After President Barack Obama proposed a new hat for the Marines uniforms, some members of the military and an article in The New York Post have lamented the design as too "girly," Fox News reported.
"We don't even have enough funding to buy bullets, and the DoD is pushing to spend $8 million on covers that look like women's hats!" one Marine said to The Post. "The Marines deserve better. It makes them look ridiculous."
Though male and female Marines currently wear different hats, known as "covers" and used since 1922, the suggested design would be worn by everyone.
The unisex hat is called the Dan Daly hat, named after a World War I veteran from Long Island who won the Medal of Honor twice. The Daly design is modeled after a hat design used between 1904 and 1918 and is thinner than the current cap.
"The Marine Corps is being 'encouraged' by DoD to standardize on a unisex/universal dress and service cap," another Marine source said.
On The Marine Times website, some users have expressed the same sentiment, often referring to the design as too "French."
"The Dan Daly cap looks too French, and the last people we want to associate our Marines with would be the French military," one user posted.
The head of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Amos, will make the final decision on the design once members cast their votes on Friday.
According to a memo obtained by The Post, the new covers would cost $8,221,958 while keeping the originals would cost $7,937,915.
"None of the [members] liked the idea of a universal cover for all Marines," the memo reportedly stated. "The group members did not like the appearance of the Dan Daly cap on the male Marine."
