Marc,

I will say that as a UN "moving target" in Lebanon I worked closely with Canadian officers for the first (not the last) time.

Bar none, there was no bigger morale issue for them than the Canadian forces decision --one later reversed--to go uni-service in uniforms because they felt they had lost their roots. PPLCI is a proud regiment and they did not enjoy looking the same as a Canadian air force pilot or a Canadian boat driver.

As for the US Army, we give lip service to the concept of regiments and we move flags and switch patches like traders at a flea market. That's why we keep inventing ribbons--the worst being in my experience, the Army service ribbon that says, "ta da" I am in the Army. The best decision I believe we have made on uniforms in the past 30 years was to go back to blues as service dress and formal dress. As for battlle dress, BDUs, Desert Cammies (chocolate chip, etc etc) and now DCUs it all gets rather silly.

Witness the use of velcro on a field uniform...

Tom