--- title: "Swag for SWOs: Navy surface warfare officers can now wear snazzy black leather jackets" description: "If crisp white dress uniforms and reefer jackets weren't enough, Navy surface warfare officers will soon be able to rock an additional item of standard-issue swag: a black, fully-lined leather jacket with a zipper front, knitted cuffs, knitted waistband and a pointed collar." date: "2020-01-09" modified: "2020-01-09" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-officers-black-leather-jacket/" categories: - "Military Branches" - "Navy" - "News" - "Tactics" - "Tech & Tactics" --- # Swag for SWOs: Navy surface warfare officers can now wear snazzy black leather jackets ![]() If crisp white dress uniforms and reefer jackets weren't enough, Navy surface warfare officers will soon be able to rock an additional item of standard-issue swag: a black, fully-lined leather jacket with a zipper front, knitted cuffs, knitted waistband and a pointed collar. Starting this June, Navy SWOs can wear the jacket at sea or ashore, but only with their service uniforms, explained Vice Admiral John B. Nowell, Jr., deputy chief of naval operations for manpower, personnel training and education in a branch-wide [statement]() on Thursday. Why the sudden fondness for leather? Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Richard Brown said [in a statement]() that the exclusive jacket, like the aviation bomber jacket, is supposed to build esprit de corps among SWOs. The jackets are "one way to signify the outstanding achievement of our Surface Warfare Officers," Brown said. "Those who wear the jacket will be easily identified as part of a long lineage of professional ship drivers and maritime warfighters." A bit of fashion therapy may be just the thing for SWOs, given the spate of bad news sailors have had over the past few years. Between ship collisions, uncertain training reforms, and corruption scandals, maybe a dapper jacket could be the "New Year, New Me" the Navy's been looking for. ## Author David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis. Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific. Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io]()