Deputy Regimental Commander Caleb McHargue walks us through every uniform a cadet wears at The Citadel. He shares how to properly wear each item and their purpose.
The eight uniforms issued to cadets are
Physical-training uniform
Operational camouflage pattern uniform
Duty uniform
Summer leave uniform
Dress white uniform
Salt and pepper uniform
Dress gray uniform
Full dress uniform
The eight uniforms issued to cadets are
Physical-training uniform
Operational camouflage pattern uniform
Duty uniform
Summer leave uniform
Dress white uniform
Salt and pepper uniform
Dress gray uniform
Full dress uniform
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00 Some things that you'll see if you wear a Citadel uniform
00:02 is your food getting paid for by a loan,
00:04 or you'll get some boos and hisses.
00:07 It really depends on the day.
00:08 My name is Cale McCarg.
00:10 I'm the Deputy Regimental Commander here at the Citadel,
00:12 and I'm gonna be showing you the eight primary uniforms
00:15 that we wear here at the Citadel.
00:17 Well, the Citadel, it's an institution of higher learning.
00:22 If you see the beginning, the freshman cadets,
00:24 they come in a little bit nervous,
00:26 they come in broken down,
00:27 and if you see the final result,
00:29 which is a senior such as myself,
00:30 you see somebody who's confident,
00:32 well-organized, and ready to conquer life.
00:35 From the get-go, we have the PT uniform.
00:38 It's composed of three different components.
00:40 So we have, number one, is our reflective belt.
00:44 This is for safety reasons.
00:45 So we're running out around in the morning,
00:47 usually at 5.20 in the morning,
00:50 and this will just reflect off of any car lights coming on.
00:55 This helps with just identifying who's a Citadel cadet
00:58 and who is not.
00:59 And then the next component of our Citadel PT uniform
01:02 is the polyester top.
01:05 So that has the Citadel logo on the left side
01:08 and our ethics and action symbol on the back.
01:12 The final component of the Citadel PT uniform
01:15 is our Citadel shorts, and that is also polyester.
01:19 - Are there any pockets in the shorts?
01:21 - There are no pockets in the shorts.
01:22 - Is that annoying?
01:24 - Oh, a little bit, yes.
01:25 - Why?
01:26 - Well, quite frankly,
01:29 you just gotta hold everything in your hand.
01:31 It adds a little bit of the professionalism to the uniform,
01:35 makes it so that there's no bulging pockets.
01:38 Yes, it's annoying,
01:39 but I think overall it improves the appearance.
01:43 - Are these PTs, are they comfortable?
01:45 Are you a fan of them?
01:46 - Depends.
01:48 Well, the winter uniform is not very comfortable.
01:50 It's a little bit hot,
01:51 but the summer uniform, I'm a big fan.
01:53 It's pretty breezy and I like it.
01:56 This is the OCP uniform,
01:58 and we typically wear this on Monday and Thursdays,
02:01 which are ROTC lab days.
02:03 We'll wake up and show up to formation wearing the OCPs,
02:06 and we'll wear that until our ROTC training starts.
02:10 So depending on the branch that you are in,
02:13 you'll then, if you're Army, you'd stay in OCPs.
02:15 If you're Navy, you'd change into that designated uniform,
02:19 Air Force, Coast Guard, et cetera.
02:22 - Do you like wearing the OCP?
02:24 - I definitely do.
02:25 Although it gets a little bit hot
02:27 because it is the winter version of the OCP,
02:32 I definitely enjoy it a lot more than the duty uniform.
02:35 - Why?
02:36 - Well, the duty uniform is a little bit stiff.
02:38 We got a lot of shirt stays underneath this,
02:41 and it kind of sags the shoulders down.
02:43 It's not as comfortable.
02:44 We like to call these our pajamas
02:46 because they're real comfy,
02:48 and if you're really tired after class,
02:49 you can take a snooze in these.
02:51 So on the left shoulder, we will have the unit patch.
02:54 So for this example, we have Delta Company,
02:57 and on the right shoulder will be typically
03:01 the CITL flag right here, the big red flag.
03:05 It is composed of the OCP winter top and the OCP bottoms.
03:10 These are the OCP pants.
