BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (EPN) -- In the tradition of Lawrence of Arabia, U.S. Army officers are growing beards and wearing woolen Afghan hats, big scarves and civilian clothes colored to match Afghanistan's flag.

"I'm Scott. I'm on active duty, a U.S. Army officer," said a stubble-jawed American.

Scott was wearing a billowing, white-and-black scarf around his neck and a traditional brown, woolen Afghan "pacoal" hat which resembles an upside-down circular pie crust.

"I'm not fooling any of the locals, that's the first thing obviously," Scott said in an interview while a few gritty Afghan men eyed him from a discreet distance.

"However, we do move in and out of different parts of the country and, in order to facilitate a lower profile than a more overt military presence, we try to adapt a slightly less visible signature.

"The hat is local to the Northern Alliance factions that live and work in the Bagram Valley as well as in Kabul. We're trying to identify with the locals and trying to facilitate helping them.

"We're also wearing the colors green, white, black. These are the colors of the Afghan flag. So we try to represent them with what we wear," Scott said.

Several U.S. Army officers dressed in Afghan attire are stationed here at Bagram Air Base, 42 miles (67 kilometers) north of Kabul.

The strategic air base was used by the former Soviet Union to bomb and occupy Afghanistan throughout the 1980s.

The U.S. Army got in vogue by asking "the locals" what threads would look cool among valley guys in this ravaged desert surrounded by harsh, snow-draped mountains.

"I asked, 'What would be something that would match with what they have?'" Scott said, adjusting his large scarf while standing next to a pile of obliterated Soviet aircraft equipment left over from Moscow's 1989 withdrawal.

"That's where I picked up these items, the local bazaar being up here. I call it, 'in the valley,' if you will, the Bagram Valley. There's a small bazaar. There's also several different locations in Kabul we've gone down to.

"One of the guys within my Civil Affairs unit actually went out and did the purchasing.

"I plan to continue to grow my beard as long as I'm here and that date is unknown."

The Civil Affairs officers stripped off their army uniforms so they could wrap themselves in a softer, fuzzier image.

"Civil Affairs for the U.S. military is just designed to be a conduit, to kind of break the abrasiveness of the U.S. military which is, of course, uniform, weapons and whatnot," Scott said.

"This is the first time for what we call 'Relaxed Grooming Standards' and 'Civilian Hair'.

The army's top brass gave the OK to go native, he added.

"We've got a hierarchy, a chain of command if you will, that has basically allowed certain elements that are here in country to better work with the locals by maintaining a non-military presence.

"Other Civil Affairs elements throughout the rest of Afghanistan could probably pick a different form of hat.

"This hat would not go over very well once I got south of Kandahar because the different Alliance factions have a different way of dressing."

He named some of the top commanders in the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance, which mostly represents ethnic minorities, and said his flat, woolen hat duplicated their headgear.

"I'm sure you've seen Dostum's folks, I'm sure you've seen Ismail Khan's folks and Atta's people. They would recognize me for who my loyalties and sympathies are with, and probably where I was actually working initially."

Similar to a student during the first days at school, Scott wasn't sure if his clothes made him hip in the eyes of Afghans in and around Bagram Air Base.

"I can't judge it. I would say I've met with local success with people that work here, [according to] what little Farsi [language] that I've been able to pick up.

"I've tried to work my way in among the [Afghan] guys that work the gate and the local people I'm trying to hire.

"They also might take this with a grain of salt and think, 'Silly American.' I don't know."

What fashion advice does Scott have for a U.S. Army officer who wants to look mod during a war in Afghanistan but not flaunt the Afghan equivalent of outdated bell-bottoms?

Levis are out.

"The bottom line is you wear functional utility. I've got a pair of sneakers on."

Stroking his bulky black pants, Scott said, "They're actually lined nylon pants. I've got a pair of blue jeans which obviously, you can see, nobody would wear."

He also sported a black photographer's style vest with lots of pockets.

"This is just a vest to keep control of stuff. But I'm not trying to fool anyone. I've got an old Harley Davidson T-shirt on underneath," he added, unbuttoning to expose a colorful illustration of the motorcycle.

On his back, outside his vest, he carried a fat, Desert Storm-style, camouflaged water bag to quench his thirst in Afghanistan's lip-cracking arid air.

"This might be the only desert camouflage item that, you might say, well, that doesn't fit."

More U.S. Army Civil Affairs officers will arrive soon, which should cheer bazaar boutiques.

"As this mission grows, the number of Civil Affairs personnel that they will bring in here will also grow."

In cold weather, they are thankful Afghans wear warm hats.

"This is a great hat," Scott said, taking it off and rolling the wool to tighten its circular grip.

"I know your readers can't see it, but it's lined. It's 100 percent wool.

"When it's freezing cold..." -- Scott paused to plunk the hat on his head and yanked it down over his ears but then decided not to wear it like that -- "...well, I don't want to look stupid."

Another unshaven U.S. Army officer at Bagram Air Base also wore a hat and scarf like Scott's, though his civilian clothes differed.

"My name is Wes. I'm with the 96th Civilian Affairs Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina," he said in an interview in the skeletal remains of one of the air base's hangars.

"The reason for [wearing Afghan garments] is just so we can convey a positive message to people we work with -- that I'm here to help them, I'm here to be a friend, I'm sensitive to their culture and that we're not imposing ourselves," Wes said.

"I'm trying to paint a message, or convey a message, that is more visual than by words because I don't speak the native language.

"Everybody knows I'm not local," he added, chuckling. "That's not the idea. It's just to say that we're here to help.

"I've never had a beard before," Wes said, rubbing his new growth.

"I would say it's about symbolism. It's about getting our message across, because many of these people will never really talk to me.

"I will probably never speak to them in their native tongue. But there's a direct imagery [difference] between a soldier performing security and a soldier who is trying to organize assistance.

"I think that [wearing Afghan clothes] is a more powerful tool than me trying to say, 'I'm a soldier, and here is my rifle and here's your food'," Wes added.

Asked if their fashion statement included a personal weapon for protection, Wes replied: "I can't discuss security issues."

The Civil Affairs officers said their immediate mission was to open a "humanitarian assistance center" at Bagram Air Base.

Planes carrying aid from the U.N., U.S., non-government organizations and elsewhere would land at Bagram and transfer items to trucks for delivery in cities and villages.

Army officers dress up like Afghans because "they have to move in and around the [Afghan] civilians and we don't want to draw any attention to them," Special Operations Command Sergeant Major Raymond V. Cordell said in an interview.

"This is a Central Command A.O. [area of operations]. This has been a Special Operations war."

Thomas E. Lawrence, a legendary British intelligence officer known as Lawrence of Arabia, dressed in a turban, flowing robes and other traditional clothes while mixing with people in and around Saudi Arabia during the First World War.