Photos: PEO Soldier – Commentary: Doctrine Man
We reserve the right to refuse advertising to anyone
Entries (RSS)
and Comments (RSS).
Soldier Systems Daily is in no way affiliated with the US Government.
Copyright © Soldier Systems Daily 2008-2021. All Rights Reserved.
This one I will definitely agree with. Though I like the tan desert boots because of all the options available.
OUCH…sing it loud!
…and our Special Forces here (Chile) are starting to uses it!
(un)fortunatelly, Chilean Marines switched to Multicam.
Saw the IPFU version of this on KitUp! this weekend, equally as accurate… Funny thing is these all have to do with the CUT not the pattern, so they “cammo improvement” process won’t make this any better!
Some of that stuff has been fixed (by the Army or enterprising individuals). Some of it I’d rather have than not.
And yeah, I still remember rolling onto Camp Victory for some refreshing Green Bean on a hot August day, changing from ACH to Boonie (with slightly shortened brim) and having some POG(ue) in starched DCUs and a blocked PC tell me that “Most people here don’t wear those boonie caps on this FOB. You should think about finding your PC.” Um yeah. Nope. Wanna see my ballcap?
Having served for many years in the black boot Army (and the attendant time wasted in spit & starch environments), I’m a HUUUGE fan of the tan boot. However there are folks out there who have taken on the belief that it is a ZERO maintenance piece of clothing, and give me the Lassie Look when I suggest they get heir hands on the maintenance kits available at Clothing Sales for cleaning them up.
I still wear the greasy, dingy faded nametapes I got in ’05–the first set that Airborne Zone One in Fayetteville ever made.
i never understood this particular shade of camo. what exactly is it supposed to hide our soldiers from… Pumpkinhead…? Lon Chaney…?
Its strange, some people still defend UCP and PEO’s decision to make this the Army camoflauge.
Then they implement some very odd features to the ACU.
I have nothing good to say about UCP.
Far as the ACU, I like more about them than I dislike. Chest pocket layout is from the Interceptor, which opened in the center. Since the arrival of the Combat Shirt (and subsequent ALARACT allowing wear in “tactical” environments in CONUS), less need to change that for IOTVs and PCs. I actually LIKE the fact that you reach ACROSS, rather than UP, but stuff still stays in your pockets.
If we ever fight an enemy with air assets, we’ll be putting up netting, and we’ll be happy to have replaced the wrist buttons with velcro (am I the only guy left who hung netting 3 times in the same day while moving with the fight?) Rolling sleeves? Meh. REALLY uncomfortable (especially if I’ve been staying honest in the gym), and I don’t miss standing in the snow with my sleeves up because someone’s CALENDAR says that’s the uniform.
The pocket layout–to include the velcro thingies–were coolguy uniform features. LOTS of folks in permissive commands were having these features added at local sew shops. I added long strips of velcro to the thigh cargo pocket and flap and I can carry a 200x SAW drum in one cargo pocket and a full MRE in the other. Woulda been nice if they came that way, but waay more freedom of movement than the BDU it replaced. Not sure if crotch blowouts were a design flaw or a manufacturing flaw.
Well, there’s good and bad.
The bad – the camo pattern sucks ass, velcro isn’t very durable, and I really don’t think I’m ever going to change my name (so why put the nametape on velcro?)
But on the good side, they went back to decent-sized cargo pockets the way BDUs used to be before the REMFs took control and decided everyone needed to look starched and pretty in a supposed combat uniform. No shine boots and no iron uniform was a long-overdue change – I just hope that the Army can keep the focus as the big wars wind down – and they don’t go back to letting the REMFs dictate that pretty is more important than combat functionality.
Oh well – at least I’m retired now, and won’t have to stress about it.
Velcro on pockets lasts 4-5 minutes in Ranger School after low crawling in the mud, and they’ll never stay closed again. The camo pattern looks cook whites at night, too many bad things with this uniform, oh well the army never admits when it’s wrong.