I recently attended a wedding and wore my Home Service Dress (ie No 1s) with medals, along with an AD colleague, who unaccountably, seems to have mis-placed his medals! Anyway, after the service I judged it appropriate to change out of uniform and into a more sober suit. Suprisingly, a number of people came up and expressed their disappointment - typically along the lines of 'We see so few people in uniform and we wanted to ask you about your medals'.
In contrast, however, I see a lot of service personnel travelling by train (given away by their luggage) on the West Coast line - and judging by their manner and talk, overwhelmingly Army. On a number of occasions they have been boorish, loud and drunk; indeed I intervened on one occasion and showed my ID card when two young lads, albeit fresh from AFG, were being particularly objectionable and bringing no credit upon their Service at all. If they had been in uniform, the
PR damage would have been greater.
I agree that uniform should be worn more readily (General Staff in MOD wear it on Wednesdays now), but there is a time and a place for it.