“Purple is the new Green” Your combat uniforms just got a colorful upgrade!

In an effort to further modernize today’s military, the DOD announced today its fashion forward plan to offer soldiers some colorful choices for combat uniforms. Beginning this summer, ACU’s, MCCUU’s and NWU’s won’t be limited to the drab green color, they will now be available in orange, purple, teal and pink.

Pentagon Press Secretary, Jack, G. Curby said “It’s time our Nation’s brave men and women show their true colors. Orange might be the new black, but purple is the new green when it comes to camouflage.”

In response to this bold measure, SSG James Kilroy said “You’d have to be an April Fool to believe this nonsense!” And he is quite right.

The military is no slouch when it comes to April Fool’s pranks. Here are the top five shenanigans pulled off by members of the DOD:

In 1986, sailors stationed on the USS Kennedy, which was deployed in the Mediterranean, watched a helicopter land on deck to deliver mail during its six-month tour. Instead, on that fateful April 1st, three pigs painted red, white and blue were dropped off and left to run around on the ship! Luckily, the pranksters filmed the whole event so you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj3zNDSCmQw

In 1943, the Stars and Stripes European edition published an article touting the plans for a 30-day furlough for all soldiers that had served a year in Europe. Eligible service members would be transported via the SS Normandie which had been salvaged from the floor of the Hudson River and was now manned by the Women’s Army Corp. Entertainment included Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee and pin-up girl Betty Grable. And if that wasn’t tantalizing enough, the trip would also include “inch-thick steaks” for each evening meal provided by the Governor of the State of Texas. The article ended with “Requests for furlough should be forwarded in triplicate to Stars and Stripes, where they will be carefully filed until next April Fool’s Day, on which date we hope to have the entire plan in actual operation.”

In 2013, The US Army announced its Military Working Cat program kick-off. The felines in service would be assisting military police in the tracking and capture of criminals and narcotics sniffing. Program advantages included a reduction of stray cats roaming the streets, and the success story of Gino, the first graduate. Downsides ranged from severe clawing incidents resulting in injury to soldiers and frequent disagreements between the cats and their working dog counterparts. The full article can be read here: http://hoaxes.org/af_database/permalink/military_working_cat_program


In 2019, the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam gave its airmen something to get excited about. A new policy was released via a Facebook post that would allow Airmen to sport full beards. The policy update was shared thousands of times in a few hours and got a LOT of comments. There was even an official link to an article in the LA Times. To see the original post, click here: https://www.facebook.com/Andersen36WG/posts/ [login to see] 137322
To see the article in the times, check out the link posted on the Facebook page: https://rly.pt/3LgeFlM

Not to be outdone in 2019, the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan released a statement via the Defense Visual Information Service Distribution website, stating that marines living in barracks would be allowed to have a pet in their room. Interested Marines would be required to submit an application package to their chain of command and complete the Pet Care and Training 100.1 class. Unfortunately for those folks that didn’t read to the end of the article, which wrapped up with a “Happy April Fools’ Day, III MEF!,” a trip back to the shelter was in order to return their new furry friends.

Share you favorite prank below!