Our good friend at Soldier Systems has excellent sourcing in the tactical equipment industry and has been following the development of Army camo patterns very closely.
He offered up this piece from his Soldier Systems blog and I invite you to read more of his comprehensive coverage of the simmering camo pattern debate HERE.
In light of an impending directive from Congress to the Army to get their camo house in order, rumors continue to circulate about an upcoming test involving four camo patterns with the Army’s current Universal Camouflage pattern serving as a control.
The four patterns are MARPAT-Woodland, MARPAT-Desert, Multicam, and Desert All Over Brush (seen below). Originally, we had heard that the fourth pattern would be the 3-color Desert pattern issued to all services prior to adoption of their new distinctive uniforms. However, based on some recent, unverified information we believe it is actually the Desert All Over Brush which interestingly gave a very good showing during the Army camo trials of 2003–2004. According to a Natick report, a modified variant of the Desert version All Over Bush pattern performed best in all environments. You can also access a briefing presented on the subject at the 2004 International Soldier Systems Conference here.
Based on a series of evaluations documented in the report and briefing slides Natick developed the variant of All Over Brush pattern.
Having said all of that, the info on that particular pattern is old news. At some point in the Spring of 2004, the Army took a serious sidestep from all of its research and adopted UCP. If the rumors are true, looking at what is on the table, neither Marine patterns would really be considered serious candidates due to a variety of morale, and as we have discussed before, branding issues. You think the black beret issue was rough, imagine the outcry from two services if the Army adopted a Marine camo pattern. Consequently, while effective, we don’t consider the MARPAT variants as serious contenders. This leaves, depending on who is telling the story, either 3-color Desert which is still used by some US Navy forces (and a few others) or the prototype Desert All Over brush pattern in addition to Crye’s Multicam. While there are limited stocks of 3-color equipment still in the system, virtually none of it is in the configuration currently used by US forces. If it were adopted, the US Soldier would literally take a five year step back in capability until production of current issue equipment could be accomplished. Additionally, there is a political dimension to such a move. UCP was sold as a superior pattern to both Woodland and 3-Color Desert. Someone would naturally ask the question of why the Army discarded a pattern in favor of something less effective.
This leaves Desert All Over Brush and Multicam. Multicam has been used operationally by select US forces to great success and even more importantly, is currently supported by the US industrial base. A wide variety of Berry Compliant products (and raw materials) are available as COTS items. Additionally, industry already offers versions of current issue equipment in Multicam. Furthermore, there are numerous lightweight and multi-purpose Soldier Systems items designed specifically for environments like Afghanistan. Multicam is a mature, widely available, low hanging fruit. On the other hand, adoption of Desert All Over Brush would require long lead times as fabric mills first perfect and then produce sufficient quantities of materials. Only then could uniforms and equipment for our Soldiers begin to be procured.
We are waiting with bated breath to see if these rumors are true and what’s more, if they are, what will come of them.
– Soldier Systems
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
“This leaves Desert All Over Brush and Multicam”
Eh…what about AOR 1 and AOR 2?
Those are the obvious solutions to this problem.
*****
PS Haven’t you guys figured out a way to block the chinese spammers YET?!?
I wonder what the chinese characters in the first post say….”Kill the White devils!”
psss. army is testing ALWAYS their camo and gear. and i mean ALWAYS!
so were testing multicam without calling it multicam?
22 years ago I always wore my most faded, mud dirt & starch stained BDUs in the field. Saying that to say that the camo pattern in the middle picture resembles those old field BDUs. I always thought they offered better overall concealment than a new set of wood line patterns anyway. Not to mention the beer and cigerette money saved by wearing the old stuff out in the woods.
I still wear that old stuff out when hunting.
Go back to Woodland BDU’s and you won’t have any issues…..
I remember back in the 90′s there was an ASAT pattern that seemed to work very well in all types of terrain. What happened to that?
So what the hell? They’ve wasted tons of money on the ACUs only to realize now they made a mistake? I like the multicam and was going to pick up a set myself. The desert all over brush doesn’t look too bad in that picture either.
While the Army is at it, why don’t they issue tan berets to the whole force, thus screwing the Rangers over again.
The best camo is no pattern, just a light color to match the terrain’s predominant shade. The problem with camo “patterns” is that while they break up your outline when you’re perfectly still, they amplify movement when you’re not.
Why dont day jus use every pattern,every pattern is not going to go with every terrian,why not just use all of them,the army is always testing there camos anyway,i dont really think it matters just use all of um
Why dont day jus use every pattern,every pattern is not going to go with every terrian,why not just use all of them,the army is always testing there camos anyway,i dont really think it matters just use all of um
“The best camo is no pattern, just a light color to match the terrain’s predominant shade.”
