Air Force Protocol
from 'Til Wheels are Up'

TABLE OF SERVICE EQUIVALENT UNIFORMS
EVENT	CIVILIAN ATTIRE		ARMY	NAVY	AIR FORCE	MARINES
	MEN	WOMEN
CASUAL EVENT
Working in field or plant environment.	Sports Jacket (no tie) Open Collar, Sporty	Simple dress, or nice slacks, jeans	Battle dress Army Class B (1)	Aviation working green, winter working blue or khaki (2)	BDU SSS/LSS (3) w/out tie	Utility
BUSINESS EVENT
Business and informal social occasions.	Business suit Coat and tie	Very dressy dress/ suit or cocktail dress Dressy dress/suit Afternoon dress/suit	Army Green (4)	Service dress blue Service dress white Summer khaki or white, winter blue	Service dress SSS/LSS w/ or w/o tie	Service A (5) Service B (6) Service C (7)
PARADE
Parades/ ceremonies and reviews.	Business Suit	Very dressy dress/ suit or cocktail dress	Army Green Army Blue Army White	Full dress blue Full dress white	Service dress Service dress	Dress Blue
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS
Social functions of a general or official nature, private formal dinners, dinner dances, club affairs. (8)	Black Tie Tuxedo or Dinner Jacket	Long dress Very fancy short dress, evening trousers with very dressy top	Army Blue Mess Army White Mess	Dinner dress blue Dinner dress white	Mess dress	Evening dress or mess dress
OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS
Official formal evening functions, state occasions.	White tie	Long formal dress	Army Blue Mess/ Evening dress (9) / Army White Evening Mess Dress	Dinner dress blue	Mess dress
NOTES (1) Green slacks and light green shirt with or without tie. (2) Olive green service uniform with tie. Working blues and khaki are variants of the informal uniform and can be either short or long sleeve. (3) SSS - Short sleeve shirt. LSS - Long sleeve shirt. (4) Army green service uniform is similar to the Air Force service dress. Army blue uniform is “formal” when worn with black bow tie and “informal” when worn with black 4-in-hand tie. (5) Service A - Blue jacket, trousers, and white shirt. (6) Service B - Same as A, except with ribbons. (7) Service C - Blue trousers and khaki shirt. (8) Note: For black tie functions, for all services a tie is mandatory. For white tie functions, a bow tie is mandatory for all services. (9) Army Blue Mess meets requirement of “black tie”. Army Blue Evening Mess composed of blue mess jacket and pants, white formal dress shirt with wing collar, white vest, and white bow tie.

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