Are we scrimping on soldiers' camouflage now?

[DeepModem Mom]

A member of our family shared a home-for-the-holidays flight with a very young soldier -- a beautiful girl, dressed in camouflage. The soldier was overheard explaining to her seatmate that the camouflage she was wearing was a new kind -- a sort of all-terrain print that could be worn in woods, jungle, desert or urban zones. She thought it actually simplified things, but I'm wondering if this is a good idea. How can one print be protective in such varied environments? Are we scrimping in yet another way, at the expense of protecting our troops? Does anybody with a military connection have any knowledge of this?

The seatmate also asked the young woman about a prominently lettered tag on her backpack -- her blood type, she answered.

I wish our troops were truly supported: equipped and protected when they must be called to duty, honored for their service and sacrifice, never sent into harm's way for no good reason.

[LostinVA]

1. That's something newly introduced

It was all over the news a year or two ago.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Was there a "take" on the new camo in the coverage? nt

[rg302200]

5. They are digitized patterns

The ACU's...in my opinion are made very cheaply! Two of my sets ripped within months and they are very thin. The patterns are made just for urban and some rural fighting. My drill Sgt's told me that they are supposed to better protect you in urban fighting because they blend in with buildings better. However they are not desert ACU's!

What is really screwed up is that they don't have a a cold weather coat for these new ACU's so the soldiers must use the old style coat. Which is of course a forest style pattern and renders the entire uniform worthless...again in my opinion! They made the new ACU's without a winter coat. Now the winter coat will be issued sometime in the next two years!

That's the government for you!

[Lost-in-FL]

7. That is so cheesy... desert BDU's and a Green coat.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Thanks for your perspective, rg -- and welcome to DU!

[Lost-in-FL]

3. I think it is a good idea

If you are deploying it is best to carry one kind of uniform instead of having a pair of each (summer, winter, jungle, desert BDU's, etc.) It gets heavy and you are not able to carry other very necessary stuff. As for the blood type... we used to place our full social security number on the bags but because of security the practice is discouraged. My guess is that they are now using the blood type to best track your bag. Makes sense to me.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Lost! nt

[Lost-in-FL]

11. Any time!

:hi:

[Lost-in-FL]

6. It is a computerized pattern... like computer pixels.

"Supposedly" the pattern blends well in different surroundings and again, you don't want to carry different uniforms just because is summer now and in a few months you need to deploy to the dessert and buy new uniforms.

[DeepModem Mom]

10. Interesting!

[Captain Hilts]

12. Someone had the bright idea of navy people on ships wearing blue digital

versions of BDUs. Complete with combat boots.

The experiment lasted a week. I hope someone got fired.

[ddeclue]

9. No they aren't scrimping on camo...

They change the uniforms according to the conflict they find themselves in and camo fashion is just like every other kind of clothing fashion, it is constantly changing.

My personal favorite type of camo is the "tiger stripe" camo that they had in Vietnam but of course that's really only good for jungles.

I've heard the new camo referred to as "digital" but I'm not sure quite why.


Doug D.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

13. It looks digital up close

You can see the individual "pixels" about 1/8 inch square.

[peacebaby3]

14. My hubby really likes the new camo. It's "digital" - whatever the hell

that means! I asked him if that would just make it easier for someone to lock on him to shoot him or blow him up. I thought it was a legitimate question but he just gave me an eat sh*t look so I guess he didn't feel the same. Actually I think it is suppose to camouflage them better. It has something to do with the "digital" thing. He likes them much better because they are lighter (as far as weight) and they are all velcro. No more buttons and no more sewing on all the patches.

I know when he first got his (probably 4 or so months ago) they were really hard to find. A lot of the soldiers were buying them for $300-$400 a set (top and pant) which is just crazy.

Personally, I think they are one of the ugliest things I've ever seen but the military people seem to really like them. I happened to be at this office the day they got them and people were very excited. I guess it doesn't matter what they look like if they do what they are suppose to do.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

15. Interesting.

I'm a reservist, and it seems every other month we get some training on how not to be a terrorist target while traveling. Someone needs to explain to this soldier that traveling in your freaking UNIFORM just might be a giveaway.

[peacebaby3]

16. True. You know it is some kind of photo op if you see soldiers get off a

commercial plane with their uniform on. My husband never wears his uniform under those kinds of circumstances. In fact, he went to Panama twice (before 2000 when we turned the canal over to Panama)and they would have to go off the post to pick someone up for the airport, etc., etc., and they wore civilian clothes and drove "civilian looking" vehicles because US soldiers were targets off post. Of course, those are different circumstances then when he was in Iraq. He had to wear his uniform on duty, but it was before the new sets so it was desert.