The History of: US Army Universal Camouflage Pattern UCP & Army Combat Uniform ACU | Uniform History

[@slayer8actual]

I deployed to Iraq wearing the DCU desert pattern and remember when other units showed up wearing the UCP. I could see them a click away. "Oh, there's the new guys."

[@worldtravel101]

You could see us but we couldn't see you. When I got to balad in 08 there is a few units still in DCU on their way out. We wanted them to leave those uniforms for us haha

[@zacarribuffet8882]

And how many of them does for this decision

[@zackscott903]

Lol

[@Aaron-rj7bv]

DCUs were the best, nice and light and blended in well.

[@stupidburp]

Some of the first to arrive were wearing woodland stuff.

[@jetblastjim]

Huh no mention of the moon base. UCP works well on the moon. Have you seen the troops on the moon. Exactly. WORKS

[@louiesouthgate8347]

They made a mistake using the multicam on the moon. They should re-issue the UCP for the space force.

[@jamesquinney6686]

@@louiesouthgate8347 sounds good

[@rob2267]

Army: “Mom can we get CADPAT?” Mom: “we got CADPAT at home” *CADPAT at home:*

[@USN1985dos]

It's a sad day when the Navy and Marine Corps can somehow develop a better camo pattern than the US Army.

[@jeffreyroot6300]

All unnecessary, there wasn’t anything wrong with three color desert and woodlands. I am an old fart, I reluctantly admit the changes in cut from BDU to ACU made sense. The patterns didn’t need to change.

[@CaspianWint]

@@jeffreyroot6300 Amen Jeffrey, and besides, after spending zillions on researching digital pattern camaflage, the intended effect is ruined when the soldier is carrying a black rifle, or wearing black binoculars, or any other accoutrement that is not of the same digital pattern. Woodland and 3 colour desert are just fine, the billions of $ wasted could have bought 100 M1A2s

[@jeffreyroot6300]

Caspian Wint Or given a lot of soldiers raises! We wound up with plenty of tanks!

[@petersiano3437]

UCP was the result of some high ranking Officer wanting to leave his mark on the army forever in some way

[@MonkeyBoyDrinksVat69]

I wonder how much money was spent on all those uniforms and all that kit?

[@RicArmstrong]

More like he left a skid mark.

[@Errorcutive]

Call the MP they cant unUCP u

[@VedaRa501]

I remember when I was in DC with the 18th Airborne Corp that the SMA asked us what we thought about the AUCs and when we all said that they where terrible he just left.

[@RicArmstrong]

@@VedaRa501 Was that at the DC Armory next to the old RFK stadium?

[@airborneshodan]

I wore the new ACUs while an instructor at SWC. My students prefered to wear woodlands. My purpose was so students could see me at night during change of mission briefs. I felt like I was glowing at night in comparision to the students.

[@noahsawyer767]

airborneshodan weren't the acu nicknamed the ICU

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

Moonshine

[@CaspianWint]

Since when do military recruits get a “choice” in attire?

[@airborneshodan]

@17ll3 x214 I felt it was perfect camouflage as a fobite if I needed to go prone at night on the gravel.

[@airborneshodan]

@@CaspianWint At SWC, which is a career path course, students could wear what was authorized by army regs. Since woodlands were being phased out, they generally went to the field wardrobe, while newer ACUs were worn in garrison. The tactical benefit in field use is that you didn't glow like a chem stick at night.

[@MrBlindcat1]

My grandmother has several couches from the 70s in that pattern.

[@alexmurphy4323]

Universal Couch Pattern

[@omegacheese6095]

Where the *fuck* is the couch?

[@jamesquinney6686]

Paisley couch

[@michaelfinn366]

I was in one of the early Reserve units to get UCP before deploying to Afghanistan in sprin 2005. The pattern couldn't conceal anybody in the piney woods of Fort Bragg, and people got caught on each others' velcro in formation. By the time we came home, most of the uniforms had been replaced in-country because of various defects, including turning as white as an ice cream vendor's uniform. One Sergeant told me, "Sir, whoever sold this shit to the Army hasn't quit laughing yet." But the real laugh was on me during my first month deployed, when I met an Afghan government minister who had once been a muj against the Soviets. He looked at my UCP uniform, smiled, and said, "Ah, Spetznaz." Thanks for nothing, Army..

