The US Army has issued an update on the pending OCP transition. This message validates what we’ve been saying about the bookend patterns as well as the transition to a Coyote Boot and Tan 499 Belt and T-shirt. The 75th Ranger Regiment is the only unit to be issued the new OCP ACU. Serving Soldiers will be required to purchase the uniforms with their annual clothing allowance. New accessions should see OCP in their clothing bag beginning in FY 2016.
What is it?
After a thorough, fair and scientific camouflage tests, the U.S. Army is adopting the Operational Camouflage Pattern as an Army-wide base pattern for uniforms and personal equipment. The use of Operational Camouflage Pattern will be gradually phased in to minimize the cost to Soldiers and the Army.
What has the Army Done?
Camouflage – In 2009, after Soldier feedback revealed dissatisfaction with the performance of the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) in Afghanistan, Secretary of the Army Peter Geren approved the execution of a four-phase camouflage improvement effort. The first three phases, conducted from September 2009 to January 2010, resulted in the selection of Crye Precision’s MultiCam pattern as the Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern for uniforms and Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment (OCIE) for Afghanistan.
The objective of the last phase (Phase IV) was to determine a long-term multi-environment camouflage strategy for the entire force, so the Army continued working on testing a family of camouflage patterns (arid, transitional, and woodland/jungle patterns with a single matching OCIE pattern) and established the Army’s most rigorous and scientific study of camouflage to date. The Army employed important lessons from a decade of combat experience to ensure the selection process was sound and thorough.
Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan will continue to be fielded with uniforms and OCIE in Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern until inventories are exhausted. In coming months the Army will conduct operational testing and user evaluations of existing Service arid and woodland patterns for possible adoption by the Army.
Phase-in Strategy Reduces the Cost to Soldiers – The financial impact on Soldiers will be minimal. The gradual introduction of the Operational Camouflage Pattern uniforms will allow Soldiers to phase in uniforms as their UCP patterned ACUs and OCIE wear out. The Army will begin introduction of the Operational Camouflage Pattern during the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2015 in Army Clothing and Sales Stores.
Why is this important to the Army?
Camouflage is a centerpiece for Soldier Force Protection. An effective camouflage provides Soldiers concealment which is critical for Soldiers in the close fight with the enemy. The Army will continue to provide the Soldiers with the best possible camouflaged uniforms and equipment.
What other related uniform efforts does the Army have planned?
To correspond with the introduction of the Operational Camouflage Pattern starting in the summer of 2015, the Army will change the color for the Army Combat Boot to a coyote brown color, and change the color of the belts and t-shirts to a tan 499 color.
This article was originally featured on the November 19th, 2014 edition of ‘Stand-To! The Official Focus of the US Army’.
