Sailors are lashing out at the Navy's tough new uniform regulations, which say that sailors wearing the new Navy Working Uniform won't be allowed to get out of their cars while driving to and from work unless it's an emergency.

The new rules are more restrictive than the regs covering the to-be-replaced utilities and wash khakis, as well as the current woodland cammies and flight suits.

Current uniform regulations allow sailors to make brief stops — such as pumping gas, picking up prescriptions and dropping off kids at daycare — in the current uniforms. None of this will be allowed once sailors and officers begin wearing the Navy Working Uniform, which will be available to purchase in the Norfolk, Va., area next month.

The Navy said the NWU will be available for purchase in Hawai'i beginning July 10.

The NWU is intended for year-round wear and will be the standard working uniform ashore. It will replace working utilities, tropical working uniforms, wash khakis, winter working blue, aviation working green, and "non-tactical" use of camouflage utility uniforms.

All existing working uniforms will continue to be authorized for wear until December 2010.

Within 24 hours of posting a short news story on the restrictions and soliciting feedback, Navy Times received more than 40 e-mails from sailors and officers expressing outrage over the decision to tighten the rules.

"This is beyond ridiculous," wrote Fire Controlman 2nd Class Jason McKeever, who works aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. "The fact that every other service (except the Marine Corps) authorizes their service members to wear their working uniforms to places like grocery stores or the mall just shows how out of touch the Navy officials are."

The Navy announced its rollout schedule and rules for wear Dec. 2.

At the time of the message's release, Navy officials told Navy Times that the commuting rules for the NWU were identical to the rules for all current working uniforms. Those officials have since corrected themselves, saying that the current rules for utilities and wash khakis do allow for brief stops.

Earlier this week, the Navy Times requested further clarification on the reason for the rule change from the office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

The rule change will likely cause problems for deck-plate leaders who need to enforce them.

That's because once the NWU begins its two-year rollout, there will be two sets of uniform rules on the street — one for the NWU, authorizing no routine stops, and the current, and more liberal, rules for the rest of the uniforms.

"It will cause more confusion ... and I feel this will only drive the desire to wear the NWU to be even less," said Command Master Chief Michael Napier, senior enlisted sailor at Strike Fighter Squadron 27 at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan.

Napier says uniform regs are already tough enough for him and other chiefs to enforce, and having two standards will only make that even tougher to enforce.

"I already face it working on a naval air station with air crews wanting to wear flight suits to everything short of the Navy Ball. As a black-shoe snipe, it drives me nuts — so I see the NWU being nothing but an uphill battle."