Army's sideline will be a white out this Saturday in Philadelphia during the 118th Army-Navy Game as Nike released the football team's specially designed uniforms honoring the 10th Mountain Division.
Last year, Army wore uniforms honoring the 82nd Airborne Division and memorably broke Navy's 14-game winning streak beating the Midshipmen 21-17. This year, the Black Knights hope to start a winning streak of their own wearing all white much like the Pando Commandos of the 10th Mountain Division.
Every year since 2004, the Army and Navy football teams have worn special uniforms for their annual rivalry game. This year, Navy will be wearing uniforms inspired by the Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron.
Nike and Under Armour have notably tried to outdo each other each year with their uniform designs since Navy switched from Nike to Under Armour as their apparel sponsor in 2013.
Called "Climb to Glory," these uniforms honor the alpine soldiers who fought the Nazis in the Alps of Italy.
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The white helmets, white pants and white jerseys mimic the camouflage the soldiers wore to blend in with the snow.
On the right shoulders of each jersey, Army's players will wear the unit patches for the 85th, 86th, and 87th Mountain Infantry Regiments, and the 126th Mountain Engineer Battalion of the 10th Mountain Division.
Army's white helmets will feature a crossed ski pin on the front crown, similar to the ones the World War II soldiers bought from local Italian craftsmen and wore on their covers. The back of the helmets will feature a gold vertical bar similar to the white vertical bars worn on the back of officers' covers.
The insignia of the Pando Commandos, a skiing panda, will feature prominently throughout the jersey. Army's players will wear it on their cleats and on the shirts the players will wear underneath their pads.
The Pando Commandos name comes from the name of the town of Pando, Col., which is where the alpine soldiers of the 85th, 86th and 87th Infantry Regiments trained. Pando was the town closest to Camp Hale, which is where these soldiers learned to fight at an elevation over 9,300 feet.
On their right shoulders, Army players will wear the American flag as it looked during World War II meaning it will only feature 48 stars instead of 50 since Hawaii and Alaska had not yet officially become U.S. states.
It's unclear if Nike and West Point officials planned this, but the weather might offer a special homage to the Climb to Glory uniforms. The forecast for Philadelphia on Saturday calls for a slight chance of snow.
