Interesting that most responses quote ARMY regs when the gentleman in question is a NAVY veteran . . .

Ceilidh_gal, Welcome!!

If kilt and PC are being worn in a dress fashion (or for the civilian equivalent of Black/White tie), why not treat it as any other formal civilian wear (which it is)? "Technically" being "allowed" to wear one's earned medals and ribbons is all fine and good, but most civilians don't know a thing about military dress codes, AND when you throw in the kilt, it further adds to the confusion. If any one were to single your father out for wearing his medals, and start spouting off regulations and infractions he would be committing heretofore, I would think they were a few bricks short of a load . . . honestly, you'd have to have a cane up your craw to really have a problem with a vet and his medals, especially if displaying them accurately on civilian dress attire . . .

Just my thoughts. I also attend military functions in civilian attire, with mini meds on, and no one (CO/CGs, CMC, MCPON, Force MC, etc) has said a thing to me. Then again, I wear them according to the following regs:

NAVY Uniform Regs can be found here: http://www.npc.navy.mil/CommandSuppo...ormRegulations

And what I interpret as the way to wear ribbons with a PC here: http://www.npc.navy.mil/CommandSuppo...ter6/61001.htm

It's section 61002.7 . . .and says this:
7. WEARING AWARDS ON CIVILIAN CLOTHES

a. Miniature Medals and Miniature Breast Insignia. You may wear miniature medals and breast insignia on civilian evening dress (white tie) or civilian dinner dress (black tie) in the same manner as for dinner dress jackets.
It goes on to detail the Medal of Honor, mini-ribbons, marksmanship, etc . . .

Dinner Dress Jacket regulations are here in Section 5315 http://www.npc.navy.mil/NPC/Template...HINT=Guest#535

5315.1 says the medals would be placed on formal and dinner dress jackets with the holding bar of the lowest row of miniature medals 3 inches below the notch, centered on the lapel, parallel to the deck and can be summed up with this sub-section
5315.2.a. Arrange medals in order of precedence in rows from top down, inboard to outboard, within rows. Service members possessing five or more medals may either wear the five senior medals or all of them. On the dinner dress jacket, center up to three miniature medals on the lapel. Position four or more miniatures starting at the inner edge of the lapel extending beyond the lapel on to the body of the jacket.
Don't worry, it comes with graphics for illustration purposes!

The reason I wanted to direct you to the proper Regs is that while the general idea between services is the same, some peculiars are present. The Army, for example, states not to wear ribbons on civilian clothes, while the Navy says mini ribbons are acceptable, but not in the dress capacity.

Hopefully this wasn't too overwhelming! I actually consulted my trusty copy of the Uniform Regs first and it seems this particular section hasn't changed.

If you can, get pics of your dad, we would love to see him!

Any questions, feel free to PM . . .

And Bravo Zulu for getting your dad kilted!

Cheers!