The combat uniform is in use during the Federation's hostilities with the Klingon Empire and the war with the Dominion between 2372 and 2375. Personnel wearing combat uniforms are seen in [DS9: Season 7: The Siege of AR-558] whose story occurs in 2375. (The episode's production number, AR-558, was used.) The combat uniform in that form is not seen in [Voyager].
The environmental suit, Starfleet designation Standard Extravehicular Work Garment or SEWG for short, is first seen in [ST VIII: First Contact], which is set in 2373. It is also seen in the following [Voyager] episodes: [#71 Day Of honor], [#84 Prey], [#128 One Small Step], [#161 Workforce, Part 1] and [#172 Endgame, Part 2]. For the article on it, with special reference to [Voyager] and the SEWG type-3, beam here: SHIP USS VOYAGER: Standard Extravehicular Work Garment (SEWG). At least aboard USS Voyager, therefore, the SEWG remains in service until the end of 2377.
PAGE CONTENTS:
combat; command/conn; other departments colour-coded as applicable; scroll for details
desert uniform; command/conn; other departments colour-coded as applicable
desert shirt; command/conn other departments colour-coded as applicable
environmental suit also known as Standard Extravehicular Work Garment (SEWG)
COMBAT UNIFORM
Uniforms designed to be worn during combat situations need to meet a different set of criteria to standard duty clothing. One criterion is the need for unobtrusive colouring, and they therefore feature a different colour scheme to those employed on starships and starbases. The colour-coding of tunics is maintained, however, as, being immediately recognisable to Starfleet personnel, it is a useful visual identification method for different departments. Although specialists working with the infantry during a mission might wear standard duty uniforms, members of the infantry wear the same costume - the combat uniform. That the same uniform is worn by members of the infantry is of course due to another criterion, that of generating a feeling of solidarity between the soldiers. Another criterion, naturally, is to aid identification during enemy engagements.
Starfleet combat uniform is designed to offer extra protection to ground troops not provided by the standard duty uniform, but it does not feature any external body armour such as is used by Cardassian and Klingon military forces. Instead, the uniform is light-weight though of durable material. Starfleet designers believe that greater mobility is more important. Comfort is important too because the uniform may need to be worn for long periods of time. It makes crawling around during combat or loading a weapon easier than doing it while wearing body armour, but the benefits of light body armour could outweigh such practicalities. Although combat forces are unlikely to have the luxury of being able to change uniforms regularly, and so require a single uniform in which they can meet a variety of often unexpected situations, for which circumstances the combat uniform serves well, it does not seem that body armour or helmets are provided even as regular options. The light-weight combat uniform proves a distinct disadvantage when the wearer is under heavy weapons fire, as in [DS9: Season 7: The Siege of AR-558], and helps account for a number of casualties. That having body armour (it does not have to be heavy body armour) would reduce mobility is contradicted by the security department uniform in the 2271-77 period, when a helmet and light body armour forms part of the standard duty uniform, and mobility, which is important for security guards, does not seem to be impaired by the body armour and helmet. Just as protective headgear such as a helmet and body armour are not part of standard issue combat clothing, so the combination of the light-weight but durable uniform, together with a well-stocked back-pack and phaser rifle, makes Starfleet ground troops highly mobile and capable of responding quickly to a variety of tactical situations.
The light-weight materials used in the construction of the uniform means that it dries quickly if the soldier is caught out in poor weather (assuming the soldier can get into the dry at some point to let it dry out), or has to move through water. In hot or humid conditions, the jacket can be completely removed and the dark grey undershirt worn with the trousers and boots instead. The advantage of a removeable combadge means that it can be transferred, quickly and easily, from the outside of the tunic and placed on the upper chest of the hard-wearing undershirt. This retains direct and convenient communications between individuals. Some soldiers customise their duty uniforms by removing the sleeves of their outer tunics to expost the T-shirt-style garment underneath. That does not look as smart as the full uniform, but it allows the soldier to move the arms more freely.
The combat uniform's black colour makes it ideal for operations at night or in low-visibility
situations. The colours denoting the department are less conspicuous in those circumstances, but are easy to spot even at fairly long distances by other infantry units. The uniform is designed to fit the majority of bipedal humanoids who work in Starfleet, and it is tailored for individual troops so as to provide as much comfort as possible during wear. The black-coloured trousers are tapered, making them fit close around the upper and lower legs. The bottom of the trouser legs run over the narrow black-coloured duty boot. The boots have non-slip soles. The shaped material reduces the risk of catching the trousers on environmental hazards or pieces of equipment, and means that no material flaps about during maneuvers. Continuing that principle, hair (if any) is worn short by combat troops, which harks back to the many centuries old basic battle tactic of not having loose hair (or bits of garment) that can be grabbed by an enemy in a hand-to-hand fight.
(There are exceptions, such as the Spartan warriors of the 6th and 5th centuries BC, who often remind me of Klingons. Having been forced to fulfil a sacred vow by never cutting their hair, they made a virtue of it. Their armour and long hair showed who they were from a long distance which, with their fiercesome reputations, instilled fear into their enemies. Once before a battle in which the Spartans knew they would all be killed, knowing like the Klingons that "glory awaits", they simply "sat down on the wet sea rock and combed their hair".)
