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Is ACU legal to wear in America?


The Thief Lord

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Would it be considered impersonating if I wore Propper ACU (storebought) and used it for airsoft, and if not, would I be able to display rank, nametapes or division patches? Am I able to wear anything that represents something related?

 

My setup for my ideal ACU would be:

 

-ACU Uniform

-U.S. Army Printed Branch Tape

-Name Tape

-Pin-on Insignia

-Rank

-Unit/Division Patch

-Reverse US Flag

 

Which of all of these is legal to display?

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Can't imagine it being illegal, as long as you don't wear it in public or to impersonate units whilst in public, but don't take my word for it though.

 

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the unit patches and rank insignia out of respect of those currently serving.

 

Would probably save you alot of akward questioning in the safezone and a broken nose if you didn't wear them mate, but again its down to you, can't imagine anyone who is in the forces who also plays airsoft would take kindly to it, as they earnt it

 

Just my opinion

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10 USC, subtitle A, part 2, chapter 45,sections 771 and 772

 

http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/10C45.txt

 

If you go all out to match exactly how all patches, and rank are worn it would be considered illegal, as you would be impersonating military personel. Depending on the police officer, and what mood he is in, he could arrest you for it and cause trouble. If you wear say like tennis shoes, and dont exactly follow the code of uniform you can easily get away with it.

 

If you do, make sure to NEVER claim to serve upon someone asking.

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It's a respect issue, which a lot of people in our country struggle with at the moment...

 

I agree with the above though. You should be fine, as long as you don't go all out in the impression, and also NEVER claim to be a serving soldier unless you actually are one.

 

Ben.

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Impersonating military personnel is a federal offense. Leave off insignias, patches, etc. if you do wear ACUs for whatever reason. Personally, I think the only tape you should have on them is your name.

 

Remember that there are two ways to wear a uniform:

 

1. Wear it RIGHT

2. DON'T WEAR IT

 

When one person wears it like a *suitcase* bag, then people who observe it tend to generalize that person with the entire branch. So for the sake of those of us serving, please remember these two points.

 

If you can't adhere to #1, then please stick to option 2.

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We've done the whole disrespectful/haven't-earned-it thing to death here many times, and while it's useful to the OP to know the etiquette, they're specifically asking about legality - so please let's not derail this guy's thread too much, eh?

 

That's a general observation by the way, 'cos I've seen the way this goes too many times and I'm not in the mood to tidy everyone's toys up if they go off on one later. Be nice, folks.

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Here in Brazil, we advise not to wear a complete set of Brazilian forces BDU, much less unit patches.

Unfotunatelly we have a very suspicious and uninformed police force. Most of officers wont bother, but there are those SOBs that love to make your day miserable, so we dont give them a reason.

 

 

These are the patterns we use.

 

Brazilian ArmyCommandos in Haiti.

 

Brazilian Marines Amphibious Commandos

 

Brazilian Air Force Para Rescue

 

But its OK to use any foreign pattern.

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I don't think it's disrespectful, but others will disagree.

 

In our group, typically we reserve branch tapes for people who are currently serving or have served in the past. So, I wear a US NAVY name tape, denoting my prior service. My team mates who have never served wear their TEAM name on their branch tapes... it's just a quick and easy way for new guys to be able to tell who the prior guys are and get a feel for our backgrounds...

 

That said I just spent the entire weekend working with Army National Guard units working as Staff for Operation Northern Wind, wearing ACUs and all the serving soldiers welcomed our use of their uniform. It's all about attitude and respect (ie. don't look like a *suitcase* bag in their uniform...)

As was said above, it's most important never to claim to be anything you are not.

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Not sure on that one actually... I guess it wouldn't be, as long as the unit patches were the same as the one you served in?

 

I don't really like wearing real-deal patches at all, apart from name tapes.

 

Ben.

No unit patches at all. Just my Electrowerkz Coalition Force patch, my name tape, and a rank epaulette with the rank I last held before I left service. I did earn that rank afterall, it's just that it's going to be on a different country's military uniform.

 

Any opinions?

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