03:13 Pretty comfortable, pretty breathable for the most part,
03:17 except during the hot, humid months in Charleston.
03:20 - Do you ever get used to that,
03:22 or is that just something that is always tough?
03:24 - You know, at first, when I first showed up,
03:26 I was cooking in this thing,
03:28 but I'd say that you build up a sort of tolerance for it,
03:31 and you get used to it,
03:32 and you just kind of press through and suck it out.
03:35 And these are the coyote brown boots
03:37 that we wear with the OCP uniform.
03:39 - You like wearing those?
03:40 - Not these specifically.
03:41 I wear the Oakleys.
03:43 These are a little bit heavier.
03:44 These are the ones that the school can issue you
03:47 if you showed up with no boots at all,
03:49 but most people prefer to buy their own versions
03:52 that are a little bit more breathable, a little bit lighter.
03:55 This is the Duna uniform.
03:56 This is typically worn on the days Monday, Wednesday,
03:59 and Friday in the academic week.
04:01 This is our working outfit.
04:03 Basically, if you got an assignment to do,
04:06 or you got official business, you would wear this.
04:09 It's composed of the gray shirt, dress shirt.
04:12 We would iron the sides.
04:13 You would iron the sides with Stay Flow,
04:15 ensuring that they have a nice crease to them.
04:18 And you would iron the collar
04:19 to make sure that they really pop down,
04:22 maintains like a flushness with the rest of your uniform.
04:25 So when I initially showed up,
04:27 I had absolutely zero ironing skills,
04:29 but it's definitely one thing that you learn here
04:31 is just the process of rinsing and repeating that skill.
04:35 So I would like to say now,
04:37 I'm pretty much an expert at ironing this uniform.
04:40 I can whip one of these out in probably 30 minutes.
04:42 You typically wear this uniform Tuesday, Wednesday,
04:45 and Friday in the academic week.
04:47 And our duty trousers right here
04:49 with the black stripe down the middle.
04:51 It's cotton, just really not breathable.
04:54 With all the humidity in Charleston, it's not the best.
04:57 So this is our cover for the duty uniform.
05:01 So right here on the left side of the cover,
05:04 we will have the rank.
05:05 And if you're a freshman cadet or a private,
05:07 you would have nothing there.
05:09 The white stripe along the top
05:10 represents you being an upper-class cadet,
05:14 as opposed to the black, all black cover
05:18 representing a freshman cadet.
05:19 - Can you show me how this is worn?
05:23 - So you kind of use two fingers
05:25 to measure the length of the top,
05:27 and that is how you wear the cover in the duty uniform.
05:30 When it's very windy, it'll blow off very easily.
05:33 So you'll typically see cadets kind of grabbing it
05:35 in the wind, but outside of that,
05:37 it does a pretty good job of somehow staying up there.
05:40 - I saw one upper-classman yesterday,
05:41 it had kind of a tilt to the side.
05:44 Some people are like, "Dude, what's that about?"
05:46 - Well, depending on the company,
05:47 there's different ways sometimes of wearing it.
05:49 So you'll probably see that little tilt to the cover
05:53 if you're like a clerk or from Victor Company.
05:56 I see a lot of cadets from Victor Company
05:58 wearing it that way these days,
06:01 but that is not how you're supposed to wear that.
06:03 So the black epaulets on the shoulder
06:06 are representing you as a cadet officer if you're a senior.
06:10 So if you're a senior and you have rank,
06:12 you are a cadet officer and you'll wear these.
06:16 - Tell me about this belt.
06:18 - So our belt is made of black webbing
06:21 and then a brass belt that when you,
06:23 as a freshman, receive it, you're responsible to blitz it
06:26 and then shine it with sandpaper and Blue Magic.
06:30 - What's Blue Magic?
06:32 - So Blue Magic is our little shining polish
06:34 that we use to kind of get rid of all that humidity
06:38 that builds up on top of the brass every morning.
06:40 And typically I'll shine my belt
06:43 probably two to three times a day
06:45 just to make sure it stays nice and clean.
06:47 These are our black dress shoes.
06:49 Early on, cadets will usually wear the baits
06:53 and once they actually learn
06:55 that they're really, really hard to shine,
06:57 they'll transition over to the floor chimes
07:00 and those are what I am currently wearing.
