The Army considers a new uniform fabric made out of that super high tech substance. . . .

wool.

Gates Frontiers Fund Wyoming Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Here's the story, in part, as reported by Kit Up! the blog that tracks the latest and greatest in military gear:

U.S. Army researchers want to improve the service’s flame-resistant, protective apparel by developing a U.S.-manufactured, wool-blend uniform.

The Army has developed a wool-blend uniform composed of 50 percent wool, 42 percent Nomex, 5 percent Kevlar and 3 percent P140 antistatic fiber, according to a recent Army press release.

One goal of textile research and development effort is to create a flame-resistant combat uniform made solely from domestic materials, said Carole Winterhalter, a textile technologist with the Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center.

 The research reveals all sorts of nifty stuff regarding wool:

“We have a lightweight fabric that is inherently flame resistant; no topical treatments are added to provide FR,” Winterhalter said. “We are introducing a very environmentally friendly and sustainable fiber to the combat uniform system. We don’t have other wool-based fabrics in the system right now. This is a brand new material.”

Soldiers were issued the new wool blend and sent to summer maneuvers. They liked them.

Hmmmm.

Seems like we issued wool uniforms for field use once. . . .

 

World War One Sheep Club poster.

Indeed, wool uniforms remained standard throughout World War Two in the European Theater of Operations.  It was only after WWII that the combat uniform became cotton. . . which may very well change soon.

Washable wool would be the reason why.  Washing wool has never been easy.  Washing cotton is. But they've been working on that and washable wool hunting clothes were introduced a few years back. The same may become to the military soon.

On wool uniforms, the Army is thinking about going back a "pink and green" dress uniform.  This was the dress uniform worn by offices, but only officers, in the 1930s through some point in the 1950s, and is uniformly regarded as a pretty sharp uniform.  Enlisted men at the time wore a less spiffy Army Service Uniform, although it was still a lot better looking than the ones that came after it.  In the 1950s the Army went to the Army Green Uniform which was the dress uniform for many ears. At first, when it was a wool uniform with a khaki shirt, it looked pretty good but in later years it became a polyester uniform with a mint green shirt and was pretty bad.  That gave way to an equally bad blue dress uniform with white shirt that nobody has ever liked.  The Army's now pondering reintroducing the pink and green uniform, which is actually a green and khaki uniform, and I hope they do.

If they do however, they'll be right behind the Canadian Army which has reintroduced the same uniform, with tan beret and black paratrooper boots, for their special forces. This recalls the First Special Services Brigade which was a joint American and Canadian special forces until during World War Two which was equipped with American uniforms.  This would likely be the first time, should the Americans follow suit, since World War Two in which some units of the Canadian Army and the American Army would be wearing the same dress uniform.