The US Military's $5 Billion digital camo project may soon end

5 BILLION dollars spent on a design no soldiers actually like or find effective in the field.

But they are cutting social programs here at home...

pathetic...

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


Actually thinking for ourselves isn't the problem. We do plenty of that. Before UCP was put in place there were plenty of soldiers telling the higher ups that the pattern was worthless. The problem was with higher ups. Once they decide they're going to saddle us with this crap there's not much we can do except complain until it gets changed.

Here is a question for CavTrooper or ProjectVxn or anyone else...

Wasn't/is the whole idea behind the ACU pattern that the pixels did something to thermal imagers and night vision? It has more to do with sensor camo than visual? Seems like that was the reason back in 04 that was posted so often. Also the fact of having 1 standard color, compared to when you had BDU woodland and then a second set for desert. Back in the 90's when I was in ROTC we would go out as OPFOR for the local guard unit, and I thought woodland worked fine in just about all environments short of strait sandy desert.

I went to play paint ball with a buddy of mine, and the two most promenint cammo's out there were multicam and ACU (along with all sorts of others). I thought multcam was probably the best, and wondered why it just wasn't pixelated for the above mentioned digital effect.

ACU seems to be pretty good in an urban setting, and ok in the desert, but seems to stick out everywhere else.

I think part of the problem is when the services went from all BDU to everybody had their own thing. Even the Navy and Air Force have their own (very weird looking) digital camo schemes now.

You said you were getting new uniforms in OCT, is that multi cam or something else????

It was determined after years of painstaking study and billions of dollars that monocromatic olive drab, (ala WWII and Korea) is the most effective methodology of concealment. Just kidding, but would you doubt this if it were true?

Originally posted by WilburMercer
It was determined after years of painstaking study and billions of dollars that monocromatic olive drab, (ala WWII and Korea) is the most effective methodology of concealment. Just kidding, but would you doubt this if it were true?

By the time you roll around your environment, have sweat and dirt stains and dust all over you....the above probably is true. The Rangers used plain OD jungle fatigues for several years after BDUs were available. The IDF still wears it. It's probably fine as a standard all round uniform.

What a waste of money, and I even got the ACU's uglier version in tigerstripe. The color scheme is absolutely worthless, the material is heavier, at least for the ABU. I do believe they are on to something with UCP though. There is another one that is kind of promising online called ATACS.

reply to post by clayb2004


UCP is the ACU.

It's just another name for it. ABUs are useless as camo as well. About the only people who got decent camo out of the base digital pattern were the Navy and Marines. Everyone else got the shaft.

reply to post by cavtrooper7


YEah that pissed off a lot of folks a few years ago. I have no idea what the army was thinking giving every soldier regardless of what they do a beret. I still have a friend who is pissed about that because he got out right before they made the big decision and now his beret is the same color as the regular army folk and not that of the Rangers which he was. He could always get a new one but it's still the about the principle of the matter.

reply to post by cavtrooper7


YEah that pissed off a lot of folks a few years ago. I have no idea what the army was thinking giving every soldier regardless of what they do a beret. I still have a friend who is pissed about that because he got out right before they made the big decision and now his beret is the same color as the regular army folk and not that of the Rangers which he was. He could always get a new one but it's still the about the principle of the matter.

reply to post by projectvxn


Your right, I forgot they were calling multi-cam OCP I think when I was at Bagram.

The beret should be limited to Rangers (black) and Airborne (maroon).

From the first time I saw a picture of the ACU I knew it was going to be a useless camouflage pattern outside of deserts and urban environments.

Dident the Army also switch to a combination dress & service uniform as well? That was a good idea, one all purpose combat uniform was a bad idea. Different environments call for different patterns.

reply to post by ChrisF231


Yes...service blues I think... essentially the army dress blues are being worn as Class A green. They also retired the army dress whites (which I think were only worn in Hawaii and other tropical stations like the Phillipines (when we had bases there).