MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- After more than 20 years of faithful service, the most common piece of gear used in the Marine Corps is being retired.
On Feb. 3, Marines aboard the Station got their chance to throw the old tiger stripes in their wall lockers and put on a pair of the new digital utility uniform.
About a quarter of the 4,000 sets of the new utilities arrived aboard the Station in late January and were put on sale in the first week of February.
The cammies were distributed throughout the Station unit by unit as requested by the Station's command. This method, as opposed to the first-come, first-serve method used by many bases, was an excellent way to distribute the cammies fairly, according to Gunnery Sgt. E. Sean Dixon, Marine Corps Community Services loss prevention chief.
"Issuing the cammies by unit was a great way to ensure that everyone aboard the Station had an equal opportunity to purchase them," he said. "The first-come, first-serve method used by other bases isn't effective, because the first 100 people may buy four sets each and deplete the majority of the stock."
Although every Marine aboard the Station was given the opportunity to purchase the utilities, sales were surprisingly low, according to Dixon.
"I think a lot of people are thinking that they still have time before they are required to own the cammies, so they don't want to spend their money now," he said.
Although Marines do not technically have to own a pair of the digital utilities until October 2003, Dixon strongly advises not waiting until the last minute.
"Marines need to purchase what they can when they can to avoid being caught in the last minute rush," said Dixon. "The way things are working right now, no one can be guaranteed to have a matching set when the time comes if they wait until the last minute."
The utilities are currently available for anyone to purchase at clothing sales in the Main Exchange for approximately $67 a set.