[@BladerINCThe_Hope]

Michael Finn lmao

[@BladerINCThe_Hope]

khlor us I don’t think you understand, but he said that his uniform made an afghan government remember his times fighting against the spetnaz, in short, it reminded the Afghan govener of the spetnaz

[@nathancraig4480]

I received this abomination just before heading to Afghanistan in 05. Our first few patrols the locals kept saying they thought we were Russians.

[@ywe3]

@@khlorus6531 it stuck out as bad or worse than the soviet copy of DPM...

[@arandomhecugrunt.4500]

Heh. funny.

[@piero4706]

The good old Useless Combat Pattern

[@dak4465]

Right up there with tactical hot pink

[@edbo10]

It's not entirely useless - wear it while riding a motorcycle

[@jasonarmstrong5750]

edbo10 well only down side on that is you got a bigger chance of being hit by an oncoming car

[@edbo10]

the only reason I can think of for a car being more likely to hit you is because the driver saw the abomination on your clothing that is called UCP and decided that it must be erased from existence

[@jasonarmstrong5750]

edbo10 exactly

[@stevenm3823]

The ACU camo pattern was the worst, blended in with nothing....only useful if the Army decided to occupy the moon.

[@samuelfreisinger5580]

We'd better reserve it for Space Force, I suppose.

[@vonpredator]

ACU was totally ahead of it’s time!

[@stevenm3823]

Back in 2006 when I was at Ft Hood and we got issued our ACUs we had an FTX shortly afterward and we all laughed at how we all stood out like ghosts in the woodline and anywhere else we were at out there.@@vonpredator

[@ReviveHF]

It blends well in snow and rocky areas.

[@stevenm3823]

Multi Cam is much better by far@@ReviveHF

[@pabloescabar1038]

ARMY: let’s find a pattern that works everywhere! Contractors: that doesn’t exist, but we have something that doesn’t work anywhere? Army: can we get kick backs on the over priced BS your selling? Contractors: yes Army: sold, we will order too much, so make sure it’s low quality. And that’s how the Army does business, prove me wrong.

[@GolfRemoEchoGolf2]

True shit

[@ywe3]

CoD 4 said it best: remember your equipment is made by the lowest bidder...

[@sethsteve9691]

Spot on

[@jeffreyroot6300]

John Macmillan You mean the Air Force don’t you?

[@MrKaliforniakingz]

I was in one of the units that got to test the Multicam back in '09. First patrol we did with them, we went up the mountain side. After 15min we had to stop, and pull out a VS17 panel, because the Kiowas the were with us couldn't find us. They radioed down saying, "yup, new uniform works". 😂

[@rzr2ffe325]

Sad it took until 2009 but really 2019 to fully replace them. By then Afghanistan was almost over.

[@stevene6181]

whoever made the decision to switch to UCP should be thrown in jail for it. how many of our brothers and sisters died because their camouflage didn't do its job?

[@highonimmi]

as I recall the asshole officer responsible for accepting that shitty pattern retired soon after and went to work for the company....I agree. he should be ass fucked every day while rotting in Leavenworth.

[@Killroy_Is_Here]

Executed. His greed caused the deaths of countless soldiers.

[@kittenastrophy5951]

Point your finger to Gen. Shinseki. He's in charge at the time.

[@michaellyndon6982]

@Prince of Logic *billions

[@baldrickthedungspreader3107]

Now I can see why the American death toll in Afghanistan was so high when compared to the Royal army’s death toll, the UK had a decent desert combat pattern and didn’t get sucked into the gimmick of trying to make your army look futuristic

[@G4x5da]

A few years back while attending a international recon exercise in the UK. I (Dutch recce) was grouped together with Brits and US recce guys for setting up a observation post in a wooded area. Our commander of the mixed unit was assigning roles to the squads and said to the Americans: “I want you guys in the rear positions (200m back) manning the radios, cause with that “camo” they’re gonna see us right away” - the Americans, who normally are the loudmouths and run the show, where very quiet that exercise. They knew....

[@mikegreck2625]

the Army Casualty Uniform. poor guys used to stick out like sore thumbs..worse when it started to fade

[@stupidburp]

If you washed it with woolite dark, it didn't fade and even got a bit darker over time.

[@rc59191]

UCP blends in great in Afghanistan especially after it soaks up the desert and natural colors. Nobody is getting killed because their uniform wasn't the right shade of color. Besides majority of casualties were from IED's.

[@mikegreck2625]

@@rc59191 you could wear black if you rubbed it with the local terrain. anything would blend in then

[@derpcade]

@@rc59191 yes, but you have to wear it for at least two months plus, which is not good considering you get fired at *before you even touch the ground.*

[@mr.wiggles7535]

I remember using this camo when I was in, and during our training, people honestly stuck out really badly. To me they looked like a mirage or blotch moving around in the woods of NC.

