US Army Unveils New Physical Fitness Uniform

Army Physical Fitness Uniform Alaska — Soldiers in black fleece caps do physical training at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. (Courtesy U.S. Army)

Army Physical Fitness Uniform Lewis — Master Sgt. Dwayne A. Lewis models the Army Physical Fitness Uniform. (Courtesy U.S. Army)

Army Physical Fitness Uniform full McCollum — Capt. Leala McCollum poses in the Army Physical Fitness Uniform running jacket and pants. (Courtesy U.S. Army)

Army Physical Fitness Uniform full Lewis — Master Sgt. Dwayne A. Lewis poses in the Army Physical Fitness Uniform running jacket and pants. (Courtesy U.S. Army)

Army Physical Fitness Uniform McCollum — Capt. Leala McCollum models the Army Physical Fitness Uniform. (Courtesy U.S. Army)

The U.S. Army has announced that a new PT uniform will be ready for use in October 2015 after listening to feedback from soldiers.

The new Army Physical Fitness Uniform (APFU) will replace the current Improved Physical Fitness Uniform (IPFU).

Col. Robert Mortlock, program manager, Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment, Fort Belvoir, Va., said in a release that there will be a “three-year phase-in program and the cost will be about $3 less than the current IPFU.”

A February 2012 Army Knowledge Online survey of some 76,000 Soldiers found that Soldiers had issues with the IPFU, [Mortlock] said. They liked its durability but believed the IPFU’s textiles had not kept pace with commercially-available workout clothes. They also had concerns with other things, particularly modesty issues with the shorts, especially in events like sit-ups. Those concerns were expressed by males as well as females.

The new APFU consists of five parts: the jacket and pants, which resemble warm ups, trunks or shorts, and short- and long-sleeve T-shirts.

“It just fits better, it looks better,” Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond Chandler, the service’s top enlisted official, told Army Times. “Lots of folks that we talked to said, ‘I would actually wear that downtown or at the mall.’ So I just think it is a really great win for the Army. Because everything we changed were things that soldiers said that they would like to see different.”

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