Finally! To little fanfare, the US Army has just released an official statement attributed to an anonymous Senior Army Spokesperson (yes, I’m not kidding, no one put their name on this) that they’ve adopted the Scorpion W2 camouflage pattern for use as the Operational Camouflage Pattern. This means that Scorpion W2 will supplant the MultiCam pattern which was adopted as OCP into 2010. In addition, it will also replace the Universal Camouflage Pattern adopted in 2004 as the primary Camo pattern. The printers are rolling Scorpion off the line like so many $100 bills at the US Treasury.
There are no new details in the statement that have not already been disclosed by Soldier Systems Daily. The timing for sale of the items in the new pattern in Summer 2015 is in line with the May 2015 goal stated to industry last month.
Despite this announcement, which occurred after duty hours on a Thursday evening, the Army has still not released any photographs of the Scorpion W2 variant which was modified from the baseline Scorpion circa 2010. So far, everything you see online that is labeled Scorpion is not the W2 variant adopted by the Army. As both the commercial MultiCam and Scorpion W2 are variants of the original Scorpion they all have very similar shapes and colorations but are distinguishable when laid out side-by-side. In fact, both the Scorpion and MultiCam patterns were developed by Crye Associates while the Scorpion W2 modification of the pattern was conducted at the US Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center in Massachusetts. See our article soldiersystems.net/2014/05/23/little-scorpion-camo-history for additional background.
ARLINGTON, Va. (July 31, 2014) — The Army has selected a pattern as its base combat uniform camouflage pattern. The Army has confirmed through testing that the pattern would offer exceptional concealment, which directly enhances force protection and survivability for Soldiers.
The Army is naming the pattern the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) to emphasize that the pattern’s use extends beyond Afghanistan to all Combatant Commands. The Army’s adoption of OCP will be fiscally responsible by transitioning over time and simply replacing current uniforms and equipment as they wear out.
The Army anticipates the Army Combat Uniform with the OCP will be available for purchase by Soldiers at Military Clothing Sales Stores (MCSS) in the summer of 2015.
For the most comprehensive coverage on the path forward for the adoption of Scorpion W2 as the Operational Camouflage Pattern, read our story soldiersystems.net/2014/06/30/latest-info-us-army-transition-scorpion-camouflage-including-accessory-colors-schedules
This article was updated to add details on the history of the a Scorpion camouflage pattern.
