The blue navy utility uniform was supposed to be a replacement for the blue jeans lookin Navy uniform. More of a garrison utility uniform.
In fact, the new Air Force ABUs were originally also supposed to be just a garrison uniform, and they had quite a bit more blue in them. The problem was that the AF had already been deployed continuously for a couple decades, so we knew that there was no way we would be able to avoid actually going to war wearing the new "garrison" utilities, so we complained until they toned it down and gave us the current ABU garrison utility uniform which still has a hint of blue... which we in fact wear when we go to war
The basic idea was that it was "peacetime" (except for special forces and the USAF which never really quit deploying since Vietnam and which maintained a high deployment tempo ever since desert storm) and all of the services had this awful BDU utility uniform which worked ok in combat, but looked sloppy in garrison and, was hard to maintain (ironing/pressing would wreck the fabric). So the services decided to come up with new *garrison* utility uniforms that would share the same basic design, fabric, etc., but would have slightly customized patterns and colors. The Army one would be mostly green, marines would have more brown, navy would be some sort of awful blue, and the AF would have a brighter, light blue. Then the bickering started. Velcro vs. buttons vs. snaps vs. zippers? Velcro breaks down in the field some argued, but others countered that this was supposed to be a garrison uniform. The AF wanted the pixellated pattern to be a loose variation on the modern new Air Force logo, so now we had multiple patterns. The fabric was too heavy or too light for each service, so now we had different fabrics, designs, colors. The dreamed-of cost savings of course vanished, which slowed development and initial production.
And then the contracts started getting cancelled for the BDUs so they quit making them, and all of the services had to start using the new uniforms without delay. And 9/11 happened followed by a decade of combat ops, so we went to war with our garrison uniforms instead of the planned "someday we'll get around to making them" combat uniforms that would have been really nice and have more commonality between the services.
Yea right. It took years of combat ops in the freaking desert before the AF managed to come out with a fire resistant ABU, and the fabric is STILL too heavy. The Army at least got something right when they made the mesh body shirt... Patterned fabric on long sleeves, mesh body to go under 40 lbs of body armor. And still none of the services have a dedicated desert combat uniform, while the AF continues to wear their flammable/meltable garrison uniform in combat.
I don't think I'll see it before I retire, but the rumor is that all of the services are trying to update their "combat" uniforms based on the last 20 years of desert operations. I'll believe it when I see it, and I bet the AF "Chair force" types manage to sneak some blue into the next AF "battle" uniform. Because we have to be distinctive and unique, even if that means people think we're all mentally deficient for taking a blue garrison uniform to the desert to fight a war.
