Air Force Puts Its Latest Design on the Runway : Military: Top general models service’s streamlined new uniform. It fits ‘trim and tougher image,’ he declares.

The U.S. Air Force, its pride and prestige soaring since the Persian Gulf War, Thursday unveiled a trimmer, neater service dress uniform designed to “fit in with . . . our image of a streamlined, trim and tougher Air Force, with less doodads,” according to the service’s top general.

Air Force leaders cast their vote decisively for more natural fibers, a more comfortable fit and an end to the “bells and whistles” that make the current uniform look like, well, what it is: a dark blue knock-off of the Army’s pocket-covered, brass-bedecked tunic.

Gen. Merrill A. McPeak, chief of staff of the Air Force and a major power behind the service’s new look, Thursday modeled the prototype uniform, which cost $1.5 million to design.

He looked for all the world like a commercial airline pilot, with his three-button jacket (down from a restrictive four-button design) and a simple silver braid and three silver stripes ringing his sleeve at the wrist--the only indication of his rank.

“Guilty as charged,” said McPeak when a reporter suggested that the new uniform looked more like US Air than the U.S. Air Force. “We do look something like . . . many airline pilots,” McPeak said. “But that’s a net plus. We want to look more like airmen.

“We want a distinctive military look. We also want an airman’s look,” McPeak said.

Women members of the Air Force, too, will have a trimmer new look once the uniforms are widely introduced in 1994. Capt. Cathy McGinn, chief of the Air Force clothing branch, wore the women’s version of the new officer’s uniform, which trades in a slightly dowdy A-line skirt and oddly flaired jacket for a slimmer skirt with a kick-pleat in back, smart inverted pleats at the waist and a straight, clean-lined jacket.

“It’s intended to fall in line with women’s career-wear today,” said McGinn, who added that Air Force women expecting babies will be offered two new maternity jumpers designed to make them look and feel “more professional” during pregnancy.

McPeak said that the peaked Air Force hat with the visor, which was “made of 100% chemical material,” would likely be eliminated as a mandatory item, and that he is considering allowing general officers to leave off the unit citation and campaign ribbons that normally cover most of the space over their left breast.

The effect? “An understated elegance and a design that never ages,” according to McGinn.

Chief Master Sgt. Gary Pfingston, the Air Force’s most senior enlisted man, declared the new attire “the most comfortable uniform I’ve worn in my 30-year career.” With roomier armholes, a lower “gorge,” or plunge to the top button, and a 55%-45% polyester-wool blend, “I feel like I look better in it,” he said