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Camo Wars: An Opportunity to Excel

Friday, July 10th, 2009

What with Congress prompting the Army to adopt a new camouflage pattern specifically for operations in Afghanistan this is the perfect opportunity to procure equipment that is tuned for use in harsh mountainous and high desert regions.

Since it seems that they will likely end up doing something in the camo arena, we certainly hope that the Army will look at this as an opportunity to procure some innovative products and not just buy more standard issue equipment in a new color. In addition to providing the Soldier with equipment that is as appropriate to the environment as the camouflage this would also give the industry a little bit of a kick in the pants since much of the out-of-the-box thinking happens in the smaller companies who are better suited to such smaller procurements.

While the American Warrior is better protected than ever, it has come at a price. Since the beginning of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM the load for the individual Soldier has increased over ten pounds. The Army is already working towards this goal with programs such as the Releasable Plate Carrier but other products can be manufactured from lighterweight fabrics such as 500D Cordura and multi-purpose equipment should also be considered.

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Camo Conundrum

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

After a discussion I had earlier today a thought struck me. Why did Congress tell the Army that UCP was unfit for service in Afghanistan yet give the Air Force a free pass with it’s Digitized tiger Stripe pattern? The colorway remains the same with one exception. The Air Force added Slate Blue to the Army’s three other colors. Sure it darkens the pattern up a bit but both patterns look all but indistinguishable at distances of more than 100 meters. So what gives? Is Air Force DTS good but Army UCP bad? And if so, what is this based on? See for yourself.

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Camo Rumors – Some Observations

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Ever since Congress told the Army that the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) used on the Army Combat Uniform (ACU) wasn’t cutting it in Afghanistan, rumors and just plain old bad info has been swirling about the internet so I thought I’d share a few thoughts on the subject.

Urban Legend 1 -Multicam Uber Alles. Despite internet hype and the military version of an urban legend, Multicam is not replacing UCP in 2011 or 2012. As best I can tell this rumor came about because the Future Force Warrior program was supposed to be fielded in, you guessed it, 2011. It so happens that all of the photos of guys suited up in the FFW garb were swathed in Multicam goodness. For some odd reason, folks couldn’t divorce the concept of FFW from Multicam. Hence the urban legend. Naturally, this new round of Congressionally driven controversy has only fanned the flames of this untruth. Think about it. The Army just spent a gazillion dollars changing everything to UCP. In fact, fielding isn’t even complete. So ask yourself this question. Why would the Army spend a “gazillion” dollars on a new camo pattern and turn right around a field a new one mid-stream? The answer? It wouldn’t. They want to buy FCS not new uniforms.

Urban Legend 2 – UCP is going away completely. It isn’t. The Congressional “suggestion” is only for forces in Afghanistan not the whole shebang.

Urban Legend 3 – The Marine Corps offered MARPAT to the Army and they turned it down. Total Fantasy. Here is a truth. These patterns are about branding. When you see MARPAT, you think “Marine”. When you see UCP you think “Soldier”. MARPAT was developed for the Marine Corps. General Jones, former Commandant of the Marine Corps wanted a uniform that would let his enemies know when Marines were in town. He got one.

Urban Legend 4 – The Army didn’t adopt Multicam because they would have to pay a license for Multicam / it was too expensive. Once again; False. The Army helped pay for the development of Multicam. There is no “license”. Also, the more Multicam printed, the cheaper it gets. The more you buy, the less you pay.

I feel for the Army. What a big poop sandwich. “Hey Army, UCP stinks, issue something else. But use the money we already gave you for OTHER stuff.” You can’t just change out uniforms. You have to replace all of the Soldier’s other kit as well or the contrast will just highlight the guy. So the Army is going to have to compute this huge cost for one theater. That was the point of UCP in the first place. One camo…universal. No more issuing two different patterns to guys…economize.

