–SP–

the mountains in Arizona. Now I can see where it might stick out a bit in a pure sandy desert, so wear tan or carry a tan shemagh. What I DO know is that the detailed guard
units that work with us in there ACU stick out like sore thumbs in ANY enviroment. The exception to this rule is when using NVG equipment. In this case the ACU does blend in better, but heres the irony, who has the NVGs most of the time in modren warfair? US!!!!! So here is what ACU does, It makes you harder to see by frienly forces and easyer to see by the enemy. Does this make any sence to anyone?

I do have some expence with pattren camo in another place. Ok before I say this, please understand this is a hobby. I am an avid airsofter/milsimer. (ok, finish laugin and read on). One thing that this type of gaming is good for is testing uniforms. Think about it guys, we dont have any restrictions on what we wear, we have money to buy whatever tacticool crap we want and get to see ALL types of uniforms right next to each other all the time. I was at a game just this last weekend where we had teams wearing ACU, MARPAT, DMARPART, Multicam, DCU, BDU, Black and OD. Thats not to mention the guys that wear guillies, cadpat, flectarn, that british pattren that i cant rember the name
of and even XCAM which is a digital multicam (Dumb Idea anyone?)

The envirment we play in is both green wooded and tan sage so you get a bit of all colors. I’ve been doing this for 4 years now and Ive noticed a few things.

1. Multicam isn’t
2. ACU is like wearing hunter orange
3. Marpat is not bad but not great (too much brown)
4. DMarpat is just DCU
5. Air Force digital is ACU
6. BDU and DCU are as effective as Marpat and Dmarpat (exception, BDU in green woods is a bit harder to spot)
7. Faded OD green with a bit of natural foliage is as hard to spot as pattren camo.

So what works? Well they all do except ACU. Here is what I recommend. Insted of doing all of this R&D in the latesist and greatist camoflage color, start focusing on physicaly breaking up that silhouette. Change your headgear or attach items that make your head look like a blob insted of, well, a head. When I was tracking aliens (the undocumented kind, not the little green ones) thats what we would look for, the silhouette of the head and sholders. I use a shemagh to great effect. Its light weight, effective and I can carry more than one in diffrent colors and instantly swtich from tan to green and hide anywhere. I drap it over my head, around my neck, over my head and sholders, over my rifle or what ever part happens to be exposed physicaly disrupting my silhouette insted of relying on a pattren that is fixed on parts of my body. Heres the best part, THERE CHEAP. They can be made of any materal, and can easly be modified to use natual foliage. I have one that i sew a net on to and I stick all sorts of sage and grass into it, keep it in my cargo pocket and yank it out and reload it with what is immediatly around me when ever im going be “laying in” and in 60 seconds i got a sniper hide. Now im not saying this is a final soulution but camoflage manufatures and people who decide what uniforms people are wearing need to start thinking outside the box or in this case outside the uniform. Put eveyone in Multican, train them with cheap alternative camoflague devices and call it a day. Thats my two cents.

OK, here goes. First, LOOSE the velcro! Good heavens, whoever thought of that has never been out in the woods.

Second, there is no such thing as a cammo pattern that will work everywhere. It’s just not gonna happen! The pattern should change with the environment. Yeah, I know I’m talking money here, but with all due respect, I’d like to keep my butt in one piece! Gees, even deer and duck hunters have better sense!

As for ammo, give me a .45 pistol and a .30 rifle any time! It actually STOPS the SOB!

Finally, the uniform should fit the job. Since I’m in a Guard environment, I’ve seen exactly what the “Blue Suiter” LTC has referred to. What IS up with wearing a flight suit when you never get in an aircraft?? Or for that matter, wearing cammo when you’re not getting shot at!

Just a thought on that one. Gotta defend a “Blue Suiter” sometimes! :-)

I personally hate the ACU, I have be in an environment that it works well in. Well, except that funky floral pattern couch I was sitting on a few months back. That being said, Murtha is a political hack whose main purpose is to enrich his cronies and political donors.

“Hopefully we will not waste money changing from 5.56 mm ammunition back to 7.62 mm ammunition – change for change’s sake.“
It’s because the 5.56 doesn’t have the stopping power. If you were ever in combat you’d know.

“OK so the Special Forces got their green berets (certainly one of the least practical hats ever invented)“
Berets are French and look best on a poodle. No self respecting fighting man would be caught dead in one. As for functionality, they have no visor, period.

Sure, the Army is looking at an incredible cash shortfall in the immediate future, however the simple and obvious fact is that for the missions actual combat units are engaged in, their ACU equipment is simply not up to the task. The entire ACU program needed to have been scrapped years ago — the nonsense about ‘unpopular’ being the right choice is utterly unfounded. For all the tripe emerging from Natick about how they diligently studied the colors in nature, why is the ACU pattern lacking hues that are actually found IN nature?

A lot of crowing will be made about how logistically challenging such a switch may be, but right now, all the ACU and ABU patterns serve to do is to tip off the Afghans which convoys to hit and which ones to leave alone (MARPAT).

I forsee in the very near future (military-industrially speaking) a very distinct divergence between garrison and field uniforms for all branches. The evolution of body armor technologies with the realities of humping 30+ pounds of PPE gear alone, along with integration of Thermal/NBC/IR threat countering is going to dictate that field uniforms become too specialized for any practical garrison use.
With the introduction of FROG and comparable uniforms, this is already beginning to take place.

A lot of resistance is going to come from the USAF and other rear commands, the perennial ‘I want to look like a frontline warrior from behind a desk’ set that will inevitably have to wear simply different uniforms because they eat, sleep, live, and work thousands of miles from the actual boots on the ground because of the practicalities of garrison life. Correct and novel concepts are always validated by overcoming entrenched resistance.

I worry that the precedent of the big army wanting to look cool will continue to be fed, but in this instance, the basic fact is that they’ve been sent into harms way in an unsat uniform, and that despite the relatively high cost in the near future, a switch from ACU is a necessity. Us Jarheads make fun of that a lot, but it really is sad that our brothers in arms have been failed so utterly by their leadership.