF-type to do. Turns out he was former Navy, turned Air Guard. Go figure Then there's the classic story of the Navy guy dropping a bomb on his own ship and of course the blasting of the (allied) Turkish or Eqyptian frigate, which ever. You don't hear so much of that with the AF, at least I don't.

I think the ship mentality makes up alot of the Navy attitude. You sort of get this perspective that if you don't grab the ace or hit a Hornet parked in the six-pack you're good enough. Maybe that's true!

Anyhow, far from the OP's topic and I've got finals starting tomorrow.

The Pilot Formerly Known as Antboy

 

[r90t]

Be nice to the AF. Someone has to build the best golf courses and O-clubs, and an occasional airfield.

BTW, anyone need to rent an EA-6B?

 

[Globus P]

BTW, anyone need to rent an EA-6B?

You have one for rent with the option to buy?

 

[r90t]

We have a bunch up in WA state that a sister service is renting since they retired their equivalent. Picking on our aircraft's short range, then borrowing our the same planes, now that's funny.

 

[Globus P]

Of the 15 operational EA-6B squadrons, 4 were dedicated to provide support for the USAF after they canned their EF-111's. Those four squadrons even have token USAF aviators on board, 1-2 per squadron. I ones I knew were former F-15E or RC-135 navigators/WSOs.
Not a bad deal, we Navy folks got invited to all the USAF training exercises, clubs, bars, etc and we got to loosen up their stiff, prim & proper O's and give them back with a little salt and personality.

 

[r90t]

Shhh, don't mention it too loud, their mom's/wive's may find out they are having fun with ETOH.

 

[HeavyD]

Not the Devil in liquid form!!!!! - 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱

 

[flighterdoc]

We have a bunch up in WA state that a sister service is renting since they retired their equivalent. Picking on our aircraft's short range, then borrowing our the same planes, now that's funny.

yeah, it was a shame what Les Aspin did to the military.

Imagine how I felt when the bastards retired the F4G's......