--- title: "Check out the Air Force’s old dress white uniform" date: "2022-07-24" modified: "2022-07-24" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake.md" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/air-force-dress-whites/" categories: - "Air Force" - "History" tags: - "Air Force" - "Gear and Equipment" - "Military Culture" - "Military History" --- # Check out the Air Force’s old dress white uniform ![Air Force White uniform]() When it comes to uniform variety, the U.S. Air Force is definitely the least inventive of all the branches. Like all branches, it has a PT uniform, a standard combat utility option, Operational Camouflage Pattern (also known as OCPs), and a more professional, daily uniform, service dress. Throw a coat and tie on that service dress and you've got Air Force Class As. **Also Read: [The Chief of Staff’s Bible is one of the least-known Air Force traditions]()** The cooler airmen (actual aircrew) get to wear flight suits. Some get special occupational unis. And when things get really fancy, the enlisted airmen can ditch the flight cap and don a white shirt instead of the blue—and that's about it. The only wiggle room is whether or not an airman will be wearing a tie with their service dress. The are swords for officers, no boat cloaks, no khaki, no whites. No fun. But it wasn't always that way. ![air force uniforms history]() *The Air Force used to be fun. (U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Andrew Satran)* From 1947 to 1995, the Air Force used authorize a white version of its dress uniform for those airmen stationed in tropical zones. It was an easy (and dapper) way to keep cool while maintaining a professional appearance. It was the first fully-Air Force regulated white uniform, and it featured a white coat, shirt, and pants, with black shoes and blue tie, along with blue mess dress cap (lovingly known as the "bus driver" hat), complete with the Air Force's signature "farts and darts" on the brim. For social events, the hat was gone, white gloves were added, and black bow ties replaced the blue necktie. Eventually, that version gave way to a new uniform, once the Air Force was completely free of Army uniforms in 1959—one for everyday wear: the Tropical Dress Uniform. ![air force white uniform tropical dress]() *Make all the "Love Boat" jokes you want.* Officially known as the Tropical Dress Uniform, this daring ensemble included a coat very similar to the blue coat of the regular Air Force and was made of a Dacron-rayon blend instead of the Army's stone age cotton uniform. It was mandatory wear in tropical climates, but also at diplomatic functions, dinners, and anywhere else a white coat was the prescribed dress for the event. For the dressy events, the standard blue mess cap was replaced by a white mess cap with an Air Force blue band around it and the black shoes were replaced with white ones. By 1983, the Air Force introduced a new white uniform, the White Ceremonial Dress uniform, which was—sadly—gone by 1989. Many aspects of the White Ceremonial Dress Uniform can still be seen on today dress blues, especially for officer ranks, most likely because the White Ceremonial Dress Uniform was optional for lower enlisted personnel. ![]() But whether tropical or ceremonial, the end of the Air Force white uniform came in 1995, when they were all phased out in favor of a simplified blue version for all locales and functions. The only formal uniform that remains in the Air Force is the Mess Dress Uniform, which is now drastically different from its ceremonial predecessors. The elimination of this most majestic of Air Force uniforms was a crime on par with [Gen. Merrill McPeak's total uniform redesign](), wherein he put officer rank on the sleeves of the uniform coat. It's a style used by the Royal Air Force, but made most airmen look like they flew for Delta, United, or some other kind of commercial airline. It was phased out as soon as McPeak was phased out. **Don’t Miss the Best of We Are The Mighty** **• [Why ‘the father of the Air Force’ was court-martialed]()** **• [‘The Battle of Palmdale:’ The Air Force’s most embarrassing dogfight]()** **• [The ‘Chopper Popper’ scored the A-10’s first air-to-air kill against an Iraqi helicopter]()** ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]() ## More - [Understanding US Air Force uniforms]() - [The best and worst Air Force uniforms, ranked]() - [The hilarious rules of the Air Force’s formal Dining-In]() - [All you need to know about Space Force uniform changes]() - [The history behind the Navy’s iconic ‘Dixie Cup’ hat]() - [The Chief of Staff’s Bible is one of the least-known Air Force traditions]() - [Dress uniforms from every military branch, ranked]() - [The Space Force released their PT and service dress uniforms and they’re out of this world]()