-Posted by: bdwilcox at August 6, 2009 08:44 AM
No. It has been conclusivly proven that sold color uniforms are the easiest to spot.
“The problem with camo “patterns” is that while they break up your outline when you’re perfectly still, they amplify movement when you’re not.”
-Posted by: bdwilcox at August 6, 2009 08:44 AM
That was a complaint directed at the US WW2 “Frog” or “Deer Humter” cammo, and was because of the light Tan background color, not the cammo pattern itself.
I figured this out long time ago when I was in the Army. Either a khaki and/or an olive drab uniform is all you need. The terrain and breaking up your pattern takes care of the rest.
The Israelis figured it out and refuse to spend any money on it. Those chef hats were a brilliant idea. Why does the DOD have to spend billions on something when in reality there are some simple basic truths they refuse to acknowledge.
The WWII Army history series said that a camo pattern was defeated if the person moved. That’s why you didn’t see much camo in WWII. Is a camo pattern today that much of a “force multiplier” to warrent the money. I will trade in changes for my uniform for more RPV’s. For OPSEC reasons I would prefer one uniform for all of DOD.
with un-limited funds the army will have a camo pattern for every background available, the problem will be carrying the extra uniforms and changing them when you move. and maybe you want to be seen so the people can see how many you are and come and get candy from you..while you “win them over”.
“No. It has been conclusivly proven that sold color uniforms are the easiest to spot.”
-OK, I’ll bite. Where’s the proof?
As an individual that crossed from the Army to the Air Force. I have worn four different uniforms in my career. BDU’s, Fatigues, DCU’s, and now the ABU. I think that all the services should have the same uniform for many reasons. Honestly when the Marines developed MARPAT and all the advances that came with it instead of the other services wasting money and time to develop their own the services should have come together and all adopted it. When they didn’t do that the Sec Def should have stepped in and treated the service chiefs like the three stooges! One uniform for our military makes sense on several levels the biggest ones are money and procurement issues. That is the reason we went to the BDU! To save money and with one standard pattern it makes it easier for everyone to get equipment to match. We have had the ABU for over two years and we still can’t get all the equipment/covers and optional equipment to match! Stop getting your feelings hurt because you would look like one of the other services. The MARPAT is awesome and providing each person with a couple of each color and wearing them based on area or time of the year makes sense that way they maintain both equally. During the testing they tried to come up with one pattern/color for every environment but it just couldn
The tests show solid OD or Khaki is the hardest to spot.
Personal experiance shows that whether OD or Khaki after a couple of days in the field your uniform will naturally start to aquire the colors of the terrain your are “crawling” around on. All camoflage uniforms are more about Morale and self esteem than actually hiding from sight.
I was in an Army Air Defense BN at Bitburg AB, the local wing nuts from the base SP and CE squadrons would sometimes play agressor durring tac-evals and there was one fellow named Jimmy who bought a new set of BDUs and then dyed them navy blue.
You could still see the pattern and the effect was very effective in low light. His debut with this outfit was as a “decoy” wearing MILES gear and carrying nothing but a “woodsman’s pal” Sort of a machetie with a big tooth on the end.
He arrived at the fron gate of a Patriot batery, just walking out of the woods, stopping about 25 feet short when challenged and told the sentry that he was “here to help people meet Jesus”
As a decoy it didn’t work well as you could see the MILES gear so she just shot him. But for about 15 seconds everyone at that post thought Jason’s retarded little brother had walked out of the woods….
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This movement question is a red herring. The human visual system is optimized to notice movement. Once you start moving around, all bets are off.
But people looking for “perfect” camouflage are also missing the point. The closest to perfect camouflage is to wear a gilly suit (spelling?) and stick a bunch of native foliage in. Short of that, you’re not gonna be invisible (or even close to it), just less noticable.
Ghillie suit
i’m in the stan right now and acu’s all around suck! they dont blend in to anything unless you dye with tea bags or something else multi-cam is the way to go it works great out here or just plain old bdu’s and a solid color gear like green or tan is great you don’t need to match the uniform at all please somebody help the army, they dont listen to the INF.
Galloglas, you wouldn’t happen to be called Jim Shortt would you? Because if you are, WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT CAM as you have never served and are a fraud! If not, apologies.
Looking at multicam it’s agood system and i’d be more than happy to wear it, apparently some of “Them” in the British Army are trialling it so it must be fit for purpose!
I think the ACU is an all around great camo. I don't think that it was a waste of money at all. Its way more efficent than the BDU.