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Of course, there is the idiocy of using Velcro for field uniforms. Most of those patches aren't going to get swapped out all that often.

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I heard from a military friend that the Velcro was useful for being able to discard patches in case it looked like they might be captured, so as to deny information to the enemy.

I'm skeptical that there's much utility there, but maybe someone better informed than me can chime in.

It's also (marginally) useful for saving costs and time from sewing and having to purchase badges and patches for each uniform. This was pretty helpful while deployed IMO, since you'd just get new uniforms and could immediately put on your nametapes and patches.

Velcro pockets, though... those were terrible. Both in durability (their "grip" would weaken over time) and noise.

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