page_title: Personnel of the United States Navy
section_title: Uniforms and appearance
hierarchical_section_title: Personnel of the United States Navy / Uniforms and appearance
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Bannister removes mud sediment from behind a damaged building in Hachinohe, Japan, March 17, 2011. Sailors from Naval Air Facility Misawa and its tenant commands are assisting with cleaning up the tsunami-damaged city. Bannister is a logistics specialist assigned to Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Misawa. 日本語: 2011年3月17日、アメリカ海軍 Robert Bannister 二等兵曹が青森県八戸市の被災したビルの後ろから堆積した泥を取り除いている。三沢基地から来た水兵達とその司令部は津波の被害を受けた都市の清掃を支援している。Bannister 二等兵曹はアメリカ海軍三沢補給センターに配属された後方支援専門官。
context_page_description: The United States Navy has nearly 500,000 personnel, approximately a quarter of whom are in ready reserve. Of those on active duty, more than eighty percent are enlisted sailors, and around fifteen percent are commissioned officers; the rest are midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy and midshipmen of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at over 180 universities around the country and officer candidates at the navy's Officer Candidate School.
  Sailors prove they have mastered skills and deserve responsibilities by completing Personnel Qualification Standards tasks and examinations. Among the most important is the "warfare qualification", which denotes a journeyman level of capability in Surface Warfare, Aviation Warfare, Naval Aircrew, Special Warfare, Submarine Warfare or Expeditionary Warfare. Many qualifications are denoted on a sailor's uniform with U.S. Navy badges and insignia.
context_section_description: The uniforms of the United States Navy are designed "to combine professionalism and naval heritage with versatility, safety, and comfort". The Navy currently incorporates many different styles that are specific for a variety of uses and occasions. In most cases, distinctions are made to distinguish officers and enlisted men in their uniformed appearance. U.S. Navy uniforms can generally be divided into three categories: dress uniforms, service uniforms, and working uniforms.
  Dress uniforms are worn during military-related formal occasions, such as ceremonies and other official functions. Many types of dress uniforms are used in the navy with the full range of formal requirements represented. Service dress is the least formal dress uniform, full dress is one step higher in formality, and mess dress is the most formal dress available.
  Service uniforms are designed for daily wear and are most often worn in office or classroom-type settings, as well as other occasions in which physical activity is at a minimum. The most visible distinction between officers and enlisted personnel is the color of the service uniform. Only officers and chief petty officers are authorized to wear Service Khaki or Service White; all other personnel must wear the Navy Service Uniform (which will eventually replace Winter Blue and Summer White).
  Working uniforms prioritize comfort and safety first and thus are the most utilitarian of the navy uniforms. They are intended for use in underway ships and in occasions that involve dirty, physical labor. Many working uniforms are variations of the service uniforms except with less formal requirements. This category includes navy coveralls, which are authorized to be worn by members of all ranks.
  In the 2000s, the navy completed a project named "Task Force Uniform" to streamline navy uniforms. Among the changes were that enlisted personnel from Seaman Recruit to Petty Officer First Class (E1–E6) will have one year-round service uniform instead of winter blues and summer whites. All personnel from Seaman Recruit to admiral will also have new working uniforms dubbed Navy Working Uniform (NWU) to replace the wash khakis, coveralls, utilities, and aviation working greens then in use. The uniform was a digital patterned camouflage in predominantly haze gray and blue hues.
  Grooming for both male and female sailors is regulated to a high degree, with exact standards in regards to hair, facial hair, use of cosmetics, and jewelry. New male recruits are given the military crew cut and are prohibited from having hair longer than four inches (102 mm) while in the service. Men are required to be clean shaven at all times, although mustaches are allowed. Women do not have a hair length regulation, however hair cannot fall past the bottom edge of the uniform collar and the style of hair is strictly controlled. Multicolored hair, body piercing, and tattoos on the head, neck, and hands are banned for both sexes.
caption: Sailors wearing the Navy Working Uniform during cleanup efforts in Japan after the 2011 tsunami.
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