US Army Gets Updated Uniforms



Kudos to the Army for the bold initiative to economize on the square footage of velcro used in this design. That decision obviously carries a certain level of risk if one ends up needing more velcro on the forearms and pant legs but it's probably a risk worth taking. In this austere budgetary environment we all have to learn to do more with less.

Seriously, this looks like a highly effective and functional uniform.

Same thing they have been wearing in Afghanistan since 2011??

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Same thing they have been wearing in Afghanistan since 2011??

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Au contraire. The pattern you see above is Scorpion 2. It is technologically distinct from the MultiCam pattern because it does not have the licensing cost that would be paid to Crye Precision for use of their patented Multicam design.

Scorpion 2 is as different from MultiCam as the M855A1 is from Liberty Ammunition's EPIC (Enhanced Performance Incapacitative Composite) cartridge except that Crye Predision has not yet filed suit.

I read an article recently that said the Pentagon would be going back to buttons on the combat uniforms due to feedback from those wearing the CIB. Turns out, Velcro is really loud ... who knew? I'm surprised they kept the Velcro on these.

probably should look at this as a camo patttern:

multicam works surprisingly well in Mid East cities & deserts. I was honestly surprised at how much better than Marine DCUs it did in the open desert.

To be clear: that it did better in the desert is what was surprising since I expected MarPat desert to be better in the dessert than Multicam. However standing side by side at about 150m I would have to do a double take to spot multicam guys, but when looking for them could easily see Marines. Conversely ACUs stood out like bright orange reflector vests compared to either.

Old American Woodland and modern German woodland camo worked REALLY well in the Kunar. I watched a platoon of AA carry firewood up the side of a mountain to an OP. If they stopped moving while you looked away, you lost them and only picked them up again when they started moving again.

Truth! The old woodland & desert worked like a champ. I found it funny when some of the super secret squirrel organizations switched back.

Why put the rank insignia in the middle of the chest instead of on the collar?

It's a mandarin collar it's designed to fold up under the body armor and protect your neck. Probably the thing I hated the most about that uniform.

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Why put the rank insignia in the middle of the chest instead of on the collar?

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I assumed it was to help the enemy aim center of mass

I remember one of my buddies telling me about how great the ACU was because its pattern didn't have the color black because black wasn't a naturally occuring color in nature. I was like, uh, really? You bought that line of logic?

So, imagine my surprise the first time I saw a Black Swan in Perth, Western Australia. I wanted to phone my buddy and let him know that I found some naturally occuring black.

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I remember one of my buddies telling me about how great the ACU was because its pattern didn't have the color black because black wasn't a naturally occuring color in nature. I was like, uh, really? You bought that line of logic?

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The Marine Corps' research in developing the MARPAT patterns also found that black did not enhance the effect of the camouflage pattern but it had nothing to do with whether black is a naturally occurring color but rather because it is provided naturally by shadows. The reason that the green MARPAT does include black pixels is because the Commandant at the time (J.L. Jones) thought that the pattern looked more complete with the black pixels added and not because it was measurably better camouflage.

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I read an article recently that said the Pentagon would be going back to buttons on the combat uniforms due to feedback from those wearing the CIB. Turns out, Velcro is really loud ... who knew? I'm surprised they kept the Velcro on these.

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This is gets almost as much repeating as the "black isn't a natural color" nonsense. Velcro can be heard about 10 feet away. The people who need to remain 10-feet quiet 1) don't open their pockets when the enemy is that close, and 2)don't wear issue uniforms anyway

And there's still plenty of Velcro on a flak and everything else

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I read an article recently that said the Pentagon would be going back to buttons on the combat uniforms due to feedback from those wearing the CIB. Turns out, Velcro is really loud ... who knew? I'm surprised they kept the Velcro on these.

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This is gets almost as much repeating as the "black isn't a natural color" nonsense. Velcro can be heard about 10 feet away. The people who need to remain 10-feet quiet 1) don't open their pockets when the enemy is that close, and 2)don't wear issue uniforms anyway

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The problem with the velcro was that it wore out or got full of crap to fast and wouldn't hold even a note book in the pocket. Which is about the only thing I ever carried in a pocket while in a combat situation anyways.

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I read an article recently that said the Pentagon would be going back to buttons on the combat uniforms due to feedback from those wearing the CIB. Turns out, Velcro is really loud ... who knew? I'm surprised they kept the Velcro on these.

