The army is known to have its own pre-described rules and regulations for each and everything. What a normal citizen might be thinking of as unimportance, they also regulate that thing according to their rules.
Did you know that wristwatches of US soldiers need to be conservative?
While these do’s and don’ts for almost everything create an air of turbulence for the wannabe soldiers or even the serving soldiers sometimes, we have simplified answers to all your queries of army watch regulation in the prospect of AR 670-1.
Page Contents
What is Army Regulation 670-1?
It is the Army Regulations law for the wear and appearance of army uniforms and insignia. The regulations regarding wristwatches come in section 4 of chapter 3 “Appearance and grooming policies” which deals with rules for the wear of jewelry. It is because wristwatches are a piece of jewelry in the army context.
Before going to the in-depth description of the way wrist watches are allowed, take a look at what is and what is not allowed.
What are the allowed accessories?
Following are the simplified bullet points from the AR 670-1 chapter 1, section 4, paragraph A. All these rules apply to both the soldiers appearing in uniforms and the soldiers appearing in civilian clothes on duty.
- Soldiers can wear wristwatches in uniforms.
- Commanders can restrict soldiers from wearing a wristwatch for safety/health or any other reason.
- It is allowed to wear pedometers and activity trackers.
- Only one item can be worn on each wrist.
- Soldiers must wear conservative(according to certain criteria) pieces of jewelry or monitors
- They can also wear a conservative identification bracelet and 2 rings.
The detailed US Army Wristwatch Regulations
We have said above that any trackers or jewelry worn by soldiers needs to be conservative. Here, conservative implies that it needs to fall within certain criteria set by the commander.
This regulation of criteria can be subjective based on situation, uniform, or choice of commander. Here, in regards to US military watch standard issue, we have listed standard conservative requirements of a soldier’s wristwatch.
Let’s dive into it.
Size
While there are exceptions to the regulations for a wristwatch size, it is better advised to wear standard watches that are neither too large nor too small. The size must be between 30mm to 50mm.
Color
What color watch is allowed to wear on duty? This is one of the common questions that perplex every mind of wannabe soldiers. There are no explicit watch color regulations; however conservative guidelines help filter some colors as a safety parameter. It saves the soldier from being noticed and complained about by higher rank conservative officers.
Can you wear a gold watch in your army uniform?
You can wear a gold watch in your army uniform but mostly, watches of color that imitate the color of soldiers’ equipment are preferred. These are generally black, khaki, dark green, coyote, olive, and camo colors. It is better to avoid watches of red, blue, yellow, or pink.
You may be interested in How Do I Set My G Shock To Military Time?
Stainless Steel Watches
Generally, these are okay to wear as the army has an extended tradition of stainless steel watches before digital watches were introduced. In addition, black watches (PVD) are also acceptable.
However, its reflective dials might put the soldier in question. Also, these watches have more of a ‘jewelry’ profile because of the steel bracelet but it can be minimized by replacing the bracelet with a leather band.
Digital watches (plastic made)
Digital watches are also the type of watches permitted in the army. It has a combination of solid colors on the watch case and dials. These watches are allowed as long as that combination is not too attractive for the soldier to be called a liberal.
What are the army-approved watches?
As you are now aware of the army watch regulations, you might be wondering about the available army-approved watches in the market. So, watches by Timex, G-shock, and Casio are in general safe to wear. Some of the best tactical watches for military use include Casio Men’s Casual Watch, Casio Men’s G-Shock, and Men’s Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Watch.
You can read our guide on the Best military watches under $200 in 2022
Wrapping up…
The military is conservative and so are the allowed watches for soldiers. The soldiers in the US army abide by this certain code of conduct for watches. With this ultimate guide to army watch regulations, we hope that you have left your confusion far off. However, army regulations on smartwatches are under review and will be disclosed in the upcoming policy update.
