All about Camouflage & BCU (inc cartoons)

[SWJ Blog]

Army Camouflage Pattern Update

Entry Excerpt:

As a follow-up to our SWJ post, Army, Marine Corps clashing over cammies..., CNN's Jennifer Rizzo reports Army sets out to buy three new camouflage patterns. BLUF: "This time around, the Army is looking for a family of camouflage patterns that can be used across the globe - one for the desert, another for a wilderness/jungle environment, and a third transitional variant for 'places in the middle'..."



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[AdamG]

I'm surprised we didn't have a thread on this already -

After eight years and a reported $5 billion in development, the U.S. Army is ditching its pixelated-looking uniform in favor of something that doesn't look like it was borrowed from the "Contra" Nintendo game. The design, known as the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP), has failed at doing what camo should do: Hide our soldiers.

http://now.msn.com/now/0625-new-army...8-3956b2b34001

NATICK, Mass. — The Army is changing clothes.

Over the next year, America’s largest fighting force is swapping its camouflage pattern. The move is a quiet admission that the last uniform — a pixelated design that debuted in 2004 at a cost of $5 billion — was a colossal mistake.

Soldiers have roundly criticized the gray-green uniform for standing out almost everywhere it’s been worn. Industry insiders have called the financial mess surrounding the pattern a “fiasco.”

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/06...ge-fiasco-1-5/

Golly. I suppose using $10 of brown leather dye would be a rice bowl breaker.

[slapout9]

It's about damn time! Army men are supposed to be green!

[ganulv]

I'm surprised we didn't have a thread on this already -

It’s here. The whole concept of a works–anywhere camouflage pattern seems pie–in–the–sky to me, but at least MultiCam looks sharp.

[Fuchs]

I guessed those uniforms were among the stuff that would be spray-painted or dyed on day 1 of a war. (All Western armies have such high-visibility things that require urgent modification once the #### hits the fan.)

Then I saw people with this "camo" pattern on photos from war zones...

[socal1200r]

The idea of having one battle uniform that works in all operational environments is a losing proposition from the get go. Personally, I didn't see anything wrong with having BDUs/black boots and DCUs/tan boots for the USAF. But that was before the USMC and USA came out with their new-fangled pixelated uniforms, so the USAF just had to have something new too. At least the USMC still kept separate BDU and DCU styles, not a single style like the Army and AF did. If common sense ever makes it way to the Pentagon, it'll be the 8th wonder of the world...

[Fuchs]

The idea of having one battle uniform that works in all operational environments is a losing proposition from the get go.

Actually, I think it's probably a very, very sensible idea as long as you have one version for hot weather and one for cold weather or can add some insulation to one standard piece.


It's in my opinion a terrible misconception (not in everyone's mind, but still too widespread) to expect camouflage patterns to camouflage men in plain sight. Camouflage works best (if not only) in combination with shadows, partial concealment and good distance.
Little to no movement, distractions/deception, poor light in general and breaking up silhouettes is of great importance, too.

In the end it's very advisable to view camo clothes only as the clothes you wear under your actual, situation-specific camo (snow coverall, foliage, ghillie to simple cloth straps) and you should only expect a good hiding effect if you conceal much of your body, don't move significantly and don't expose yourself much to light.

Grey, medium brown, olive-drab and many other really basic camouflage colours are probably satisfactory in my opinion. Camo patterns only deceive troops to think they need no additional camouflage.

As so often, my conclusions are not exactly mainstream. I can still add to this, of course:

Camouflage pattern BDUs should probably be available to non-combat troops only.

Reasoning: Combat troops should be aware of their insufficient camo and do something about it with an additional camo layer to get a much better effect than any 2D camo pattern can achieve, while support troops usually expect no combat and don't use additional camo all the time anyway.

[Kiwigrunt]

Left-over stockpiles of these uniforms could be sold on the civilian market as High-vis safety garments for hunters.

[ganulv]

Left-over stockpiles of these uniforms could be sold on the civilian market as High-vis safety garments for hunters.

why don’t cha!

[AdamG]

It’s here.

Hmm, from early last year. Guess that's why I didn't get a search hit.

The whole concept of a works–anywhere camouflage pattern seems pie–in–the–sky to me, but at least MultiCam looks sharp.

So with all those pale grey-green uniforms (and associated gear) in stock, do we want the Army to have another schiesse-hemorrhage of cash for new stuff or are is the old stuff economically salvageable?

[ganulv]

So with all those pale grey-green uniforms (and associated gear) in stock, do we want the Army to have another schiesse-hemorrhage of cash for new stuff or are is the old stuff economically salvageable?

what does that make the F-22? I don’t know, I’m sure the ANA will take as many ACUs as are offered them. Gotta run through the stockpiled BDUs and DCUs first, though, I guess.

[AdamG]

what does that make the F-22? I don’t know, I’m sure the ANA will take as many ACUs as are offered them. Gotta run through the stockpiled BDUs and DCUs first, though, I guess.

Pretty sure both BDUs and DCUs got flushed out of the system through DRMO. Had a real hard time getting 'chocolate chips' for our Iraqis a few years back, too.

Dye the UCPs to some usable color.

Oh wait, that'd make sense. Sorry.

nb : an Army scheisse-hemorrhage of cash could never equal an Air Force scheisse-hemorrhage, you know that.