[@brianthao102]

Thank god the US Army adopted the OCP camo. I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb when I was always training against OpFor that had DCUs and BDUs.

[@zacarribuffet8882]

brianthao102 pisses me off that the time the army would need it most 2001 to 2011. They were stuck with the sore thumb.

OpFor? Are you talking about a video game? If not, then you're full of shit.

[@brianthao102]

@ dude, OpFor is an acronym for "Opposing Force". Literally everyone in the military knows what OpFor is. We train against them at NTC. There are fictional country names for them like "Atrophia" and such but we always call them OpFor.

[@Sammy1234568910]

It was Universal in that it didn't work anywhere

[@gtfkt]

Underrated comment.

[@FredLo44]

Army Higher Ups: Develop a pattern that blends into desserts and jungle/woodlands. Testing & Development Team: That’s impossible, wouldn’t it be easier just to have 2 separate uniform patterns? like the marines for example? Army Higher Ups: *autistic screeching* No we’re not the goddamn Marine Corps Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Testing & Development Team: ok ok yes sirs, we will try our best. Testing & Development Team: After years of rigorous research, training, testing, and hours of hard work, we finally found the closest pattern to do the job. Gentlemen I’m proud to unveil the pattern that scored the highest on all points “Dessert Brush”!!! Army Higher Ups: yeah... it looks ugly and unprofessional... Testing & Development Team:... Army Higher Ups: it’s not even digital!!! Canada has digital the fffffucking Marines have digital, I wanna digital camooo reeeeeee. oooooh lookie here what’s this? Testing & Development Team: That’s just Urban track, it scored the lowest on all points. Frankly we wonder why it was even in the test pool? It has unnatural colors and it doesn’t really blend well with anything. The army would look like fancy janitors going into combat. Army Higher Ups: We’ll take it!!! Testing & Development Team:... Army Higher Ups: Can you nerds make it digital?

[@worldtravel101]

We used to say that the UCP only blends in with other people wearing it.

[@AmphiStuG]

@Duffelbag Drag I'd say it would work well in the mountains, but then again most high terrain in Afghanistan is brown or khaki.... Rockies maybe? Oh wait no, moss.

[@Hsutheguard]

UCP is pretty much for Land Nav training only, and the reason is basically the opposite of what it supposed to be

[@Tounushi]

The UCP pattern is exactly the same as CADPAT and MARPAT, just with three ineffective colors. Track and Shadow/Line patterns are identical, just with different black shapes and pattern orientation. I think the reason they didn't pick All Over Brush was because it was too reminiscent of DPM.

[@AmphiStuG]

What's with the U.S military and taking a good thing and throwing it out the window?

[@Tamereno]

So you're telling me that this UCP wasn't tested in comparison to the other competitors? Lol.

[@jonlong2663]

Shocked!

[@VB-3]

Nope. In fact no officer has even stepped forward and taken credit for its adoption. ZERO leadership in fact. We actually have no idea who was behind the final decision to this day, Whole thing is super shady

[@worldtravel101]

@@VB-3 He must be hiding pretty well. Obviously wearing something different haha

[@leonardwei3914]

Issued BDUs in Basic, Deployed with DCU's on my first deployment, got issued ACU's in time for my second deployment, and finally received Multicam for my third and last deployment. Go Army.

[@gadget19k76]

When I was at Fort Stewart GA, we started getting issued ACUs. I looked up the uniform regs was and found that woodland was still authorized for where so when ever we where in the field I was wearing my old woodland BDUs. On several occasions I could walk right up to Soldiers without them noticing me while others in ACU where spotted hundreds of yards out. Seriously a massive waste of tax dollars.

[@johngalt6929]

UCP was such a clearly stupid choice. Works only when sitting on Grandma's couch. Multicam should have initially been selected IMO.

[@nerd_world8919]

I’m not the only who thinks it’s only use would be for urban camo and just barely

[@snoobeedoobee]

They should have adopted desert brush as they were primary in Iraq at the time

[@ishkode71]

Or old school woodland or desert pattern.

[@treerat7631]

Should have been but the army did not want too pay royalty

[@mzmadmike]

Or ASAT. Though it's hard to look cool in ASAT. On the plus side, at 10 feet you're invisible, so no one cares what you look like.

