There is a lot of misinformation flying back and forth in unofficial channels, and since it has become so available through technology, people are picking it up and taking it as accurate, generally ignoring warnings about such unofficial and unverified information. I hope Coast Guard Petty Officers, Chief Petty Officers, and Officers show better leadership and judgment than to get caught up in doing this. I hope even more that people who should be demonstrating leadership and good judgment are not taking and passing along unofficial and unverified information as truth. The potential damage this can cause is far beyond what people might believe. It damages morale, causes needless anger and aggravation, it undermines the authority and credibility of responsible leaders, and it can cause poorly considered knee-jerk reactions that bring about the wrong changes and make things far worse.
Responsible leaders take time to think and verify facts before they act.
The projected price the commenter describes for the placket front shirts would cause me to change my mind too. If people have seen these shirts at higher prices in CG exchanges, that is because the exchanges have been buying them in small quantities at retail prices, then they add a mark-up to that price as well. We have said all along that the price for the CG issue items would be far lower than the ones bought directly by the CG Exchanges. The design shift to a shirt with covered buttons came from wear testing comments and a review of possible alternatives, then testing of prototypes, not by an arbitrary decision by the Uniform Board villains. This was even more obvious when the shirt and ties were worn without the SDB Coat in and around the wearer's workspaces.