WC3 Uniforms

Crimsonstar

Spaceman
Since WC3 takes place three years after WC2, I do have a theory that the uniforms from WC2 were still in use but only in a more formal area such as planetside or space station duty. The uniforms seen in WC3 were more rugged looking so they could be utility uniforms to give personnel a bit more comfort especially after the Battle of Terra. Tolwyn wears a more formal uniform and I wouldn't put it past him to find the "utility" uniforms ugly and preferred to keep up appearances. If he had it his way, he would have all bridge officers on the Victory and all O-5 and above wear the more formal uniforms from WC2 unless they worked in Engineering spaces. He would let O-4 and below or personnel he doesn't deal with daily slide. As long as they're clean of course. The Treaty of Torgo signing would have everyone in full dress uniform. Production and limitations when shooting however, yeah everyone just wore the same uniform. Not to mention having to change the rank insignias that resembled US Military insignias from WC1 and 2 to something more original.
 
My theory, wing2 uniforms were used for certain fighters, wing3 uniforms were used for better pressurized fighters. On the flight deck, you're on the armpit of the fleet. In wing2 you're on the crown jewels.
 
One little bit of background that's only barely referenced directly is the idea that the military in Wing Commander 3 is more of a combined force than it had been, with the Confederation being the largest of several allies battling the Kilrathi together (the 'Terran Alliance' referenced in the Armada material, the 'Combined Forces' stuff in WC3). So I think you can probably attribute changes to things like the ranks to that... old human military symbols might not mean so much to a Firekkan or a Wu! (They probably wonder why one of their heads is on the Colonel insignia...)

Another largely behind the screens aspect is that Wing Commander III's actual production happened with the assumption that there was another decade gap between WC2 and WC3... with the much, much closer timeline basically being decided "in post" by the folks doing the manuals. You can see in some of the behind the scenes material the costuming department was working from Wing Commander 2 screenshots in develoeping the uniforms... but they are definitely supposed to represent something messier/working than we saw on a flagship in WC2. The much more tailored WC4 uniforms are maybe closer to what would've been worn on a live action Concordia.
 
If we're talking about an in-universe explanation ...... sounds OK.

I always think it would be less than wise to do a massive uniform style replacement of this kind of additional resource consumption in that situation.

The Treaty of Torgo signing would have everyone in full dress uniform.

I guess this could be the embodiment of production limitations. Such an important historical moment was given only a very sketchy segment of footage.

They probably wonder why one of their heads is on the Colonel insignia...
😅
 
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One little bit of background that's only barely referenced directly is the idea that the military in Wing Commander 3 is more of a combined force than it had been, with the Confederation being the largest of several allies battling the Kilrathi together (the 'Terran Alliance' referenced in the Armada material, the 'Combined Forces' stuff in WC3). So I think you can probably attribute changes to things like the ranks to that... old human military symbols might not mean so much to a Firekkan or a Wu! (They probably wonder why one of their heads is on the Colonel insignia...)

Another largely behind the screens aspect is that Wing Commander III's actual production happened with the assumption that there was another decade gap between WC2 and WC3... with the much, much closer timeline basically being decided "in post" by the folks doing the manuals. You can see in some of the behind the scenes material the costuming department was working from Wing Commander 2 screenshots in develoeping the uniforms... but they are definitely supposed to represent something messier/working than we saw on a flagship in WC2. The much more tailored WC4 uniforms are maybe closer to what would've been worn on a live action Concordia.
You know, the fact that WC3 was originally supposed to be set in the late 2370s makes a lot more sense in terms of the design aesthetic and general mood. I remember as a kid, playing WC3 for the first time was a bit of a shock because I had finished SO2 thinking things were still in Confed's favor for the most part (Deneb campaign aside, and I didn't read End Run or Fleet Action until many, many years later). It also would explain better why none of the primary fighters we flew in WC2 appeared in WC3.
 
I've heard that during production that there would be like another timeskip. Yet the final months of the war took place not long after WC2. But it turned out that all the WC2 era ships and fighters got mothballed via the False Armistice. Confed was dumb enough to purge the blueprints of the Morningstar. The flight suits in WC3 actually look spaceworthy compared to the WC1 leather jackets. Saga made them look even more space worthy. Though the WC2 suits did look spaceworthy as well. Sure would have liked to see Mark Hamill wearing the WC2 uniform.
 
I've heard that during production that there would be like another timeskip. Yet the final months of the war took place not long after WC2. But it turned out that all the WC2 era ships and fighters got mothballed via the False Armistice. Confed was dumb enough to purge the blueprints of the Morningstar. The flight suits in WC3 actually look spaceworthy compared to the WC1 leather jackets. Saga made them look even more space worthy. Though the WC2 suits did look spaceworthy as well. Sure would have liked to see Mark Hamill wearing the WC2 uniform.
Well, how to say it, maybe we do not necessarily need to be overly serious on such issues.

Or you will have to face Hobbes's age problem. 😜
 
We know from Wing Commander Academy (cartoon) that Tolwyn wore his WC4 naval uniform in 2654. From that we can deduce that most of the uniforms we have seen are just different variations of the standard duty uniform of the 27th century, kind of like how US Navy khakis were worn pre-World War II all the way through the Cold War, were briefly decommissioned, and are now making a come back. In 2669, it would seem that the Privateer (Perry Station) naval uniform, which is a slight variation of the WC2 uniform, is the class-B, the Wing Commander IV uniform is the class-A, and the WC 3 uniform is the class-C. I do like the idea that the rank squares seen in WC3-4 conform to some sort of unified Alliance ranking system, that way soldiers serving in non-alliance units might still wear the traditional insignias, or both insignias would be donned simultaneously.
 
We know from Wing Commander Academy (cartoon) that Tolwyn wore his WC4 naval uniform in 2654. From that we can deduce that most of the uniforms we have seen are just different variations of the standard duty uniform of the 27th century, kind of like how US Navy khakis were worn pre-World War II all the way through the Cold War, were briefly decommissioned, and are now making a come back. In 2669, it would seem that the Privateer (Perry Station) naval uniform, which is a slight variation of the WC2 uniform, is the class-B, the Wing Commander IV uniform is the class-A, and the WC 3 uniform is the class-C. I do like the idea that the rank squares seen in WC3-4 conform to some sort of unified Alliance ranking system, that way soldiers serving in non-alliance units might still wear the traditional insignias, or both insignias would be donned simultaneously.
Unfortunately the Service Dress Khaki re-boot was shelved - not making a comeback anytime soon.
 
Wie sieht es mit den Confed-Logos aus? In Teil 3 nur noch das Logo mit dem Schwert und ab WM 4 sah man nur noch den Stern. Ist es in Navy und Army unterteilt und wenn ja, was ist was? Oder haben sie eine andere Klassifizierung??
 

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The Wing Commander III patch is the war-era "Terran Alliance" insignia. I suspect that the stars refer to co-belligerants (ones that are not part of the Confederation but still fighting together against the Kilrathi: the Varni, the Wu, etc.).

The Wing Commander IV and Prophecy patch is the post-war "Unified Space Command" patch which refers only to the Terran Confederation armed forces. It's meant to imply the sort of force reorganization that happened to the United States military after World War II is going on.
 
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