06-21-11, 07:31 AM
|
#11
|
Navy Seal 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Valhalla
Posts: 5,295
Downloads: 141
Uploads: 17
|
And now it's the Camo Uniform's turn.
For a review anyways:
Quote:
Soldiers wanted to do away with their current camo uniforms and adopt the pattern now being worn by their counterparts in Afghanistan."A lot of the Soldiers brought up that they just want to have the MultiCam, or Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage pattern, as the standard design for all uniforms," Chandler said.
The Army did a radical about-face in 2009, adopting the MultiCam pattern developed by New York-based design firm Crye Precision to replace its so-called Universal Camo Pattern for Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. The Operation Enduring Freedom Camo Pattern, or OCP, is popular due to how it blends into the varied backgrounds across the combat zone.
Chandler's predecessor, Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Preston, told Military.com last summer he believed the service was right to shift away from the universal camouflage pattern adopted in 2005 to the MultiCam scheme.
"The OCP allows the Soldiers to get far closer to potential enemies before being observed," Preston said. "I believe [Soldiers] are safer" wearing the OCP.
The Army launched a follow-up program late last year to see whether MultiCam or a family of patterns designed for different climates would be a better fit Army-wide than the UCP.
The $10 million effort led by Program Executive Office Soldier will lead to a pattern for desert and arid climates, one for jungle and woodland zones and another so-called "transitional" pattern that will work in a wide range of potential combat zones. The Army will also select a fourth pattern to camouflage its tactical gear -- such as body armor covers and magazine pouches -- that can blend with all three.
Though Chandler emphasized cost savings as a factor in several uniform modification ideas, he dodged questions about the cost of fielding a family of camo patterns while the service is already buying OCP uniforms and gear for Afghanistan-bound troops and Soldiers seem to want the pattern for universal use.
"We're not going to do that," Chandler said of adopting MultiCam uniforms for all Soldiers. "We're looking at a new Army uniform through a very deliberate process with using some technology in industry to figure out a better pattern that works in more than just Afghanistan."
|
SOURCE
|
|
|