U.S. Navy / MC1 Julia A. Casper
The U.S. Navy, which boasts the most powerful and capable fleet the world has ever seen AND the 4th largest air force in the world behind the USAF, US Army, and Russia, has ran out of pants. Yes, you read that correctly, uniform pants are out of stock and won’t be back in stock in the near future.
The most common U.S. Navy uniform for most sailors is the Navy Working Uniform (NWU) which they are allowed to wear both on duty and off-base at stores and restaurants. The NWU’s versatility makes it vital to sailors who are now unable to buy any new pants because well, the Navy is out of pants.
Military.com first reported on this development earlier this month. They later updated their report to include a comment from the Defense Logistics Agency “which manages acquiring and providing all the military branches with the myriad supplies and goods that they require.”
At the time it was first reported that the Navy had run out of uniform pants, which cannot be worn with stains, rips, or damage, a message on the Navy Exchanges said the lack of pants was “due to Defense Logistics Agency vendor issues.”
The message went on to say they have “been in communication with DLA on a timeline for the uniform’s production and supply chain.” Military.com reports that due to those supply chain issues, the Navy’s NWU pants wouldn’t be available for purchase by sailors until Q1 of fiscal 2025 which would mean October. The U.S. Navy’s Working Uniform Type III (NWU III) can be seen here, as shown on the branch’s website:
They went on to report the Navy’s global pants supply is currently only at 13% and of those pants that exist the sales are being prioritized for new recruits at the Recruit Training Command in Illinois, new recruits at the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Rhode Island, as well as new candidates at officer training schools.
For context, the US Navy’s budget request for the fiscal year 2025 year is approximately $203,900,000,000 billion. All that money and no pants.
You know who hasn’t run out of pants? The U.S. Marine Corps. And their budget is estimated at around $53.2 billion, or around 25% of the U.S. Navy’s, and somehow they don’t seem to have a pants problem!
A main factor for the lack of pants available to the Navy is due to the versatility of the NWU’s, where sailors can wear them on-duty and off-base, these uniforms face more wear and tear than the other uniforms. So it is understandable they would need to be replaced more frequently. What isn’t abundantly clear, however, is how the U.S. Navy can work with a supplier that can’t keep up with demand.
While the U.S. Navy awaits more pants coming in October, they are working on temporary fixes such as asking sailors to wear the 2POC uniform or coveralls.
Even in the words of the U.S. Navy, there doesn’t appear to be anything particularly special about these pants:
“The NWU Type III trousers (see Figure 3603.5–1) contains four front buttons (three front buttons are concealed by fly, and one button closure for the waistband), side elasticized waist with belt loops, two quarter top pockets, two bellowed thigh cargo pockets (one each leg), two back pockets with buttoned flaps (one on each side), and drawstring closures at the end of the trouser leg (one through each opening). The knees and seat are reinforced.”
If the U.S. Navy can build the most powerful and technologically advanced warships the world has ever seen, surely they can sort out a way to expedite orders of pants, right? I say this as a concerned citizen who wants to ensure the Navy is spared ‘pantsless’ jokes from members of the other branches of the U.S. military.