Female sailors have apparently expressed enough concerns over their uniforms that the Navy is conducting a fleet-wide random survey to get a better handle on the issues and solutions.
The Navy has not said what it has already picked up via informal interviews, surveys and female focus groups, but it gleaned enough to ask about 16,000 female sailors, both officer and enlisted, to take part in a voluntary online survey.
The Navy Uniform Matters Office published a 34-page report in late March that indicated a broader survey of female sailors would be conducted this year. In the same report it noted several uniform initiatives, including a new khaki maternity blouse with an adjustable waist side tabs and hidden side seam pockets that would be available in the fleet in June. Estimated cost for the blouse is $40.
The same report also referenced uniform initiatives for caps, parkas and PT uniforms for both men and women.
Women who were contacted about the online survey are encouraged to take part in it, officials said in a May 13, Navy-wide message. The purpose is to give Navy leadership “a broad base analysis of female sailor uniform preferences and concerns,” the message stated.
The survey will be available online for about 90 days from the date of the message, or about mid-August.
The survey is a collaborate effort of Navy Personnel Research, Studies, and Technology, the Navy's Uniform matters office, the Office of Women's Policy, the Navy Clothing Textile Research Facility and Navy Exchange Service Command.
Anyone with questions or comments about the survey may contact Robert B. Carroll, head of the Navy Uniform Matters office at robert.b.carroll@navy.mil; Martha Kastler, assistant head of the office, at martha.kastler@navy.mil; or PS1 Andrew Lucio andrew.lucio@navy.mil.
![](http://images04.military.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_large/public/2024-11/1time%20cher%20uss%20missouri%201200.jpg?itok=qi9yyMAM "Cher's more formal look in her 1989 music video, "If I Could Turn Back Time," filmed aboard the battleship USS Missouri. (Criteron Studios)")