The narrow-fitting tunic of the combat uniform is worn over the standard-issue undershirt is also black in colour, and it has a vertical fasterning strip runing up the back of the garment. The upper chest area has a high neck and short collar, and two long sleeves. There is light padding incorporated beneath the outer garment designed to provide additional comfort if the wearer has to sleep in the uniform, especially in cold temperatures. The upper left and right sleeves have a dar, red narrow band that is at the same level as the similarly colooured front and rear upper chest piping which denotes the infantry uniform, with the shoulder sections of the tunic have a narrow pleated effect running down from the shoulders to the top of the red band.
FIELD UNIFORM
Field uniform of three different styles similar to each other are seen in [#16 Learning Curve] set in late 2371, [#58 Blood Fever] set in 2373, and [#167 Friendship One] set in late 2377. For information about them, beam to '2366 to 2373: Uniforms' Page 10, Page 11 and Page 12 respectively.
An over-jacket in a waistcoat-style in this design is first seen in use in [ST VIII: First Contact], set in 2373. It is worn by Lt. Reginald Barclay (who appears in several [Voyager] episodes). A similar design is worn by Data in the same film. Neither are mentioned in sources, which is unsurprising because, although they do look like uniform elements and specifically items that could form part of field uniform, they cannot be such because Captain Picard ordered the Enterprise E's computer to generate civilian clothing; according to the spirit of the Prime Directive, as the crew visit Earth before the existence of Starfleet or even of the Federation, they wear clothes to blend in with native clothing of the time period. This principle is upheld in [#47 False Profits] when Chakotay and Paris wear native clothing to visit a pre-warp society, and in [#50 Future's End, Part One] when the away team don clothing to blend in with the 1996 natives. In the latter, Tuvok comments on the natives' clothing styles by remarking that they could have worn their Starfleet uniforms and no one would have noticed.
sleeveless over-jacket or waistcoat-style top, worn by Lt. Reginald Barclay, who also appears in several [Voyager] episodes [ST VIII: First Contact]
same scene; Barclay gets to shake the hand of the famous Zefram Cochrane, inventor of warp drive technology and the man who first shook hands with an extra-terrestrial; no wonder Barclay looks thrilled! [ST VIII: First Contact]
DESERT UNIFORM
this subsection will be done after further research
ENVIRONMENTAL SUIT a.k.a. STANDARD EXTRAVEHICULAR WORK GARMENT (SEWG)
The Starfleet SEWG type-3 is introduced in 2373 and first seen in [ST VIII: First Contact]. If, however, we accept (and we must accept) that it is introduced at that time, then how come the Voyager crew are using it, in 2374, in [#71 Day Of Honor], while out of touch with Starfleet? In 2374, in [#82 Message In A Bottle], the Doctor makes the first visit to the Alpha Quadrant by any crewmember since the mission to the Badlands, at which time he briefs Starfleet. We surmise that he brings back specifications for upgrading the existing SEWGs that Voyager has on board, and therefore that the type we see in [#71 Day Of Honor] is an earlier version though it looks the same, but the ones we see after [#82 Message In A Bottle] are the type-3. Alternatively, the type-3 was in service several years before the events of [ST VIII: First Contact].
Beam here for article with special reference to [Voyager].
this and right-hand picture: environmental suit or Standard Extravehicular Work Garment (SEWG); [ST VIII: First Contact]
I have turned it upside down so you do not need to move [ST VIII: First Contact]
![this page covers part of the [Voyager] era](unifpics/voy_splash_by_janet.jpg)
Uniforms designed to be worn during combat situations need to meet a different set of criteria to standard duty clothing. One criterion is the need for unobtrusive colouring, and they therefore feature a different colour scheme to those employed on starships and starbases. The colour-coding of tunics is maintained, however, as, being immediately recognisable to Starfleet personnel, it is a useful visual identification method for different departments. Although specialists working with the infantry during a mission might wear standard duty uniforms, members of the infantry wear the same costume - the combat uniform. That the same uniform is worn by members of the infantry is of course due to another criterion, that of generating a feeling of solidarity between the soldiers. Another criterion, naturally, is to aid identification during enemy engagements.
Although combat forces are unlikely to have the luxury of being able to change uniforms regularly, and so require a single uniform in which they can meet a variety of often unexpected situations, for which circumstances the combat uniform serves well, it does not seem that body armour or helmets are provided even as regular options. The light-weight combat uniform proves a distinct disadvantage when the wearer is under heavy weapons fire, as in [DS9: Season 7: The Siege of AR-558], and helps account for a number of casualties. That having body armour (it does not have to be heavy body armour) would reduce mobility is contradicted by the security department uniform in the 2271-77 period, when a helmet and light body armour forms part of the standard duty uniform, and mobility, which is important for security guards, does not seem to be impaired by the body armour and helmet. Just as protective headgear such as a helmet and body armour are not part of standard issue combat clothing, so the combination of the light-weight but durable uniform, together with a well-stocked back-pack and phaser rifle, makes Starfleet ground troops highly mobile and capable of responding quickly to a variety of tactical situations.
