Dress-down days suggested to RAF to boost inclusivity
Danielle Sheridan
CASUAL Fridays could be on the cards for the RAF after a director called for a change in its dress code that would allow officers to leave their uniforms at home on occasion.
Sally Boyle, a non-executive director on the RAF board and a partner at Goldman Sachs, suggested the move could be adopted during her speech at the Air & Space Power Conference.
“I have visited many RAF bases in the past three years and spoken to men and women of all ranks,” she said.
“In the RAF context, do uniforms need to be worn all of the time? Does the dress code need to change to some extent to reflect modern life and to be inclusive to all?”
Ms Boyle said the corporate world had “conceded that more informality in dress code in the office does help create a more inclusive atmosphere in which ideas from all can be expressed”.
An RAF source confirmed that there were “moves afoot to update” the No 2 uniform, which typically consists of a long-sleeve shirt with jumper and tie, worn by the majority of RAF personnel when not on operations. The No 2 working dress, which consists of a “nylon and cotton ensemble”, was described as “smart enough but not 21st-century looking”.
They added that this would happen “in the near future” but confirmed that the No 1 uniform would undergo no changes, as it is “a nod to the past”.
The last time the RAF updated its uniform was in 2017 when it decided that female officers should not wear skirts on parade in an effort to make the service more inclusive to transgender personnel.
The Royal Navy recently announced that Royal Marines would receive a new commando uniform in what it described as “the most significant transformation and rebranding programme launched since World War Two”.
The Royal Navy said the new uniform would be “fit for a new era of warfare, that is in keeping with the maritime traditions of the corps and also honours their commando forebears”.
It is not known how the RAF’S new uniform code might be adapted but it was something that is “looked at regularly”, a source said.