If a sailor does end up out at sea in the water,
for whatever reason,
they can actually slap some air into the collar
and then use it as a sort of flotation device
to help the sailor stay afloat.
My name's HM1 Andren.
I will be going over all of the different uniform items
that every sailor is issued in their seabag.
A seabag is an item that is issued
to every sailor during their night of arrival,
and it stays with them throughout their Navy career.
The first item in the seabag is the Navy PT uniform.
PT is physical fitness.
The Navy PT uniform consists of the PT shirt
as well as the blue PT shorts,
so gold and blue, the Navy colors.
It has silver reflective lettering for safety issues.
It's 100% polyester with a very thick collar
that tends to choke you while you run.
They each have a pocket on each side,
and then on the inside, they have a ID card holder.
The shoes sailors wear with PT uniforms
are any shoe that is complementary to the uniform
that's not too flashy, but it's an athletic-style shoe.
The next item is the service dress whites,
which, you'll notice as I take these out,
they are folded inside out
to keep the integrity of the main crease in the front
and then especially the three creases on the back collar.
They're very tight, crisp creases,
which is part of the tradition of the uniform,
to have a neat appearance while you're wearing the uniform.
The service dress white trousers as well
are also folded inside out,
because the creases on each side of the leg,
as worn, the creases go in instead of out,
which is why they're folded inside out.
So, the male version of the service dress white trousers
for males have both belt loops
and two front pockets and two back pockets.
The female version does not have any belt loops or pockets.
So, the service dress whites, you wear black oxford shoes.
There's a couple other components
to these service dress whites,
which is the neckerchief,
which gets tied underneath the collar
and then in front into a square knot.
And then also the white hat,
also known more commonly as the Dixie cover.
So, there's actually some surprising history
behind this style of cover.
It was introduced while sailors were in tropical climates,
and then they were actually able to fold the brim down
so they could dissipate any water from rain
in those tropical climates, as well as if it's up,
so it could be used to collect water,
and then the sailors could drink from their covers
to stay hydrated in those climates.
Andren: It's not one size fits all.
It's sized while they're here,
then you can adjust the size as needed in the future.
They do have to be replaced quite often.
Very carefully.
Whenever you drink coffee, for example,
you gotta lean forward and hold your neckerchief.
And you don't really want to sit down.
Everyone's pretty afraid to sit down
and ruin their dress white uniform,
because it is very hard to keep clean.
Every service member is responsible for their own upkeep,
whether that's bringing it to a dry cleaner
or cleaning it themselves and ironing in the creases.
You get a yearly uniform allowance
to replace and upkeep uniform items.
I've never cleaned them myself
because of the specific care that's needed
when they are cleaned.
So, the next item is the service dress blue uniform,
which, again, similar to the service dress whites,
is folded inside out to keep the integrity of those creases.
So, this is the oldest,
most iconic uniform that the Navy has.
Introduced in the 1800s,
whereas the service dress whites
were introduced around World War I.
It's the same type of collar,
with the creases in the back, just like the whites,
two stars, and the white piping in the back.
The service dress blue trousers have lacings in the back.
The lacings, it used to have,
when this uniform was first introduced, lacings all around.
However, they would snap or break.
So they replaced them with buttons in the front.
So they kept the laces,
but then they added the buttons in the front,
the 13 buttons, which started off at seven buttons
and then it was told that it was uncomfortable
for sailors that had to use the bathroom.
The Navy made it a little bit easier to use the restroom.
It's really only one button at the top,
and now there's a hidden zipper that you can use.
And then these buttons are just fake now.
The next uniform that we'll talk about
is the Navy working uniform type III,
which is the camouflage uniform,
or a lot of us call it cammies.
So, this working uniform is the standard working uniform
that most every sailor wears at a day-to-day basis.
Whether it's a ship that's in port,
sub that's in port, any shore duty command.
This is a 50% cotton, 50% nylon material.
Much more breathable than the former type I material,
which is the blueberries, or the blue camouflage
that we used to have up till a few years ago.
So a little bit easier to breathe, especially in the summer.
It has four buttons in the front,
a fifth if you are in battle dress mode,
with a Velcro collar.
These are the Navy working uniform type III trousers.
Again, it has one main button in the front
and then four hidden buttons on a strap behind that.
So, it has two standard front pockets
like on most trousers, two cargo pockets,
and then two ankle pockets that are Velcro on each side.
And then two more back pockets.
The cover for the NWUs type III is the eight-point cover,
which has eight physical points,
like a stop sign, on the top,
and then a Navy ace on the front.
The hardest part about this cover
is to keep the integrity of those eight points
and so they don't fold in on themselves
so it looks pointy and sharp as you wear it.
What some sailors do is they'll actually put cardboard
or a plastic insert into the cover
to help hold the integrity of those eight points
and make it look crisp.
The footwear is, for shipboard,
is generally the black leather boots.
So, the next uniform item is the coveralls.
This set that's issued is really only worn in boot camp.
The set that sailors wear out on ships
is actually called a FRV,
or a fire-resistant version of the coveralls.
So this uniform is worn on ships
or submarines while underway
and any shipboard deployments.
That's really the only spot where it's worn, is on ships.
So, this material is mostly polyester,
and then some cotton in it.
This material is not very breathable, with intention.
So if a sailor does end up out at sea in the water,
for whatever reason,
they can actually slap some air into the collar
and then use it as a sort of flotation device
to help the sailor stay afloat.
The only downside to this uniform
for some sailors is that it's a one-piece.
So if you need to use the head, or the bathroom,
you need to take everything off,
whereas you can't just drop your trousers.
The footwear is the same black boots
that they would wear with their NWU type IIIs.
The last item is the Navy service uniform.
So, this is not actually stowed in the seabag,
it's just hung up on a hanger.
That's how we teach our recruits to stow it.
So, this uniform is worn at a more formal command,
as an instructor duty, as a recruit division commander,
most admin jobs at shore commands,
any office-type job that sailors might work at.
This shirt just has two breast pockets.
Some sailors call it peanut butters
because of the black trousers and the khaki shirt.
A little bit different than, as an E-7 or above,
they would also wear khaki pants with it,
and they would just call them service khakis.
So the trousers for this,
two side pockets and two back pockets.
Very similar to the male service dress whites,
again with the belt loops.
The females' is also similar,
whereas there is no belt loops and there is no pockets.
And then the garrison cover,
which is worn with the Navy service uniform.
We call this the pizza slice here in boot camp.
So, this cover's worn with that pizza slice forward,
rank insignia on the left side,
about 1 inch above your eyebrows,
squarely on your head.
It feels like it's about to fall off,
especially on a windy day.
There is some tradition,
especially with airedales or different air rates,
where they put a little whale tail in the back of the cover.
From what I've heard from those people
that wear their cover with the little whale tail in the back
is while they used to wear these covers
on the flight deck or during flight operations,
they would wear a headset on top of their cover,
which would create that crease in the back.
Several times. I tend to march or walk
with my hand holding my cover the whole time,
so it doesn't blow off.
I'll give you my personal rankings
of my opinions of these uniforms.
So, the least favorite would be the coveralls.
I'm not a shipboard sailor, I'm a greenside sailor,
so I've never worn these during my jobs.
My favorite would be the NWU type IIIs
because it's the most comfortable.
It's what comes to mind when I think of the armed forces.
I think of all the branches
wearing their camouflage uniform.
And, again, it's very comfortable, very breathable.
I think it's a good uniform.
So that's it. That's all six uniforms
that every recruit is issued during Navy boot camp.
Cigarettes. I've never ...
Off camera: Don't say that. [Andren laughs]
Do not say that.