All about Camouflage & BCU (inc cartoons)

[Tom Odom]

They tested the ACU at JRTC and I share my office with the Natick rep. I did give him a ration of ####e including:

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."

[Fuchs]

Black is indeed quite rare in nature, but that's not the problem.

It's indeed helpful to create contrast, but it simply fits into very few environments and a large share of darkness in patterns stands out even at long range if the background is light.

One key problem with dark/black camouflage (even if only partial) is that it's relatively easy to see in low light vision because it doesn't reflect the low light as other surfaces.


Overall, there are good reasons for and against black, and two cases when it's right and when not:

* Black is right if soldiers can best (only) really hide themselves in shadows.
This is true in very closed terrain where short range (up to 100m) camouflage is important and long-range camouflage less important. This has also an impact on the size of the pattern.

* Black is completely wrong in, well, the opposite case. Long lines of sight, long range combat, camouflage possible even outside of shadows.
Black is also wrong if the vegetation allows for effective hiding on open terrain, like on high grass.

I wouldn't just change the pattern to improve camouflage anyway; we need to go to 3D camouflaging.
Examples:
"Camouflage system"
http://www.pri.uk.com/html/clothingthumbs.html#systems2
and this
http://soldiersystems.net/2009/06/11/boonie/

It could even look orderly in garrison - and be sliced up along marked lines for deployment (and field training).

I would use such camo on arms, shoulders and chest.

[Van]

Let's not scamper toward irrelevancies (any more than usual). Black in a camo pattern and solid black are completely different beasts. Solid black is dramatic and easy to make uniform, but is much worse than a solid khaki as a field uniform.

The important issue is not whether or not their are black animals in nature, but how black or other dark speckling effects the quality of a camo pattern. Camo is about deception and illusion. Easy but poorly thought out positions about 'black in nature' are secondary to the need to deceive the observer's eye and create the illusion that the uniform is consistent with the back ground.

It seems to me that there are so many camo patterns in the world, we could do brute force, competitive testing of all of them, and, if needed, make minor adjustments to the winner to circumvent copyright/patent/trademark problems. Compare Multicam (tm) to WW II German infantry patterns, or the current German Flecktarn.

[wm]

Take a peek at this paper

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:

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.

[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

[SWCAdmin]

In the zero sum game of the defense budget, I would rather see new [almost anything] than new ACUs. They were an irrational compromise as noted earlier herein, carry on.

If we scatter enough spinach dip around the theater, they Army will blend right in. Bigger challenge with the Air Force pattern.

[Ken White]

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.

[goesh]

- with the combat load most are humping these days, what the hell does it matter? they stand out like a rhino on a sheet of bare ice - how about some old timey herring bone OD and after a few days in the environment they blend in as best can be

[Rex Brynen]

- with the combat load most are humping these days, what the hell does it matter? they stand out like a rhino on a sheet of bare ice

For those of you trying to visualize this, courtesy of World of Warcraft:



Damned if I can see him.

[reed11b]

Rex..you should really put your inner nerd on time-out.
For the why does it matter argument, Infantry does not just assault. We are also key info finders. In order for infantry to do this well, he has to be able to blend in, the base uniform matters. Ghillie suits are great for there intended role, but there intended role does not cover all situations were infantry need to blend in. Ghillie suits snag and can leave a traceble trail when worn on movement. They also reduce movement.

[Dayuhan]

Black in a camo pattern and solid black are completely different beasts...

The important issue is not whether or not their are black animals in nature, but how black or other dark speckling effects the quality of a camo pattern.

Here's one that uses black... 5 million years in development and known to be effective...



And another...