Army Soldiers Fight For Right To Roll Up Their Sleeves, Literally

As the summer months roll by, Army soldiers are fighting for the right to seek reprieve from the scorching sun by rolling up their sleeves.

A decade-old ban currently prevents soldiers from rolling up the sleeves of their Army Combat Uniforms, which the Army claims were not designed to be rolled up. But many soldiers want the ban tossed out, arguing that not being able to do so makes them hotter.

"I sweat every day when I walk to work," Specialist Milt Perkins, an operating room specialist stationed at a combat support hospital in Louisiana, told the Army Times. "When it's hot in Louisiana, we should be able to roll up our sleeves."

Even members of other U.S. armed services, such as the Marines, are allowed to roll up their sleeves.

But the Army says the uniform top was designed to protect soldiers' forearms from the sun, bugs and other elements and was not meant to be rolled.

Though the Army is not considering lifting the ban, officials are "always looking to make our clothing and equipment better," Command Sergeant Major Doug Maddi, an advisor to PEO Soldier, which provides the uniforms, told the newspaper.

Soldiers remember the good old days when they rolled up the sleeves of their Basic Combat Training tops, the uniform worn before the Army switched to ACUs.

"In BDUs they looked more like soldiers, someone to look up to," Special Ian Humphrey, based in North Carolina, told the newspaper. "You always saw everyone with their sleeves rolled up and tattoos out, no problem."

Not all soldiers dislike the ban. James Lowe, a staff sergeant in the Army National Guard in Texas, told the Army Times he did not like rolling up his sleeves when he was allowed to in the '90s. Lowe said the rolled sleeves cut off the circulation to his arms and forced him to use sunscreen.

The extra 10 minutes it took for him to roll up his sleeves was "more trouble than it's worth," Lowe added.