A new dress code for family members and off-duty service members at Fort Irwin, Calif., is drawing heat from many of the persons it affects. According to an Aug. 7 item on Spousebuzz.com, an independent advocacy Web site for military spouses and families, some of the decree’s provisions are unnecessary and impractical. It bans wearing in public of ripped jeans, backward hats, pajama pants, extremely short skirts, and sagging pants. One spouse acknowledged on the post’s Facebook page that some of the changes make sense, but countered that backward hats and torn jeans are in fashion and their wearing largely is "pretty benign." Other spouses said the proscription on showing up at the commissary in pajama pants and house shoes is annoying, and fails to take into consideration the travails of pregnant women. "If I have to run to the commissary in its opening hours, I’m not getting dolled up," spouse Rose Natividad wrote on the Facebook page. Others objected to the poster that outlines the barred wardrobe, which has been plastered throughout the remote desert post. "The only time my young boys see a girl in a thong or ‘booty shorts’ is when [they] go anywhere on post and see this poster," one spouse said. Many respondents agreed with the change. Heather Ann, an Army wife, wrote that she is "sick of seeing butt cheeks hanging out, men’s underwear from sagging pants, girls wearing shirts that are semi see-through with no bra." Command Sgt. Maj. Dale Perez addressed their concerns in a Facebook posting of his own, saying the change was not prompted by any specific incidents. Rather, Perez wrote, "It takes discipline to be a professional, and to be a professional it’s a 24-our, seven-day-a-week way of life. Bottom line – this was the right decision to make." Fort Irwin is the home of the National Training Center, where soldiers regularly prepare for combat deployments.