[@reddevilparatrooper]

I hated the ACU big time when I was issued back in 2006. The uniform material sucked. I liked the arm and leg pockets and Mandiran collar when wearing body armor. The pattern sucked. It offered no camouflage in the woods or operating in the villages, towns, and cities in Iraq. Of course camouflage uniforms don't work in urban combat environments. Like I said the material tore easily during heavy use and the pattern wore out from washing and exposure even though Woolite was the Army approved detergent to wash them in.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

My dad was issued Woodland BDUs during his time in the Army, during the early 90's. It was tough and actually worked! My brother and would were them when we'd hike.

[@reddevilparatrooper]

@@jed-henrywitkowski6470=The materials on the old BDUs were tougher if they were made in the temperate pattern. The lightweights really sucked because they tore up easily when getting hung up in concertina wire. They also crumbled with sweat salt stains from your body when they dried up in the hot jungle and desert environments. Salt from your body would form up and harden on the cloth and my uniform would crack. The color dyes for the camouflage faded away quickly after washings and would turn white after hard field use. The older guys in the unit would wear this as sign that they are veterans in the unit. The new guys would have much newer and brightly colored BDUs. Eventually our Battalion Sergeant Major along with the Battalion Commander would have everybody wear the same colored uniforms in garrison and made us turn in faded BDUs for newer ones in Panama just like it was TA-50 equipment. Back in stateside at Ft. Carson they forced us to buy new BDUs since it was part of our uniform allowance each year to buy a new set. The ACUs when issued to us in 2006 for Iraq sucked because they were made like the BDU rip stop material. In Iraq I had to order through supply to replace my ACUs every 3 months. The old ones that were worn out we had to burn when we got our new ACUs. The DCUs were much better. I liked the pattern and much cooler in the hot summers in Iraq. The temperate was much tougher. The lightweights were the same as far as wear and use. Honestly I like the old BDU and ACU pattern uniforms.

[@1337penguinman]

Hey man, you think your camo sucked? At least it wasn't bright ass blue.

[@reddevilparatrooper]

@@1337penguinmanVery true indeed. As an Army infantryman wearing it in combat. The pattern wasn't good in any environment. The old Woodland BDUs were okay for jungle and of course the woods. The desert 3 color pattern DCUs I had no complaints about. They were much cooler to wear when it was hot. Special Forces have been modifying the BDUs and ACUs to their operational needs and still used the same material. Of course Special Operations guys wear what ever they want. Infantry we are part of the Big Army. We are just individual teeth in a big cog. If the Army was smart they would have kept the same old patterns and made them in ACU style. Multicam has been around since the late 90s developed by a civilian firm for hunting. Much more effective than Mossy Oak and the BDU and ACU series. Because it was designed for the woods and the plains. Big Army ignored it and came up with a digital pattern to compete with the Marine's MARPAT which was well thought out and designed from the get go. They even had a desert pattern which was also effective. Big Army's digital pattern looked like Mom's old ugly couch. Sucked in the woods and anywhere an infantryman would be going into combat.

[@jefrey5578]

@@reddevilparatrooper In 2004ish we were sent a modified DCU just before the ACU was adopted. It was a digitized version of the DCU and still used mostly buttons instead of the dreaded velcro. Cant really do a proper ambush if you gotaa get something from your velcro pocket. Velcros has it place, just not with infantry.

[@thelostcosmonaut5555]

We blended in pretty well against the brush and trees on mountainsides since we had a combination of UCP gear and OCP uniforms.

[@chapoguzman8627]

Marines: *wearing new MARPAT. Army: Oh look, Marines have new uniforms (that work), we wanna look cool too. Navy/Air Force: Us too.

[@transgenderific1507]

Buuuut....you're welcome for all the other hand downs. Saw many marines carrying muskets the army usedto use.

[@totallynotoffending3719]

@@transgenderific1507 Want logistics? Want luxuries? Join the army. Marines make do, Semper Fi!

[@user-mt5cm5xp2o]

TotallyNotOffending ok Marine ass kisser

[@RandominityFTW]

That blue one from the Navy, unlike UCP, actually did look cool though.

[@bluecaptainIT]

@@RandominityFTW I agree. Too bad it was *supposed* to be flame retardant...

[@nerd_world8919]

5:04 “and foliage green” that’s a gray...another reason why the ucp sucks

[@christianroberts8134]

I am certain some retiring General got paid off to choose UCP.

