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ROUTINE

R 071312Z MAY 12 PSN 846249K33

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ZEN//OU=DOD/OU=NAVY/OU=ADDRESS LISTS(UC)/CN=AL NAVADMIN(UC)

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***THIS IS A 2 SECTION MESSAGE COLLATED BY OIX GATEWAY NORFOLK VA*** QQQQ

SUBJ: WOMEN'S UNIFORM INITIATIVES
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NAVADMIN 154/12

MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/MAY//

SUBJ/WOMEN'S UNIFORM INITIATIVES//

REF/A/MSG/CNO WASHINGTON DC/032100ZMAR11//
REF/B/MSG/CNO WASHINGTON DC/301451ZAUG11//
NARR/REF A IS NAVADMIN 075/11, NAVY UNIFORM UPDATE.  REF B IS NAVADMIN 260/11, 
NAVY UNIFORM UPDATE.//

RMKS/1.  THIS NAVADMIN ANNOUNCES NEW UNIFORM INTIATIVES THAT INVOLVE THE 
EVALUATION OF FEMALE UNIFORMS, AND UNIFORM CHANGES TO ADDRESS NOTED CONCERNS.  
AS A RESULT OF FLEET FEEDBACK RECEIVED FROM FEMALE SAILORS DURING NAVY 
LEADERSHIP ALL HANDS CALLS AND INPUTS RECEIVED BY THE NAVY UNIFORM BOARD 
REGARDING WOMEN'S UNIFORM QUALITY, DESIGN AND FIT ISSUES, THE CHIEF OF NAVAL 
PERSONNEL, AS PRESIDENT OF THE NAVY UNIFORM BOARD, DIRECTED A COMPREHENSIVE 
EVALUATION OF WOMEN'S UNIFORM CONCERNS.

2.  THE WOMEN'S UNIFORM EVALUATION OFFICIALLY COMMENCED DURING THE MARCH 2011 
SEA SERVICE LEADERSHIP ASSOCIATION WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM AND CONTINUED 
AT VARIOUS SHORE INSTALLATIONS.  PRELIMINARY DATA WAS COLLECTED DURING 
INTERVIEWS, SURVEYS AND FEMALE FOCUS GROUPS FROM 375 FEMALE SAILORS BY NAVY 
PERSONNEL RESEARCH STUDIES AND TECHNOLOGIES AND NAVY CLOTHING AND TEXTILE 
RESEARCH FACILITY.  THE EVALUATION OF THE PRELIMINARY SURVEY AND FOCUS GROUPS 
RESPONSES CONFIRMED THAT A FLEET-WIDE RANDOM SAMPLING SURVEY OF FEMALE SAILORS 
(OFFICER AND ENLISTED) IS WARRANTED TO OBTAIN A BROADER BASE ANALYSIS OF WOMEN 
UNIFORMS CONCERNS AND RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS; A FOLLOW-ON FLEET-WIDE SURVEY 
WILL BE CONDUCTED TO CAPTURE FEMALE SAILOR'S UNIFORM CONCERNS.  ADDITIONALLY, 
AN ANTHROPOMETRIC STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED IN 2012 TO UPDATE 20-YEAR OLD DATA 
ON BODY COMPOSITIONS RELATIVE TO CLOTHING, EQUIPMENT AND HUMAN INTERFACE 
SYSTEMS DESIGNS SUCH AS BODY ARMOR AND FLIGHT EQUIPMENT.  THIS COMPREHENSIVE 
STUDY WILL CONDUCT BODY MEASUREMENTS ON 5,000 SAILORS:  2,500 MALES AND 2,500 
FEMALES.

3.  IMMEDIATE UNIFORM DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN INSTITUTED AS A RESULT OF 
VALIDATED UNIFORM QUALITY CONTROL CONCERNS.  COMPONENT DESIGN, PATTERN 
REVISIONS AND NEW ITEM PRODUCTION WILL INCORPORATE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE 
FOLLOWING UNIFORM ITEMS:
    A.  SERVICE DRESS COATS:  ADDED BACKING BUTTONS TO ALIGN WITH MALE 
OFFICER/CHIEF PETTY OFFICER (CPO) SERVICE DRESS COAT DESIGN.
    B.  FEMALE SLACKS WAISTBAND:  ADDED BINDING OVER THE EDGE OF INNER 
STITCHING TO PROVIDE A MORE PROFESSIONAL LOOK AND TO PREVENT CHAFFING OF THE 
SKIN.
    C.  SERVICE SHIRTS:  ADDED ADDITIONAL STITCHING TO PREVENT UNRAVELING OF 
THE BOTTOM HEM, SIDE SEAMS AND FRONT FACING AND INCREASED THE NUMBER OF 
STITCHES ON THE HEM TO IMPROVE APPEARANCE.

