May 23, 2005For commands, PT uniforms foster unit identity
By Mark D. Faram
Times staff writer
For decades, only diver, SEAL and explosive ordnance disposal units could be seen exercising in a common PT uniform. The distinctive UDT shorts and blue-and-gold T-shirts were a mark of unit pride — and a visual commitment to a unit’s formal fitness training.
Today, more and more commands are following suit.
Still, the Navy’s lack of a formal fitness uniform has resulted in many homegrown, command-sponsored variations, most featuring T-shirts emblazoned with the command’s name or crest.
Navy officials say a command can only require sailors to wear the gear if the command provides it to them.
One such unit is the Coronado, Calif.-based Assault Craft Unit 1.
“We PT as a unit twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays,” said Chief Storekeeper (SW/AW/SCW) Dierre Cospy, the unit’s supply division officer and one of the command’s physical fitness coordinators. “For those functions, we issue T-shirts and running shorts with command logo on each.”
In fact, the unit issues two different T-shirts, one blue and the other white, and they are worn on alternating command PT days.
The issued shorts are also blue, and each sailor gets a blue sweatsuit, as well.
The uniform is not required for the Navy’s semiannual Physical Fitness Assessment, Cospy said, but sailors usually show up wearing it.
“They must like it on some level if they’re wearing it when they don’t have to,” Cospy said.
It’s about pride, said Chief Hospital Corpsman (SW) Michael Doggett, the senior medical representative and the other fitness coordinator for the unit.
“It really goes a long way to promote a unit identity and helps put us together as a command,” Doggett said. “It’s not only something you proudly wear while here at the command, it’s also something that goes with you when you leave, like your [command] coffee cup.”
The gear is paid for by the command’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation fund.
In the end, both chiefs think the Navy is on the right track by considering a PT uniform for everyone.
“It shows a servicewide commitment to PT, and that’s a good thing,” Doggett said.
Navywide or commandwide?
On the Norfolk, Va., waterfront, reaction to the idea of a Navywide PT uniform is positive, if cautious.
On one hand, some unit PT coordinators say the move would be a step in the right direction, but warn it could take away from a command’s individuality.
For example, sailors from the cruiser Anzio routinely wear ship-issued T-shirts to train in public, said Ensign Siegfried Harris, the ship’s anti-submarine warfare officer and unit fitness coordinator.
Harris said “unit PT on the waterfront” and athletic competitions are where his command likes to have a “uniform appearance.”
On the amphibious assault ship Wasp, command T-shirts also are issued, but only for use during the semiannual Physical Fitness Assessment.
“That’s the only mandatory wearing, but I see people in the gym wearing the shirts while they’re exercising on their own,” said Chief Storekeeper (SW/AW) David Budd, the Wasp’s fitness coordinator and aviation support division leading chief.
Budd said the T-shirts help foster healthy competition between units and instill unit pride, and Anzio’s Harris agrees.
“It helps take away the individual mind-set and helps us focus as a team,” he said.
He said the idea of a servicewide uniform is “great” and would show that PT is important and should be a regular part of sailors’ lives.
“It sends the message that ... we are not just telling sailors to do something, we’re giving them the tools to do it, too,” Harris said.
Both coordinators hope any policy allows some unit variation.
“It’s like the ball caps,” Harris said. “The Navy does issue a blue one with ‘Navy’ on it, but also allows commands, within certain regulations, to use their own designs.”
Budd says building teamwork is an important part of PT, almost as much as the fitness it encourages.
“Sailors take pride in their commands, and nothing should be done that takes away from the chance to foster that in any way,” he said. “Whatever is adopted in the future, we still want the option to strut our unit’s stuff.”