All about Camouflage & BCU (inc cartoons)

[J Wolfsberger]

and thisvideo to consider the ramifications of inattentinal blindness.

Wow.

[Ken White]

or close to those trades who missed that should seek another field of endeavor...

[Van]

WM, et al,
The gorilla video is great! And it should be part of any curriculum on observation. But...the key to that video and the associated Jedi mind trick is that the viewers are directed to count the basket ball passes. Misdirection that any stage magician or sleight of hand artist would be proud of.

Re: Camo

-Any edge when our soldiers' lives are on the line. Better camo is an easy edge. Simple, verifiable, quantifiable testing can rank order camo patterns (as HyperStealth shows on their website). And getting the better product to the soldiers is relatively easy (compared to providing materials and training for improvised camo, developing and implementing new training on concealment and deception, etc). (I have no vested interest in HyperStealth or their camo patterns, but they do lay out the science behind their patterns very clearly.)

-Camo is about the bullet that is marked "To Whom It May Concern". Camo (competently designed camo...) helps keep soldiers from standing out, and helps keep them from being selected as a "target of opportunity".

-Camo help enhance shock effect by assisting soldiers in getting closer to the enemy before pulling the trigger. Again, any edge.

A secondary consideration (to me) is "branding". Part of the reasoning for the new uniform was to make Soldiers distinctive, to make them stand out psychologically. This is at odds with combat effectiveness, and puts me in mind of General Vladimir Sukhomlinov 's observation about uniforms.

I guess my biggest frustration is that the Army and DoD certainly have the in-house capability to do competent camo design, but we're so bogged down in petty fiefdoms, ego-cases, and turfwars that we've castrated ourselves. An NCO with an average computer could design an competent camo pattern, anyone with a proper college education (one that includes scientific method) could develop testing, and the students and faculty of recon courses would be excellent participents for the "rank ordering" study of the resulting patterns. Everything would go beautifully until a contractor hints that retirement jobs may come open...

Sorry, the coffee was a little strong this morning