4.  FEMALE UNIFORM POLICY UPDATES SUCH AS OPTIONAL WEAR OF POLY/WOOL SERVICE 
KHAKI OVERBLOUSE AND CIVILIAN HANDBAG SPECIFICATION CHANGE ARE REFLECTED IN 
REFS A AND B.  ADDITIONAL FEMALE UNIFORM DESIGN IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTIONS WILL 
BE REQUESTED IN THE UPCOMING FLEET-WIDE SURVEY TO ADDRESS CONCERNS ASSOCIATED 
WITH:
    A.  OFFICER/ENLISTED SERVICE DRESS BLUE (SDB) COAT AND OFFICER/CPO SERVICE 
DRESS WHITE COAT POCKET ARRANGEMENT/DESIGN.
    B.  OFFICER/CPO KHAKI SLACKS FIT AND HIP-TO-WAIST RATIO.
    C.  OFFICER/CPO SERVICE UNIFORM SHIRTS (TUCKED-IN) COLLAR AND NECK COMFORT 
LINING.
    D.  OFFICER/CPO SERVICE SHIRT (TUCKED-IN) SHOULDER STITCHING AND YOKE.
    E.  OFFICER/ENLISTED KHAKI OVERBLOUSE APPEARANCE WHEN WORN WITH THE BLACK 
RELAXED FIT JACKET OR PULLOVER SWEATER.
    F.  OFFICER/ENLISTED MATERNITY OUTERWEAR DESIRES AND OPTIONS.

5.  NAVY STANDARD COVER PROGRAM:  A FIT AND WEAR EVALUATION OF THE MALE 
OFFICER AND ENLISTED DRESS COVER BY FEMALE OFFICERS AND FEMALE ENLISTED 
RESPECTIVELY WILL COMMENCE IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 2012.  ENLISTED FEMALES 
ASSIGNED TO U.S. FLEET FORCES COMMAND (USFF) (NORFOLK) AND U.S. PACIFIC FLEET 
(PACFLT) (SAN DIEGO) NAVY BANDS WILL WEAR THE MALE ENLISTED WHITE HAT (DIXIE 
CUP) WHILE CONDUCTING CEREMONIES AND PERFORMANCES DURING THE SUMMER UNIFORM 
WEAR PERIOD.  FEMALE MIDSHIPMEN AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY AND USNA BAND FEMALES 
WILL WEAR THE MALE MIDSHIPMAN AND MALE CPO COMBINATION COVER DURING THE 2012-
2013 ACADEMIC YEAR.  ENLISTED FEMALES ASSIGNED TO THE NAVY CEREMONIAL GUARD 
WILL WEAR THE MALE ENLISTED DIXIE CUP AND THE SERVICE DRESS BLUE JUMPERS WHILE 
CONDUCTING CEREMONIES AND PERFORMANCES FOR THE CURRENT WINTER UNIFORM PERIOD 
2012 AND AGAIN DURING THE 2013 WINTER UNIFORM PERIOD.  DURING THE SUMMER 
UNIFORM PERIOD, TO ALIGN WITH USFF AND PACFLT BANDS, THE CEREMONIAL GUARD 
ENLISTED QQQQ FEMALES WILL WEAR THE MALE DIXIE CUP.  ONCE THE FIT AND WEAR 
EVALUATION PROGRAM IS COMPLETED, WEAR PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK WILL BE COLLECTED.

6.  UPDATES ON WOMEN'S UNIFORM INITIATIVES TO INCLUDE THE PLANNED RELEASE DATE 
OF THE FLEET-WIDE FEMALE UNIFORM SURVEY WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN FUTURE NAVADMINS 
AND VIA THE UNIFORM MATTERS WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.PUBLIC.NAVY.MIL/BUPERS-
NPC/SUPPORT/UNIFORMS/.

7.  QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS REGARDING WOMEN UNIFORM INITIATIVES SHOULD BE 
ADDRESSED TO THE NAVY UNIFORM MATTERS OFFICE POCS:
    A. MR. ROBERT B. CARROLL, OPNAV N131U, VIA E-MAIL AT 
robert.b.carroll@navy.mil.
    B. CMDCM(SW/AW) MARTHA KASTLER VIA E-MAIL AT martha.kastler@navy.mil.
    C. PSC(SW/AW) SHAWN LAFFERTY VIA E-MAIL AT shawn.lafferty@navy.mil.

8.  RELEASED BY VICE ADMIRAL S. R. VAN BUSKIRK, N1.//

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