US Army makes progress for women in uniform

FORT BELVOIR, Virginia (AFP) – The US Army is testing its first-ever combat uniform expressly designed to fit the female figure, a move seen as an overdue effort to make 160,000 US women soldiers more comfortable.

Don’t expect a camouflage haute couture revolution for America’s military women; the changes will be visibly slight, although they are important, said the first person to try on the women’s army combat uniform, or ACU.

“The unisex uniform was a little bit baggy,” Major Sequana Robinson told AFP, undoubtedly summing up the attitudes of thousands of female soldiers who for decades have had to make do with ill-fitting fatigues.

“The goal is not to have female soldiers accentuate their curves, but… it alleviates some of the excess material” that had come to typify the unisex uniform worn by far more men than women.

For years the US Army offered standard-issue unisex ACUs, which sought to neutralize gender differences but were often considered uncomfortable and unwieldy by female troops.

Some 600 women soldiers will comprehensively test the garments beginning next January. If approved by the Army Uniform Board, the female battle garments, which have undergone five years of study and design tweaking, could be rolled out as early as 2012.

Full Article

In case you are wondering, they look nothing like this.

Posted in Interesting, Pop Culture | 1 Comment

Bag of Randomness

  • BabyGeeding did not enjoy her first trip to a pumpkin patch.  If you are interested, here’s a slideshow of the pics in which she’s crying in just about every snapshot.
  • It took me 35 years to see the Rangers win a playoff series, but it only took BabyGeeding four months.  Kids nowadays have it so easy.
  • But at least I saw the Cowboys win a handful of Super Bowls in my day, I doubt she will have that opportunity.
  • Even for a ceremonial first pitch, Nolan Ryan still had that trademark high knee kick.
  • It’s a little past the middle of October and we are talking about the Rangers playoff chances/performance and not the Cowboys.  My, this is weird.
  • I would like to see the Cowboys right the ship like the Titans did last year, but make the playoff.  And to think I’m a glass half empty kind of guy.
  • The BCS is just stupid and it’s a reason not to like college football.
  • The BCS is a genius idea because it keeps people talking.
  • What’s great about sports is the thrill of victory and the elation you feel.  What sucks about sports is how you get your heart ripped out and stomped on, like Game 1 of Yankees/Rangers.  What’s great about sports is redemption.
  • I saw previews for Due Date and it looked a remake of Planes Trains and Automobiles.
  • A friend and I was reminiscing about that old house in Six Flags where balls would roll up hill and there were other defiance of laws of nature, I think it was called Case de Magnetica or Case de Bazzaro?  Anywho, he said that was the closest thing we ever experienced to “The Island” which made me laugh.
  • Speaking of LOST, one of my readers informed that she use to skip all of my Random Lost Thoughts posts because she didn’t watch the show.  However, she is now watching the show on DVD and is referring back to the BagOfNothing archives and is catching up on my thoughts.
  • No more  Mad Men for a while . . . what am I gonna do?
  • Speaking of that show . . . Top TV Shows According to the Internet and in case you wanted to know the biggest drinker of this season of Mad Men – Episode 3 really was a downer for Don.
  • Remember that pastor in Florida that was going to burn the Quran?  Turns out that during that debacle a car dealership offered him a free car if he would call off the event.  The church called the dealership and they held true to their word.  But get this, the pastor didn’t keep the car, he gave it to a Muslim charity.  Good move.  Article
  • There’s a Wal-Mart commercial that is often played about grilling and football, but I find it funny they are using the logo and screen footage of Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday.
  • The “r-word” is used in this bit of humor about a man from the future, but in context, it’s correct for the time frame.
  • The Batcave can be found using GoogleMaps
  • 1:1 scale of the Star Trek Enterprise
  • SisterGeeding sent along some more pics of her latest creations I thought I would share.
  • Grace
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