07:06 So myself, I like to shine them every night
07:09 and then kind of buff them out every morning
07:12 with my PT shorts.
07:14 So you shine them, you put the polish on for about,
07:17 it takes about 30 minutes of effort
07:19 and then in the morning, you will then take,
07:22 I personally take my PT shorts and kind of buff them out,
07:25 make them have a nice shine to them
07:27 and that will carry me out for the rest of the day.
07:29 This is the summer leave uniform.
07:31 It has two blue shoulder boards
07:33 and has the duty trousers that I mentioned earlier.
07:38 You typically wear this on leave, it's in the name
07:41 and during the summer or the hotter weather days
07:45 and it's designated by the Commandant's Department
07:47 whether or not we will be wearing this.
07:49 So leave is for certain open weekends
07:52 if we're not conducting an SMI
07:54 or we don't have any training for that week,
07:57 we'll be then released to go out into Charleston
08:00 or go back home to see our parents
08:02 and typically that will start about Friday night
08:06 after last military duty until Sunday at 2230.
08:10 - What's SMI?
08:11 - So an SMI stands for Saturday morning inspection.
08:14 - So what's it like for you when you go out into Charleston
08:18 wearing your summer leave?
08:20 What does that feel like for you?
08:21 What kind of reactions does that get?
08:23 - There's definitely a sense of pride in your institution
08:26 when you're carrying yourself
08:27 and just wearing the uniform
08:29 makes you carry yourself differently.
08:31 Maybe it's the shirt stays,
08:34 bring your back a little bit up and it'll interact
08:37 and I think that people see you in a different light.
08:41 Maybe it's a reaction to the way you carry yourself
08:43 but I think that uniform definitely has a reaction
08:46 or an effect on that.
08:47 Some things that you'll see if you wear a civil uniform
08:50 is your food getting paid for by a loan
08:52 or you'll get some boos and hisses.
08:56 It really depends on the day.
08:57 But outside of that, it's an honor to wear this.
09:01 These are the same duty trousers
09:03 that we wore in the duty uniform
09:05 with the black stripe going down the middle.
09:08 This is the white garrison cover.
09:09 This is worn with our summer leave
09:11 and our dress white uniform
09:13 as well as our dress salt and pepper uniform.
09:16 I think it has a good aesthetic to it.
09:18 Fits nicely on the head.
09:20 It's definitely one of our best looking covers
09:22 that we have access to at the Citadel.
09:24 - Does it stay on in the wind?
09:26 - Yeah, actually surprisingly very well.
09:28 This is the dress white uniform.
09:30 It is composed of the same shoulder boards
09:32 as the summer leave.
09:34 And it has these brass buttons
09:36 that you can take out and blitz and shine.
09:40 It also has our South Carolina pins.
09:42 And if you are awarded gold stars,
09:44 you'll be in placing them in this area right here.
09:47 And it also is composed of our same dress white pants.
09:52 You typically wear this uniform going to formal events
09:55 such as if you're called to the president's office,
09:58 you'd wear this or to chapel.
10:00 For the final march to Marion Square,
10:02 you'd wear this uniform to swear in as a freshman cadet.
10:05 So this is definitely has a lot of heavy significance
10:08 to this uniform.
10:09 - I mean, there's a lot of shine
10:10 that goes on with these buttons, right?
10:12 - Yeah, so this uniform actually takes
10:14 quite a bit of time to put together.
10:15 I would say probably just the shining alone.
10:18 If you include all the breastplate and the waistplate
10:21 that's attached to it,
10:22 probably a good solid 15 minutes of just shining brass
10:25 if you do a good job.
10:27 - Are they comfortable?
10:28 - This is my favorite uniform by far.
10:30 I think it's very breathable.
10:31 It's probably the most breathable of all of our uniforms.
10:35 It's probably the most aesthetic as well in my opinion.
10:38 It just really pops out
10:40 and really represents the Citadel well in my opinion.
10:43 This is the first component of our dress salt and pepper.
10:48 As you can see, it's full wool.
10:49 It's very heavy.
10:50 We wear this typically during the winter months
10:53 of the academic year.
