Earlier this year, Marine Corps Special Operations Command purchased Fire Resistant Operational Gear uniforms in the old Woodland camouflage pattern under a sole source contract from Crye Precision. Interestingly, the old Woodland pattern was specified so that MARSOC personnel would blend in with their Afghan (ANA Commandos) counterparts.
Unfortunately, MARSOC asked for the uniforms in an older variant of the FR Defender-M fabric. A little over a year ago, the Marine Corps had adopted an improved version of TenCate’s Defender-M fabric for their FROG ensembles that is more abrasion resistant and the US Army followed suit soon after. We’re still unsure why MARSOC didn’t specify the newer Defender-M from jump street but by late summer KitUp! had broken the story that the special versions of FROG were falling apart. Around the same time, a similar fate befell Australian MultiCam uniforms called Operational Combat Uniforms which also relied on the older fabric.
Since then, both MARSOC and the Australians have purchased new uniforms in the latest, more robust 6.5 oz version of Defender-M which boasts twice the tear strength of the previous variant.
Tags: Australia, Crye Precision, TenCate
I’m glad to see MARSOC getting the uniforms right. I couldn’t figure out why they specified a fabric that wasn’t going to hold in the first place. But, none of that matters now. Instead of running with the problem, they went back and made the needed changes. Good for them!
Do we have a link or source for said contract?
Which one? USMC or Australian?
I’m sure it’s a stupid question but why would the manufacturer not recommend the newer fabric to MARSOC after they made their initial request?
Firstly from for a customer services perspective, secondly from a financial one as surely the newer fabric would be more expensive?
I’ve no idea whatsoever how this kind of process works but it is something that immediately came to my mind ever since this story broke.
Both customers specified the older fabric. unsure why. They figured it out once the fabric started to fail. Everyone is on track now.
So does ArmySF have a similar contract with crye precision using the old woodland pattern or ate they just using old m81s?
When they wear woodland it is old-style BDUs. M81 is a collector’s terms and not a US military term.
While Army SF uses primarily custom modified BDUs, from time to time they can be seen wearing woodland camo Crye uniforms. No idea if they are custom ordered or made on contract.
Here is a picture from USASOC’s public flickr account.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/usasoc/5818255502/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/usasoc/5818259126/in/photostream
It’s nice to spend other peoples money isn’t it?
Please elaborate
In any other business the person who placed an order for bad uniforms that were known to be faulty would be fired for wasting money.
I’m sure that if the procurement officer had to spend his personal money instead of taxpayer dollars then the waste wouldn’t have been made.
“MARSOC didn’t specify the newer Defender-M from jump street but by late summer KitUp! had broken the story that the special versions of FROG were falling apart. Around the same time, a similar fate befell Australian MultiCam uniforms called Operational Combat Uniforms which also relied on the older fabric.
Since then, both MARSOC and the Australians have purchased new uniforms in the latest, more robust 6.5 oz version of Defender-M which boasts twice the tear strength of the previous variant.”
You have to remember that the old version of Defender-M was used for uniforms for years and was certified for use. It’s just that the newer material is that much better.
This became an issue when, out of the blue, Crye uniforms started to fall apart, and not just one run. Two separate contracts had the same issues. And, these issues it turns out had a lot in common with Army FR ACU trousers falling apart. Investigation revealed that all of these issues had one common thread. The old Defender-M fabric.
It isn’t that the old Defender-M didn’t do what it was designed to do which is protect from flame threats. It’s just that it didn’t last very long in Afghanistan’s environment. TenCate engineers developed a new version with twice the tear strength and users are seeing fewer problems.
I have personally been trying to get my hands on a few sets of the woodland from Crye in the G3 but its been next to impossible! Hopefully they will make a few extra sets that we can get our hands on. I wish Cye would make the M81 & AOR1 for the public. Some of us working in hostile areas with private contractors needs good stuff too.
AOR is still a controlled pattern and there isn’t much call for Woodland. You also have to remember that the uniforms you purchase commercially from Crye are not made from Defender-M.
If you actually need a Crye combat uniform for work, why wouldnt Multicam work? If your working with contractors and trying to blend in with them, wouldnt multicam work better since only NSW (and to some extent a specific descrete Army SOF unit) have AOR1?
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