You don’t have to look very far these days to realize that the inter-service “Camo Wars” has been a disaster and ultimately produced some terrible looking (and more importantly, poor performing) camouflage uniforms.
A few guys at Crye Precision kicked the shit out of Natick Labs with their Multicam pattern. It took Natick and the DOD years and billions spent to finally see the light and let Multicam in the door and now it’s pervasive on the battlefield for a reason. Why? Because it fucking works, and it’s the best camouflage in the field and inventory.
The US Marines developed a kick ass “Digi” pattern, the SEALs have AOR (Area of Responsibility) and the rest are left with no chair and the camo music turned off.
A uniform should be functional first, and just as important, it should look sharp, and make people feel good about wearing it. Making people look sharp in uniform matters at so many levels and is one thing the USMC continues to do right. They have the sharpest uniforms out of any branch of service in my opinion.
A look at some of the worst and best camouflage patterns developed by the broken DOD acquisition system (another topic coming soon) and Crye:
1. The Navy’s “Aquaflage” pattern. I don’t know of one person I’ve asked who likes this silly uniform. Apparently it makes you vanish if you fall overboard, not a good quality if you ask me.
2. The US Army’s failed attempt to hurry up and copy the USMC’s MARPAT pattern. This one apparently cost U.S. tax payers $5 Billion and is being re-called in favor of a better solution.
3. US Air Force’s Airman Battle Uniform or better known as “ABU”. Not sure how they got away with calling it “Airman and not Airperson” with all the bullshit around PC these days. Anyway, it’s the USAF version of Hawaiian Camo at its finest.
4. The Crye Developed “Multicam” pattern. I estimate that this was developed for under $500k and it is one of the best camouflage patterns this Century has seen. There’s a reason combat units from all branches (including Special Operations) use it on deployment—it fucking works.
This is clearly another example of the need for military acquisition reform. We need a lean and competitive system free from bureaucracy that doesn’t give us yesterday’s solutions tomorrow. Trillions are wasted in the “good ole boy” system where the Federal Acquisition Rules (FAR) is complicated and the only winners are Washington Bureaucrats and the Big Defense companies that line their pockets with campaign donations.
You can read more and my thoughts on this debacle on the Blaze’s report on the “Huge Let Down”, and the Daily’s original article that quotes my friend Eric’s thoughts (founder of Soldier Systems).
What do you guys think?
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