My Impression

[SOCL]

Mithras, with all due respect, I don't think that picture proves anything. Edge's assertion still stands. The point of a professional army is that it is professional: disciplined, groomed, and with a standard of bearing. The very fact inspections were held points to much more than counting noses and giving orders. The example you have shown, of what appears to be a Vietnam War-era Soldier in the mud is an extreme case, and by this I mean combat. No one can be expected to have their uniform pristine and in perfect order in the midst of fighting, which may be part of the reason the U.S. Army switched to the more-easily maintained ACU that doesn't require dry-cleaning, pressing, and the like. Just because soldiers participate in combat does not mean they are always grungy, bloody, muddy, and look bad. So Romans didn't have what we might refer to as a Class-A and a combat uniform, an example I see brought up in various threads, but so what? If they had one (what we call) "uniform", then it would get nasty in combat and be cleaned and maintained afterward. I have serious, serious doubts legionaries would be permitted to just wander about muddy, bloody, and however else they happened to look.

And as for the photo of the fellow in the Vietnamese jungles, I'm rather certain he wasn't particularly pleased, on a personal level, to look the way he does. Discipline and everything else the military teaches you aside, wouldn't one, just on a personal basis, be inclined to clean yourself, your uniform, and your gear?