newmusic11
5-Year Member
- Joined
- May 13, 2012
- Messages
- 35
That The Citadel and Norwich University wear the same grey uniforms as West Point?
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
I'm not looking for praise.
It was a question, due to the fact that I heard they're the "exact same" on numerous sites, but when seeing the uniforms, I noticed differences.
No, they are not the exact same, but to the casual observer they do appear so, which was their intent. Years ago, our son was wearing his white over gray when we were in a restaurant. The waitress asked if he went to VMI and was disappointed that it was "only" West Point. Truth is stranger than fiction. No disrespect for VMI, it's a very fine school, but it's not West Point.
My previous comment was not intended as praise but to suggest that when others copy your design, there must be something special about it and worthy of duplication. Otherwise, why would they do it?
The material and the buttons are different. The buttons on the VMI "Coatee" (the formal uniform) are flat with "Cadet VMI" and the statue of "Virginia" stamped on them. The buttons on the West Point Uniform are round.
An oddity of the VMI formal uniform is that the tails are un-hemmed (supposedly this tradition dates back to the Civil War when the tails were cut to use as bandages- this sounds a tad unlikely to me but there it is. USMA rode out that war in peaceful repose in New York- so no bandages needed to be cut from the tails of their uniforms- hence they are still hemmed) Note the difference below:
VMI's uniforms are made out of the same scratchy- very hot, rough wool (when it rains you smell like a bunch of wet dogs) that they were made out of 173 years ago- none of the poly-blend stuff that they switched to at USMA years ago and the VMI grey blouse is more of a blue grey color than the USMA grey. On the VMI overcoat, the underside of the cape (which is flipped back when you are wearing your cross belts for parades) is red while the USMA overcoat is grey on both sides).
Finally- unlike USMA, VMI Cadets do not wear any kind of ribbons or qualification badges on their grey blouse (though they do wear them on their white summer uniform). So while they look similar- there are a fair number of differences when you see them up close.
And they are not Free either.
Though I have no idea what this has to do with the difference in the uniforms- the profile of the class of 2015 is at the link below:
http://www.vmi.edu/uploadedFiles/Admissions/Class_of_2015 Sheet1.pdf
Some of the salient points you will see : the acceptance rate was 45%; the mean Math SAT is 579 and mean Verbal is 572 and average HS GPA was 3.5 with 48% in the top quarter and of their class and 86% in the top half. 49% of the class were team captains in HS and 89% had a varsity letter. Approximately 1/3 of the Corps plays on an NCAA Intercollegiate sports team (and about 45% of the female cadets), and close to 60% of the graduating class will be commissioned and historically about 20% will have a military career- not bad considering that most had to pay for school. (By comparison- what was the retention rate past the mandatory 5 years for USMA for the last 10 years? Low enough that the AOG thinks it's a problem.)
While I don't have the Citadel's numbers (note the spelling- Citadel)- I'm wouldn't be surprised if it has similar numbers.So while they aren't West Point (and don't want to be either) They do just fine- even without their tails hemmed.
So I could go to the citadel for the rest of my education and at the end, never even get an active duty or reserves slot for my branch of choice? Especially after paying?
That The Citadel and Norwich University wear the same grey uniforms as West Point?
USMA is a federal school in which upon enrollment you get a guarantee commission in the Army, and you are enlist in the military while you are at USMA.