Post by goomba on Aug 29, 2009 14:39:25 GMT -5
New camo for Afghanistan?
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Aug 20, 2009 6:46:56 EDT
Posted : Thursday Aug 20, 2009 6:46:56 EDT
The Army is eyeing MultiCam, a camouflage pattern preferred by special operations forces, to replace the pixelated pattern on the combat uniforms soldiers wear in Afghanistan.
The hunt for a new camo design follows a growing groundswell of rank-and-file criticism that the current pattern on the Army Combat Uniform is ineffective in the rugged Afghan terrain — and elsewhere.
“The general consensus on the ACU pattern among many, many soldiers is that it is ineffective in breaking up a soldier’s outline in just about every environment except in urban areas and the local gravel pit,” Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 mark Ulsh wrote to Army Times. “As an aviator, I can tell you that from the air most other nations’ camouflage masks a soldier better than the ACU does.”
Similar complaints made their way to an influential member of Congress, who gave senior Army leaders a Sept. 30 deadline to present a plan that includes the budgetary and logistical details for outfitting roughly 40,000 soldiers serving in Afghanistan with a new camouflage pattern.
The directive to find an alternative to the Universal Camouflage Pattern comes just five years after it was introduced as the one-and-only camo design. It replaced both the Desert Camouflage Uniform and the woodland-patterned Battle Dress Uniform. Though the move to streamline soldiers’ clothing bags was generally applauded, many complained the result was a pattern that was not particularly effective in either desert or woodland surroundings.
Complaints about its ineffectiveness have grown as the Army has increased the number of soldiers deployed to Afghanistan.