10:55 And just one thing to note,
10:57 on the sleeves after you complete each year,
11:00 a stripe is added.
11:01 So once you're a senior,
11:03 you will have three stripes on this.
11:05 And as you can see, this is a freshman cadets.
11:08 This is a big parade uniform that we wear,
11:11 especially for the more like the award parades
11:13 when we're the salt and pepper.
11:15 We really don't wear this uniform very often,
11:17 but when we do it, it definitely looks great.
11:20 I enjoy this uniform a lot
11:21 just because it has the combination
11:23 of keeping you warm on the top
11:25 and the bottoms are a little bit more breathable
11:27 with the dress white pants.
11:29 This is the salt to the pepper,
11:31 back to the dress white pants, same pants.
11:36 Real breathable, real comfortable.
11:39 So for the salt and pepper,
11:40 we also wear this white garrison cover.
11:43 This is the dress gray uniform.
11:46 So it's the same, same top as the salt and pepper,
11:50 except that the pants are full wool.
11:52 I think that I can accurately represent
11:56 the rest of the Citadel and say that this is probably
11:58 the most disliked uniform that we have
12:01 simply because we do live in Charleston
12:03 and it's high humidity, high heat pretty much year round.
12:06 So the wool does a great job of insulating all that heat
12:10 and keeping us nice and toasty,
12:12 especially during those parades.
12:13 This is the black garrison cover that we wear
12:16 with the dress gray uniform.
12:18 During cadre period and challenge week,
12:21 cadre will be wearing this cover with the duty uniform
12:24 as well as white gloves.
12:26 It just adds to the aesthetic
12:27 and just the professionalism of the entire uniform.
12:31 And some of the uniforms that you'll see in this video,
12:33 you'll be seeing this red sash here.
12:35 And this simply represents a sword bearing cadet.
12:38 So whether that is top NCO being a first sergeant
12:41 or even just an officer,
12:43 they will wear these for any dress uniform specifically.
12:47 I do like wearing the red sash.
12:49 I think it adds to the aesthetic of the uniform.
12:51 It does get a little bit sweaty around the waist
12:53 when you're wearing it, but outside of that,
12:55 it really does add a lot of color and vibrance.
12:58 So yes, I do like wearing the sash.
13:01 We have the full dress uniform.
13:03 This is the most formal of all the uniforms that we have.
13:06 You will only wear this typically
13:08 for the big events of the year,
13:09 such as the president's inspection or the long gray line.
13:13 So as you can see, once again, this is a freshman cadets.
13:17 There is no rank, but typically on a high ranking cadet
13:21 or just a rank holder, you'd see the stripes,
13:23 stripes being down here for the sophomore
13:25 and the rest of the stripes for junior to senior year
13:28 right here in this area.
13:31 And it was also paired with the dress white pants.
13:35 I do enjoy wearing this uniform.
13:37 I think it really represents the Citadel well.
13:40 It looks great.
13:42 It's a little bit hot in the top,
13:44 just because it is made out of all wool,
13:46 but it's easy to wear.
13:48 It doesn't require any shining of the brass.
13:51 So it doesn't really take a lot of time to put together.
13:54 So I do enjoy wearing this uniform.
13:57 This is the Shako and this is the Pom Pom.
14:00 And if you are a senior with rank,
14:02 you'll be wearing the plume.
14:03 So the placement of actually the strap on the Shako
14:07 is very important.
14:08 So if it falls underneath your nose,
14:10 that means you're in command.
14:11 It means that you are about to give commands
14:13 specifically at parade.
14:15 And if it falls beneath or right at the chin,
14:18 that means you are listening or taking commands.
14:22 That is a significance of the location of our strap.
14:26 I'm not a huge fan of this hat
14:29 simply because of, I guess, how tall it is
14:31 and the way it sits on your head.
14:34 But I do understand that there's a lot of cultural
14:37 and significance to the Citadel,
14:39 and that's why they keep it around.
14:40 As you just saw, those are the eight primary uniforms
14:43 we wear at the Citadel.
14:44 I mean, ultimately it comes down to the cadet himself.
14:48 Like, the whole point of this school
14:50 is to learn self-discipline.
14:52 So really, if your uniform looks bad,
14:55 that's your responsibility and that's your fault.