First Look: New designs for Space Force mess dress uniforms

We're here at AFA at the Air Force Uniform Office booth to check out some of the newest additions in Space Force uniform design

Here with Lieutenant Colonel Tyler Mann. He is the Uniform Program Manager of Space Force

Tyler, do you want to tell us about kind of the new additions to Space Force's lineup

Yeah, sure. I'd be happy to. All right, what you're looking at here is the mess dress. We've got two different types here. You've got the men's mess dress and the women's mess dress

But we're testing a couple different types. When we talk about wear testing in the uniform

what we're talking about is we've developed a prototype uniform and we're getting it out in the field for guardians to wear the uniform

so that we can get their feedback. We've got about 50 guardians across the force testing it

We've tried to get a male and female guardian at every Space Force space so that we can really have it visualized across the force

Those people will wear it into work so that they can see it. Other guardians, we can get the feedback

We're also going to get feedback on fit. How does it fit? How does it look? Does this fit well

how is it when we put our metals on? This is the first Space Force

mess dress uniform, so it is a prototype and it is in development

We got a couple unique design changes that we have here that are specific to Space Force You have six buttons just like the service dress which represent the six services And then you got a nice sleeve here

that shows our Space Force-ness. We also have the women's uniform. We're testing a couple different types of women's uniform

This is a full ball gown that's worn with a coat. You also have a blouse and a skirt

And then, like traditionally, we would always have a shirt and pants option. Perfect

Do you want to touch on any more of the symbolism? Is there any more kind of unique aspects to the design

Yeah, we always try and incorporate this cross-delta design in anything we do

You can see reflected in the opening of the jacket, as well as this delta design that's incorporated into the rink

We also have a different design here for the enlisted rink. It's the same shiny thread that we see on the rest of the uniform

so it really helps the rink to pop out, instead of just being the plain white that we would have on the service dress

Yeah, here we're looking at the all-weather coat. The all-weather coat is a uniform item that you wear outdoors in service dress

So this is something I would wear outside outdoors when it's raining. The Space Force doesn't have an all-weather coat yet

So this is our prototype development of it. It got a couple of unique features and it got really updated material So it a lot softer It a lot more pliable It not as loud as some of the other uniform items It got a great liner in it to keep you warm and then it got these matte black Space Force buttons that are the same as the other buttons that we have

They're just matte black, so it presents a great look. It wears really well, it's very warm, and it protects you from the weather

Cool. Now, compared to an Air Force weather-ready suit, how does this differ, or how is it similar

Yeah, this is different. I mean, you see the main visual differences in color. The Air Force One is blue. This one is, of course, our darker black. But the material is much more updated. The Air Force One was developed in the 90s. This one has updated uniform, updated fabric that just makes it feel a lot better

We'll talk a little bit here about maternity uniforms because we talked a little bit about wear testing uniform items with the mess dress

We just finished wear testing two different maternity uniforms. We've got a coat that was worn and a coat is worn with a shirt, pants or skirt underneath

And then this is the dress that isn't have anything worn under it. We just finished wear testing these at a couple of different bases with about 20 guardians

And we're compiling all that information. We push that back to leadership for decision on a way forward for our maternity uniforms This and obviously what I wearing is our current fielded uniform This is our service coat and this is our lightweight jacket The lightweight jacket of course worn over this shirt when you not wearing a coat But this has our symbolic design

You've got the leading edge that represents the Delta, the six buttons for the six services

We also have our unique buttons that are the same as the other buttons on the other coats, matte black or chrome. And this design is just replicated through Air Force design across the

other uniforms. The uniforms are available both online and at six different locations. Vandenberg

Peterson, our main Space Force locations, they can be bought online. We also have a sweater that's

available as well. And the next coming item would be that all weather coat would be the last item

that we have for the service dress. All right. And being in Space Force yourself, how does it feel

kind of being at the forefront of designing uniforms you're ultimately going to encounter

yourself? Yeah, it's a great, it's a great question, a great point, because what we're really doing is

we're helping to define the Space Force culture. And that's what we're focused on is how do we look

how do we appear, because we are really visible. When we wear the uniform, everyone knows who we are

They know that we're Space Force. So we have to really represent well. So it is exciting to be on the forefront

to designing uniforms, which is the main way that we integrate or are visible to the public in our culture

Cool. Yeah