From: J. Wiehe (j.wiehe@sympatico.ca)
Date: Tue Aug 16 2005 - 07:50:23 PDT
Steve,
Here is a link to an article on the CADPAT / MARPAT uinforms.
http://www.hyperstealth.com/CADPAT-MARPAT.htm
Jim Wiehe
j.wiehe@sympatico.ca
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Grammont" <islander@midmaine.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2005 11:28 PM
Subject: Re: [MV] The New Army Combat Uniform after one day of wearing it
>
> On Aug 15, 2005, at 9:17 PM, Ryan Gill wrote:
>
> > The write-ups I've heard have been mostly of disdain for the new
> > features that many European armies have seen for some time (Rank tab
> > on the front).
>
> Change is rarely ever met without a fair amount of grumbling :-) As a
> uniform collector I have a lot of different styles on hand to compare
> to. The Europeans have been ahead of us for the last few years,
> thought the 1980s BDU style remains the most widely copied uniform
> design in the world. The Marines MARPAT uniform was a huge leap
> forward in functional improvements, even over recently issued European
> uniforms and the fairly recent Canadian CADPAT uniform. The Army's
> ACUPAT uniform is a big leap forward from a construction and design
> standpoint for the Army, but also an improvement over other designs
> currently fielded around the world. And MAJ Scherrer agrees (thanks
> for the review!). The problem is the choice of camouflage.
>
> For about a year the Army trialed many patterns at home and in the
> field. No digital patterns were included, though the design of the
> uniform was tweaked during this long process (SPECOPS custom made
> uniforms served as the base model). After all this time, and money, at
> the last minute they introduced ACUPAT. From what I can tell it was
> rammed through for political reasons (want to look modern!) because
> there certainly was no field trials of any sort like the other
> patterns. And it was rushed into production so quickly that they have
> since changed the colors, even though the uniforms have still only
> reached a fraction of the active duty soldiers (most of whom are buying
> the commercial sets due to lack of official supply). If they had
> trialed it instead of swapping it in at the last minute the colors
> would have been tweaked before introduction (that is the point of
> trails after all!)
>
> It is a compromise pattern in order to not issue two distinctly
> different uniforms, which was the original plan (they even toyed with 3
> styles). That means it is pretty much semi-effective/ineffective in
> all forms of terrain instead of very effective in some and not
> effective in others. When looking at pictures of our troops in Iraq it
> is clear the now phasing out 3 Color Desert DCU is superior to ACUPAT
> in terms of camouflage effect. MARPAT Desert is also superb in both
> urban and open areas in arid conditions. The pictures I see of
> soldiers wearing the ACUPAT in Iraq don't stick out as badly as I
> though they would, but they do stick out compared to the other uniforms
> mentioned. The new colors make it a little better (less gray, more
> brown).
>
> > Now they just need to get all the web gear and PASGT gear in the ACU
> > pattern vs the Fulda Gap Woodland they all have....;-)
>
> Already in theater in ever growing numbers. There is a swap out
> program out of Kuwait where you take your issued Desert or Woodland
> Interceptor vest and trade in the covers for ACUPAT covers. Good plan
> and I'm sure it is working out well. Some smart logistics work going
> on there! ACUPAT MOLLE II equipment, on the other hand, is apparently
> far more difficult to find. Even official base PX have COTS
> (Commercial Off The Shelf) equipment holders for troops to purchase.
> How it is that the commercial stuff is readily available while gov't
> contracted stuff isn't is beyond me. In most cases both are produced
> to the same specifications by the SAME company. Strange!
>
> Steve
>
>
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