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This is gets almost as much repeating as the "black isn't a natural color" nonsense. Velcro can be heard about 10 feet away. The people who need to remain 10-feet quiet 1) don't open their pockets when the enemy is that close, and 2)don't wear issue uniforms anyway

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The problem with the velcro was that it wore out or got full of crap to fast and wouldn't hold even a note book in the pocket. Which is about the only thing I ever carried in a pocket while in a combat situation anyways.

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This is a valid argument, especially the really stiff plastic Velcro stuff

Everything old is new again. Aside from the tailoring and pocket placement, that "new" uniform is a smaller-patterned woodland BDU after being being in the field a day (or washed about 15 times?).

I was in OPS Group at NTC in the mid 80s. We wore woodland BDUs in the Mojave--and could just about disappear in that terrain.

note books, maps, & protractors where the only things I ever planned on carrying in the Velcro pockets.

Operationally the Velcro noise was much more of a hindrance in training than it ever was in theater. W/out fail it seemed a TAC would be dinging you for noise disincline the second you needed to get in to a Velcro pocket.
However I disagree that only people in fancy uniforms have to be operationally quiet. Night raids & SKTs can call for stealth & plenty of regular joes roll on those types of opps. Does a cav platoon normally sound louder than a cement mixer? yes. Can it get quiet to stack on a building? yes. Could a Velcro pocket betray them? yes. However admittedly even then the noise of a Velcro pocket is rarely significant & I seriously doubt it has evet actually betrayed anyone in a real world operation.

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To ensure the staff NCOs and officers get to scope out the well endowed women without threat of harassment charges.

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Awesome!!!!

It's gone on this uniform. The new "cut" replaces it with a regular collar.

I can also see that the quality control for the company making the uniform will suck, yet again. The bottom of the blouse should fall into the curled fingers, or between the opening of the pocket and the cargo pocket. Instead we will get the priviledge of seeing crotches and back pocket flaps because the cut, and piss poor quality control will have the top too short. Thanks Army.

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I can also see that the quality control for the company making the uniform will suck, yet again. The bottom of the blouse should fall into the curled fingers, or between the opening of the pocket and the cargo pocket. Instead we will get the priviledge of seeing crotches and back pocket flaps because the cut, and piss poor quality control will have the top too short. Thanks Army.

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The length is not related to quality control, the length is by design. It suddenly occurred to everyone that wearing a kimono over your pants didn't add any operational effectiveness to the combat uniform.

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I can also see that the quality control for the company making the uniform will suck, yet again. The bottom of the blouse should fall into the curled fingers, or between the opening of the pocket and the cargo pocket. Instead we will get the priviledge of seeing crotches and back pocket flaps because the cut, and piss poor quality control will have the top too short. Thanks Army.

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The length is not related to quality control, the length is by design. It suddenly occurred to everyone that wearing a kimono over your pants didn't add any operational effectiveness to the combat uniform.

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Back in the days of woodands, we always tucked our blouses into our trousers while in the field. It just seemed to work better that way.

It has a lot to do with quality control. Buy any two tops or bottoms and compare them to each other and you will see lots of differences between the lengths or the trousers or length of the blouse. I have seen bottoms with the cargo pockets having a two inch difference in the location of the pocket on each leg, and arms that on one will fall to once inch below the wrist bone and the other top will be at the end of my fingers. And that is all on the same size uniform. And lets not compare the shade difference in the colors between the tops and bottoms.

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It has a lot to do with quality control. Buy any two tops or bottoms and compare them to each other and you will see lots of differences between the lengths or the trousers or length of the blouse. I have seen bottoms with the cargo pockets having a two inch difference in the location of the pocket on each leg, and arms that on one will fall to once inch below the wrist bone and the other top will be at the end of my fingers. And that is all on the same size uniform. And lets not compare the shade difference in the colors between the tops and bottoms.

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Yes, there are a lot of quality control issues in the ACUs, but none of your examples have anything to do with the chosen length of the shirt hem. The blouses are made intentionally shorter than "falling into the curled finger" or whatever.

That the pockets are often misplaced, a regular length pant might be 28" or 32", and multiple color choices has nothing to do with wanting kimono-length blouses.

