All about Camouflage & BCU (inc cartoons)
Moderator's Note: There were seven threads on matters camouflage, BCU etc, including several which featured Oprah and cartoons. All now merged here and the title amended.
Who said Army doctrine writers don't have a sense of humor? Well - okay - but this brought a smile to our small mugs. Kudos CADD and a hat tip to LTC Shawn Stroud for sending this along.
Congress orders new camo for Afghanistan
What will it be? Multicam? A different colored digital? Anyone heard?
Link here: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20...forms_061509w/
How much do you want to bet....
Regarding the origin of the current Army pattern
Hyperstealth Biotechnologies did the research that led to the development of the Marine Corps camo, Canadian Camo, Jordanian Camo and many others. They use an extensive body of knowledge from diverse disciplines to develop sophisticated camouflage patterns.
Let's hear what they have to say about the Army pattern:
Quote:
Designed for multiple environments ARPAT was derived from the U.S. Marines digital MARPAT, however one main difference with ARPAT was the removal of black in the pattern leaving it with three colors and with only one color scheme for Woodland, Desert, and Urban we believe it is equally ineffective in each environment, we affectionately refer to ARPAT as the Alternate Reality Pattern as we cannot determine on what scientific basis it was developed.
(Source)
As near as I can tell, the Army acquisition corps determined that all of Hyperstealth's experience and research wasn't as credible as the 'feeling' that black was unnecessary in the camo pattern.
The problem is that a pattern needs dark speckling to create the illusion of depth. Without the dark speckling, the colors will appear flat and stand out against the background (the complaint against the current pattern). Note that the discontinued six color "desert day pattern" (AKA "The Chocolate Chip Pattern") had this type of speckling, but was discontinued due to manufacturing costs.
Costs of camo should be ignored and endursed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Van
Hyperstealth Biotechnologies did the research that led to the development of the Marine Corps camo, Canadian Camo, Jordanian Camo and many others. They use an extensive body of knowledge from diverse disciplines to develop sophisticated camouflage patterns.
Let's hear what they have to say about the Army pattern:
(
Source)
As near as I can tell, the Army acquisition corps determined that all of Hyperstealth's experience and research wasn't as credible as the 'feeling' that black was unnecessary in the camo pattern.
The problem is that a pattern needs dark speckling to create the illusion of depth. Without the dark speckling, the colors will appear flat and stand out against the background (the complaint against the current pattern). Note that the discontinued six color "desert day pattern" (AKA "The Chocolate Chip Pattern") had this type of speckling, but was discontinued due to manufacturing costs.
I vote to spend whatever it takes for effective camo uniforms. Petty penny counting in this time of trillions at war mega costs is stupid and absurd, the responsible bean counters should be summarily fired.
Following on Van's comment,
IIRC, the Natick rationale was that 'there is no black in nature...' one of the more brilliant statements by any Army proponent for something.
As for Woodland, one would hope not but the Army can be about that stupidly stubborn when someone tells them they have or had a bad idea. Scroll through the picures at the Multicam site (LINK) and note the Woodland - Multicam contrasts. The ACU has the same problem Woodland has as it is washed more or in harsh water /soaps, it fades badly and not only loses it anti IR properties but has an enhanced IR / thermal problem. Multicam seems to have found a solution to both problems.
The Army probably will not be willing to pay Crye for a license and will then develop its own pattern -- probably Woodland II which will be about as poor as Woodland was / is. Maybe they'll surprise me and do this right...
I'm with Rifleman and Reed, Multicam's about as good as it gets nowadays.
Added: and with George:
Quote:
the responsible bean counters should be summarily fired.
Mr. Leo's War Tested Fashions
They tested the ACU at JRTC and I share my office with the Natick rep. I did give him a ration of ####e including:
Quote:
We've got a special man in the audience today, Right now, it's Mr Leo. He's a fashion consultant for the Army.
"Oh, thank you, Adrian. I'm just very happy to be here. I want to tell you something. You know, this whole camouflage thing for me doesn't work very well".
Why is that?
"Well, because you go in the jungle, I can't see you. You know, it's like wearing stripes and plaid. For me, I want to do something different."
I'm not sure Congress is on the right track
Take a peek at this paper
Quote:
Simons, D. J., & Chabris, C. F. (1999). Gorillas in our midst: Sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception, 28, 1059-1074
and thisvideo to consider the ramifications of inattentinal blindness.
Here's the instructions on the video:
Quote:
This link takes you to the basketball video from an experiment by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris. When viewing the video, try to count the total number of times that the people wearing white pass the basketball. Do not count the passes made by the people wearing black. When you're done, visit the main lab web site for more information. Please note that this video is copyrighted and is available on this web site for viewing purposes only -- it may not be downloaded, copied, saved or used for any other purpose. If you are interested in using this video in any other context, it is available on DVD from Viscog Productions, Inc. Please see the link below. (Note that the University of Illinois is not in any way affiliated with Viscog Productions and this link does not represent an endorsement of Viscog Productions or its products by the University.)
I suspect that has more to do with what folks can and can't see on the battlefield (and elsewhere) than what camo pattern one chooses to cut into a set of utilities.
Anyone who's been an Infantryman or a Tanker
or close to those trades who missed that should seek another field of endeavor... :D
We resisted camo for years because we had large
armed forces and that many bodies in camo would've doubled the clothing cost,plus and importantly, OG 107 would blend in most anywhere to an acceptable degree. Camo does provide an edge but it is awfully expensive if done right and even the good stuff like HyperStealth, MultiCam and a few others is not universal. Most will do one AO well but won't work elsewhere -- ACU for example was a disaster in the Jungle (Woodland isn't much better particularly after a few washings). Woodland doesn't do well in mountains or the desert...
The current ACU pattern (cut and form) is good, though they should slant the upper pockets outward instead of inward and just do 'em in plain old AF or Jungle Uniform sage. That's about the closest to being universal. It would sure be a lot cheaper. Makes little sense to pay big bucks for uniforms that will get ripped, torn and replaced every couple of weeks in hard combat.
G'won -- I'm still trying to comprehend the "no-shine" boots.
I didn't know the Nyvy had any other kind... :D