Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Military News: The Army Selects MultiCam As The New Camouflage For Afghanistan
Finally. This is a good move, because their current camouflage sucks. I am sure the troops will be pleased as well. –Matt
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IMMEDIATE RELEASE-DOD
No. 125-10
February 19, 2010
Army Selects New Camouflage for Afghanistan
The secretary of the Army announced today that the Army will provide combat uniforms in the MultiCam pattern to all soldiers deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, starting this summer.
This decision follows a rigorous four-month evaluation and reflects the Army’s commitment to giving soldiers in Afghanistan the most effective concealment possible.
Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan this summer will receive fire resistant Army combat uniforms in MultiCam, along with associated equipment including body armor, rucksacks, and helmet covers.
The Army’s selection of MultiCam for soldiers in Afghanistan culminates phase III of a four-phase plan to thoroughly and deliberately evaluate camouflage alternatives.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Military News: British Troops To Get First New Camouflage In 40 Years
Congrats to the British for picking an outstanding camouflage. Kudos to Crye Precision for making such an excellent camouflage too. I am not sure what the reaction is of the troops, but I am sure they will welcome the new threads. I know multicam has been getting a lot of positive reviews from some of the special forces crews and such operating in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Army is still using a uniform that stands out like a sore thumb. What is that stuff called, UCP? I think they will be getting a change of uniform soon from what I hear…..I hope. –Matt
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The new stuff is on the left.
British troops to get first new camouflage in 40 years
12/20/2009
London, England (CNN) — British troops will get new camouflage uniforms for the first time in more than 40 years, based on computer modeling of Afghanistan’s terrain, the Ministry of Defence announced Sunday.
The “multi-terrain pattern,” as the military has dubbed the new design, is the first new pattern from the Ministry of Defence since 1968, it said.
It is specifically designed with Afghanistan’s Helmand province in mind, the ministry said in a statement. The British military have suffered heavy losses in the southern province this year. More than 100 British troops have died in Afghanistan in 2009, making it the deadliest for UK troops in many years.
The new design was put together in six months, funded as an “urgent operational requirement” project worth £250,000 ($400,000).
Friday, September 18, 2009
Military News: Natick Camo Study and a Review By Soldier Systems Blog
Interesting news and we will see how this goes. I have personally thought that UCP was a terrible pattern for the areas of operation we are in right now. It works great for sage brush country though, and I highly recommend it for coyote hunting here in Boise, Idaho. It is also great for hiding on sofas. lol But for Iraq or Afghanistan, I just don’t see it.
Overall, my favorite pattern is the Desert MARPAT uniform for desert stuff. It looks like that is one of the top uniforms according to the Natick study as well. I own a combat jacket that is Desert MARPAT and it is great for work. Although I would probably suggest getting a jacket with the quick dry shirts built in the main body of the shirt. Those work great for body armor, and it looks like there are some fire resistant models coming out that will make that uniform even more sensible. (check out the Propper story below this one at the SS blog)
If I was to match a pattern to our AO’s, I would say Desert MARPAT for Iraq and maybe Multicam for Afghanistan. But having one pattern for the troops, for all environments we fight in is just stupid. Bravo to the Marines for at least recognizing the need for regional camo patterns for their troops and that is taking care of your people.
One thing I would be interested in, is if Natick studies patterns that have been washed out over time? Soldiers and Marines wear their uniforms for awhile out there, and the color contrasts change and get lighter on the uniforms. Combat and field use tends to do that to a uniform. So a study on what uniform works best when aged would be very cool. I know UCP gets really light blue looking when it gets old.
I highly suggest putting Soldier Systems blog on your RSS reader, or whatever you use to track blogs and websites. They are definitely equipment mavens and thanks to Matt for giving me the heads up. –Matt
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From Soldier Systems Blog
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or failing to read Soldier Systems Daily, you know that in response to Congressional calls for a new camo pattern for operations in Afghanistan, the Army announced that they would test two patterns in October. The Army Times obtained a Natick test report for a camouflage study conducted from 2007 – 2009 of 18 different patterns. This report has now been released by the Army to the press and Soldier Systems Daily has extracted some of the major points from this test report. This is the first in a series of reports that attempt to make some sense of the report and cut through much of the conjecture and hyperbole found on the internet.
Check out the blog and story here.