I was a young scout platoon leader at the end of the BDU days. I, too, used to tuck my blouse into my pants in the field. Looking back, I am astonished how dumb it is that I thought it was normal to need to tuck my COMBAT shirt into my pants because it was too long to work in the field

tango mike, how in the world did the top keep you from completing your mission without tucking in? It was all in your head. There is a proper way to wear the uniform, and Soldiers need to learn it. The reason the uniform looks like **** is because there is crappy quality control, and people want to wear it like they are wearing their stranglers or fubu crap. If the tops and bottoms were cut correctly and Soldiers wore it correctly, we would not be the worst looking branch of service, which we currently are.

And having your top extend to the correct length is not komono length, it is only 2-3 inches at most, and certainly will not keep any Soldier from completing their mission, unless they are just looking for an excuse to be sorry.

Why is the curled finger the "proper length"? Marine cammie blouses are long too, and I've always tucked it in when in the field.

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tango mike, how in the world did the top keep you from completing your mission without tucking in? It was all in your head. There is a proper way to wear the uniform, and Soldiers need to learn it. The reason the uniform looks like **** is because there is crappy quality control, and people want to wear it like they are wearing their stranglers or fubu crap. If the tops and bottoms were cut correctly and Soldiers wore it correctly, we would not be the worst looking branch of service, which we currently are.

And having your top extend to the correct length is not komono length, it is only 2-3 inches at most, and certainly will not keep any Soldier from completing their mission, unless they are just looking for an excuse to be sorry.

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I didn't say it "kept me from completing my mission", I said it was too long for its intended purpose.

What you are advocating is not the correct length any more. It hasn't been the "correct" length for 10 years. Soldiers know the proper way wear a uniform... they read the current regulation and don't pine for the obsolete (and completely unimportant)... and, dare I say, if these renegade Soldiers are not wearing their uniforms correctly then their NCOs are failing them, not the Lighthouse for the Blind

Tango Mike, below is the exact excerpt from the CURRENT DA PAM 670-1, which is not outdated in the least:

d. The coat will not extend below the top of the cargo pocket on the trousers and will not be higher than the bottomof the opening of the side pocket on the trousers. The elbow pouch with hook-and-loop closure for internal elbow padinserts must be closed at all times. Permanent infrared feedback squares affixed to each shoulder for nighttime
identification will be covered when insignia are not worn on the pocket flaps. Sleeves will be worn down at all times
(not rolled or cuffed). The sleeve cuffs on the combat uniform coat are not authorized to be rolled inside the coat.

pay particular attention to the first sentence in bold. It is from section 4-8, paragraph d, page 5.

GAC06, when at the proper position of attention, the curled fingers will normally fall at the proper length, which is between the two pockets, and is an easy guide when determining what size of uniform to purchase, except those with monkey arms.

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Tango Mike, below is the exact excerpt from the CURRENT DA PAM 670-1, which is not outdated in the least:

d. The coat will not extend below the top of the cargo pocket on the trousers and will not be higher than the bottomof the opening of the side pocket on the trousers. The elbow pouch with hook-and-loop closure for internal elbow padinserts must be closed at all times. Permanent infrared feedback squares affixed to each shoulder for nighttime
identification will be covered when insignia are not worn on the pocket flaps. Sleeves will be worn down at all times
(not rolled or cuffed). The sleeve cuffs on the combat uniform coat are not authorized to be rolled inside the coat.

pay particular attention to the first sentence in bold. It is from section 4-8, paragraph d, page 5.

GAC06, when at the proper position of attention, the curled fingers will normally fall at the proper length, which is between the two pockets, and is an easy guide when determining what size of uniform to purchase, except those with monkey arms.

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The bottom of the blouse in that side picture is above the top of the cargo pocket, and lower than the bottom of the side pocket, so I don't get what your point (or beef) is.
It is a blouse, not a dress jacket.
Sounds like a drill sergeant mistaking his personal "standard" for AR 670-1.
Regardless, if you've been in the service a day you should appreciate the difficulty of designing precise standards of "cut" for male & female Soldiers, with a wide variety of body types, and heights ranging from 4'10" to 6'6".
I totally agree that quality control of Army uniforms sucks, though -- and I notice that particularly in ASU shirts.
If you understand how contracting works, though, you have to thank DLA for that, not Department of the Army.