I feel even worse for the poor action officer at PEO-Soldier who has to develop the decision brief on this one. For example:
COA 1 – Do nothing…Tell Congress “Nuts”, I mean after all, UCP does work in some parts of Afghanistan.
COA 2 – Do Nothing…Beg Congress for cash
COA 3 – Stall…conduct study (Attn PEO-Soldier, I am available for contract to conduct said study)
COA 4 – Issue Woodland or Three-Color Desert
COA 5 – Adopt all new pattern – See pic above

Option 5? That is the fantasy option. Or is it? There are select US forces rocking Multicam all over the place. Oddly enough, so are Snipers. Aside from that, the Army spent a great deal of time and effort developing and testing several patterns any of which could be dusted off including the one in the photo.

However, I am voting for some combo of one or more of the first three with COA 4 as the ultimate outcome. There is already precedence with the Army’s G1 permitting USASOC forces to wear Woodland camo. Plus, there are stock of the older patterns that can be drawn from to get this thing rolling.

Do we love Multicam at Soldier Systems Daily? You’re damned right we do. Will it be adopted for use in Afghanistan? Who knows at this point, but it sure will be interesting watching whatever ultimately happens.

Tags: ACU, UCP
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Congress Cares About Camo

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

It seems someone clued Congress in on the fact that the Universal Camouflage Pattern issued to troops fighting in Afghanistan is far from the ideal. So Congress has told the Army to issue something better. Well, the first word in UCP is after all “Universal” and that makes it a compromise since it has to blend in everywhere. Oddly, Afghanistan is not monochrome and there are a variety of environments to blend in with so ultimately a “Universal” camouflage is what is called for after all. Maybe it just needs to be tuned a bit.

Here is the wording from the Conference Committee Report.
“The conferees understand that soldiers deployed to Afghanistan have serious concerns about the current combat uniform which they indicate provides ineffective camouflage given the environment in Afghanistan. Accordingly, the conferees direct that within funding made available the Department of Defense take immediate action to provide combat uniforms to personnel deployed to Afghanistan with a camouflage pattern that is suited to the environment of Afghanistan.

The conferees further direct the Secretary of the Army to provide a report on the program plans and budgetary adjustments necessary to provide appropriate uniforms to deployed and deploying troops to Afghanistan. The report shall be submitted to the congressional defense committees by the end of fiscal year 2009.”

So Congress wants the Army to reprogram money “immediately” to provide an alternative camo pattern for forces in Afghanistan and report to the Armed Services Committees before the end of the fiscal year on it will be accomplished. Can you imagine how this went over when word reached PEO-Soldier? “The jig is up, they’re on to us”.

Now please remember, that this still isn’t law. The President hasn’t signed it YET but is expected to soon.

So how will this play out? Interesting question, considering when asked just weeks ago at the Soldier Systems APBI about the possibility of alternative camouflage patterns, PEO-Soldier officials gave a curt, “No”. However, it has come to our attention that the 173d Airborne Brigade has been granted approval to wear Multicam during their OEF rotation. So that option seems open…maybe. Alternatively, it is highly unlikely that any new SOCOM patterns will be used by general purpose forces. 3-color desert pattern is still available but was replaced by the “superior” UCP so institutional momentum may veto its use. Desert MARPAT is a possibility, if the Army can wade through the interservice rivalry issues. And finally, what about an entirely new pattern, or old for that matter? Several promising designs were tested by Natick in the 2003-2004 time frame before UCP was adopted virtually out of nowhere.

Ultimately, it is going to be about cost. It isn’t just uniforms. There are a variety of other equipage and accouterments that must also be produced in an alternative pattern. And all of this while the Army is still in the throes of a complete roll out of the UCP pattern. Who will foot the bill? Congress has essentially issued budgetary guidance to the Army to reprogram funds.

Tags: Multicam
Posted in Camo, Clothing, Congress, Foreign, Multicam, PEO-Soldier, Sustainment, weapons | 4 Comments »