Throughout the many State Defense Forces in the country many have adapted the US Army’s Uniform standards, with certain alterations to differentiate themselves from the US Army & National Guard. Many State Defense Force troops wear the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) with a Nametape that replaces the words ‘US ARMY’ with the State’s Name ie. ‘CALIFORNIA’ for the California State Guard.
There are some states that have their troops wear different color Nametapes such as the Black & White Nametapes of the N.Y. Guard to better differentiate them from the National Guard. And then are some State Defense Forces that wear a completely different uniform than their National Guard brothers & sisters such as Vermont State Guard and Tennessee State Guard who wear previous generations of the US Army Uniform.
The Tennessee State Guard wears the previous generation uniform also known as the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) or (ACU). The Vermont State Guard wears an older uniform known as the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU).
The Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) is the Uniform the US Army started wearing in 1981 and was replaced with The Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) or (ACU) in 2005. The UCP / ACU was replaced with the current OCP uniform in 2015.
What uniform do you believe should the State Defense Forces wear?
- OCP with Different Nametapes (ie. CALIFORNIA instead of US ARMY)
- OCP with Different Color Nametap (ie. NY Guard Black & White Nametapes)
- ACU – Previous Uniform of the US Army
- BDU – Older Uniform of the US Army
