US Veterans, militaria, etc...

[Jock Scot]

Just so you know. Firstly you are now a civilian, but as a civilian there are appropriate times to wear your decorations. That is the easy bit! The Scots(British) civilians who have served their country have different ways of when and where to wear their decorations to how retired American servicemen do. So marrying Scots kilt traditions and British decorations is one thing and marrying up Scottish kilt traditions and retired American servicemen and their decorations are very different. There are several threads on the subject that you might seek out. Good luck to you laddie.

[SandSailor'00]

Just so you know. Firstly you are now a civilian, but as a civilian there are appropriate times to wear your decorations. That is the easy bit! The Scots(British) civilians who have served their country have different ways of when and where to wear their decorations to how retired American servicemen do. So marrying Scots kilt traditions and British decorations is one thing and marrying up Scottish kilt traditions and retired American servicemen and their decorations are very different. There are several threads on the subject that you might seek out. Good luck to you laddie.

Jock Scot-Thank you; you've nailed the issue on the head..."marrying" UK traditions with our own can be "muddy" water; especially when you may be the youngest man in the room.

[The Wizard of BC]

The official and definitive answer to your questions 1 & 2 can be found in the uniform regulations of your respective service. I would strongly suggest you take a look as each service is slightly different.

As you have found the only branch of the US Military that has recognized and adopted a Tartan is the US Coast Guard. It is in the regulations that this is for the use of the band but many Coasties have worn a kilt in the USCG Tartan and not been a part of a band. Personal choice on their part.

No other US Military brand has recognized a Tartan and none authorize a kilt to be worn as part of the uniform. The bands of the respective branches wear a different uniform that other serving members and have their own set of uniform regulations.

As a retired vet I do wear my miniatures with formal kilt attire - When appropriate. As I currently live in Canada I respect that this is limited to events of a military nature such as Remembrance/Veteran's days, Dinning-in's at a Military Mess. etc. The invitations to these events usually specify that wearing decorations is appropriate.

The answer to your questions 3, 4, and 5 are personal choice. The kilt and other components of kilt outfits do not have rules and regulations. There are conventions only such as diced hose are usually worn as evening or formal wear.
There are myths around about the dicing on bonnets. These are myths. If you like dicing wear dicing. If you don't like the look of dicing don't wear it.

The answers to these three questions are answered with "If you are in the military or a pipe band you will have uniform rules and regulations. Abide by those regulations. Otherwise you are wearing a kilt in civilian clothing. You are not in uniform. You are not bound by the uniform regulations when you are in civilian clothes.
If you like the look of the short British Battle Dress or the US Ike jacket then of course you can wear one. The Ike jacket is no longer part of a uniform.
Out of respect for those serving members I, personally, would never wear rank or other insignia on civilian clothing but I know others who do. Again, their personal choice for their personal reasons.

Basically don't get too wrapped around the axle about trying to conform to some uniform regulation that only applies to persons in that particular unit. In fact for almost every units regulation someone on this forum can find you a unit that does it differently.