Navy ditches peacoats from seabags, adopts all-blue PT uniforms

The Navy is doing away with its iconic peacoat next year, as part of an overhaul of the uniform items issued to sailors in seabags.

The revised uniform options were confirmed in an administrative message released on Friday. Alongside previously announced changes to PT uniforms, the biggest overhaul is the Navy fully getting rid of the peacoat after years of trying. The coat, also known as a “reefer,” is currently authorized an optional item, but that is going away effective Oct. 1, 2027. 

The outwear, described by the Navy as a “double-breasted, hip length coat made of dark blue 100% melton wool fabric with a convertible collar,” The Lone Sailor statues, including the original at the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. and others around the country, show a sailor with his hands tucked into his peacoat’s pockets.

The Navy reformed its uniform board last year with the intent of reviewing and revising the list of mandatory and optional uniform pieces. The board’s proposals were approved by the Navy, and are meant to be in line with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle’s directive to simplify the overall uniform and reduce the amount of items sailors are meant to have in their seabag.

The Navy has been aiming to phase out the iconic coat for years. Starting in 2016, the Navy began working to do away with the coat, instead offering a black parka that would serve as outerwear. Congress pushed back, citing the impact it would have on the United States’ domestic textile industry. The parka was adopted, but the peacoat has been authorized as an optional piece of outerwear for sailors.

Alongside the peacoat’s exit from the seabag, the Navy is also ending authorized optional wear for the acrylic V-neck sweater; sailors can still wear the wool V-neck. For formal wear, the dinner dress white jacket is also terminated come October, with the dinner dress blue jacket approved for year-round wear. One uniform item is leaving use much sooner. The Navy Working Uniform Type II, known for its desert camouflage pattern, will not be worn after the end of November. 

Meanwhile, the Navy is officially replacing its existing PT uniform, known for its gold shirt, with the Improved Physical Training Uniform. The new one, a blue-on-blue shirt and shirts combination, was originally approved in 2018 and now will officially replace the gold one. The Navy first announced plans for that change earlier this year, but this NAVADMIN codifies the rollout plan.

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