New Delhi, Feb. 10: General Joginder Jaswant Singh has ordered Friday dressing out at army headquarters. All ranks at the headquarters in New Delhi will now onwards be dressed to kill, every Friday, beginning tomorrow.

Orders issued by the staff directorate here today asked officers and soldiers posted in New Delhi to don ?Dress no. 7?, army jargon for the combat uniform. The order was accompanied with a reminder on what constitutes Dress no.7 ? camouflage fatigues. So far, officers and soldiers wore the service/staff duty dress on all days of the week. (See chart)

General JJ has told troops that the army he leads is constantly at war ? in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast ? fighting insurgents. Personnel at army headquarters need to convey that impression. The general, who packs in a lot of action into his persona ? last week he strutted between two files of soldiers in Srinagar and demonstrated accuracy in shooting by hitting bull?s eye with a revolver ? has said he will lead by example. He is known to prefer the combat dress among all prescribed uniforms for army officers.

?It is important to realise that about 3 lakh of our million-plus troops are constantly on duty in the field. Also, on any given night, about 1.5 lakh troops are on patrol or are laying ambushes or are being attacked by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast,? General JJ had said immediately after taking over as chief of army staff last week.

The combat dress is worn by all troops on field duty. At peace stations, the combat dress is worn during exercises, drills and on specified occasions. At the headquarters, army officers and soldiers, by convention, are asked to wear combat dress when the country is at war or in a situation that can escalate into a wider armed conflict.

The combat dress was de rigeur at army headquarters even for personnel not actively engaged in war fighting during the 10-month Operation Parakram ? the military mobilisation of 2001-2002. Before that, during Operation Vijay ? the Kargil war of 1999, too ? it was compulsory.

There are about 300 army personnel posted at the headquarters, including around 400 officers. The officers have been told that it is their responsibility to ensure that the troops they command conform to dress regulations.

Officers are required to buy their own uniforms. An officer is given a uniform allowance of Rs 7,000 at the time of commission. Subsequently, they are given the allowance after every seven years. Other ranks are issued uniforms by the army ordnance branch. Officers have to arrange to wash their own laundry. The other ranks are also given a laundry allowance. But an officer is also assigned a ?batman?, whose job it is to ensure that the officer?s uniform is perfect.