NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—The Space Force this week unveiled its new designs for service dress and workout uniforms as it continues to forge its own identity in the Pentagon.
Two guardians showed off the business uniform for the first time at the Air Force Association’s annual conference here, showcasing a unisex look that the Space Force initially devised for women before adjusting for men’s comfort as well.
The Space Force is the first military service created since women were given the opportunity to hold the same roles as men, making this the first uniform designed with women in mind from the start.
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The uniform is “distinctive, modern, professional, and comfortable to wear,” Space Force spokesperson Col. Catie Hague said. “We designed the female uniform first and then we created the male version.”
Rather than the typical suit-style uniform that buttons in the middle, the Space Force’s preliminary design features a dark blue, wraparound jacket with diagonal buttons over a dress shirt and neckwear. White stripes around the wrists and grey pants complete the look. (Social media users likened it to “Star Trek” garb and bellhop uniforms.)
The number six figures heavily in the design to represent the space service’s arrival as the sixth military branch, with six buttons, a six-sided name tag, and six-sided enlisted insignia that the Space Force revealed on Monday.
“The deep blue color was chosen from the Space Force seal. The dark color represents the vastness of outer space,” Hague said. “The buttons have the globe, delta, orbit and stars that are part of both the U.S. Space Force flag and the seal.”
Guardians have also started testing out a fresh physical training wardrobe.
The jacket, shirt and shorts are “designed for guardians to be physically ready to protect the U.S. and allied interests in space” and “developed to withstand the most grueling physical regimens,” Second Lt. Mahala Norris said in the video, adding that she’s helping to vet the clothing.
Norris – who became the first Department of the Air Force runner to earn a national championship title since 1964 when she won the NCAA’s 3,000-meter steeplechase race in June – appeared in the Space Force’s ad for the new PT gear.
In keeping with the Space Force’s rule of sixes, it was only Norris’s sixth time racing in a steeplechase event when she won at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships – an event with 35 barriers and seven water pits. She placed 13th in the steeplechase finals at the U.S. Olympic trials.
“I won at the collegiate level. Now it’s time to win for the Space Force,” she said. “Train hard, guardians.”
Hague said the service wants to finalize the uniform designs in the coming months, but it could be years before they’re widely available to any guardian who wants them.
Last year, the Space Force announced it would adopt operational camouflage pattern uniforms to match the Air Force and Army garb. Service members had until April 1, 2021 to adopt the new look.
“Our uniforms are the first visual cue of our identity as a service,” Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Roger Towberman said in August 2020. “Adopting the OCP worn in the joint environment reflects our role in the joint warfighting effort, and we incorporated Space Force-specific colors and configuration to establish our own independent identity.”
Space Force officials have yet to offer a sneak peek at the service’s forthcoming formal mess dress uniforms.
Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.