[@echodelta2172]

it's more or less guaranteed

[@georgiabowhunter]

I was part of the 48th who went to Iraq and got issued ACUs in May 2005 . We hated it immediately. It was like zebra camo. It only worked if we stood in a group. The uniforms ripped constantly. We wanted our BDUs back. The brass didn’t listen to one word of feedback we gave.

[@xjamesx7047]

Clearly *UCP* could work, if your in an "urban environment" such as _Cities and Towns_

[@JuliusCheeser223]

Actually if you let UCP get "sun dried" and let it pick up dirt, grit ect it would become effective.

[@27gmcdonald42]

A gravel road, then maybe...I wore it for half of my career, and it was trash.

[@mardiffv.8775]

UCP would work on a grey rock face. Into cities it would work, if there is a lot of concrete buildings. And UCP was great to make your own camouflage pattern by dyeing the uniform: green for spring/ summer, brown for fall/ winter, reddish brown for naked eye urban night situations.

[@556bc]

Except there's no many better camos for Urban areas that are not UCP. Fuck UCP.

[@randycheow4268]

More like Useless Camouflage Pattern

[@omarrp14]

There was a big confusion on my army base because everyone thought UCP was out at the start of fiscal year 2019. So the like 5 stragglers left on my base switched over to OCP. So now absolutely no one wears it. I threw 6 sets away because I had 8 and I have 8 sets of OCP.

[@Ianassa91]

So they went through a multi year testing process to get an actually good pattern, then just simply thew it all in the trash and selected, adopted and fully replaced everything with a shit pattern without any testing? A bureaucrat had to be involved.

[@ywe3]

No just a 4 star general...

[@AmphiStuG]

@@ywe3 Was it Shinseki?

[@ywe3]

@@AmphiStuG iirc

[@kekula69]

@@ywe3 what's the difference

[@bool8705]

5:55 I think that guy just gave up shooting, he was like "Eh whatever, I don't care anymore about shooting properly."

[@chlorhexidine2506]

underrated camo fr people always complain about it, but it's really not that bad

[@Nathan-Roman]

A pattern that has "universal" in the acronym that glows in woodland or jungle environments is pretty silly bro. It deserves the flak it gets

[@jaidenp5413]

My dad’s generation of uniform which was after Vietnam in the 80s to 90s was definitely the best in my opinion, awesome woodland camouflage and boot color, cant believe the army decided to give it up smh

[@AmphiStuG]

For a pattern made by hand in 1948 it sure as hell did better than this computer generated crap.

[@jaidenp5413]

@@AmphiStuG for real man, OCPs aren’t really bad but M80s were better. But hey im just glad we dropped the UCPs a few years ago

[@melc311]

@@jaidenp5413 OCP is objectively better

[@27gmcdonald42]

(UCP) A gravel road, then maybe...I wore it for half of my career, and it was trash.

[@noahsawyer767]

27G mcdonald wasn't it nicknamed ICU

[@HabeasJ]

5:56 great "suppressing fire"

[@idkwhattomakemyname101]

The only thing those UCP pattern uniforms were good for was hiding in the prone on the gravel roads when the NCOIC called for a brass collection detail at the machine gun range

[@rickrooks5060]

Great video, way to break down the issues with ACUs. Glad I got out before these were mandatory.

[@jonlong2663]

We switched before my second deployment... worst shit ever.

[@lazor222]

UCP is a perfect example of how to take the awesomeness of Cadpat and Marpat and completely fuck it all up.

[@syjiang]

I am curious how the army arrived at the decision of using UCP in the first place.

[@OspreyKnight]

Money

[@rc59191]

It doesn't deserve the hate it gets people need to understand how camouflage works before passing judgment.

[@G1000-r5c]

@@rc59191 Yea I agree

[@PF9O]

I love UCP, it's so iconic. That being said I never had to deploy in it! Interesting how AOR1 was a successful camo being that it is effectively UCP in an appropriate palette.

[@ssww3]

I love ucp too but will not go to war in it unless necessary

[@funkervogt47]

There's an easy fix for UCP: dye it green. I'm not joking. There are many videos on KZbin where people use common $3 "Rit" brand fabric dye to dye UCP uniforms green, and they come out as excellent woodland camouflage. Instead of shaking your head at what a waste of money UCP was, pick up an outfit for yourself at a garage sale or thrift shop and dye it.

[@michaelsudsysutherland5353]

UCP, chosen by someone who read too much of the MOUT manual from the 1990's that stated 'the best urban camoflauge is the BDU turned inside out'.

[@peteriliev]

Germans in WWII with "Platanenmuster", "Erbsenmuster" and later 70's "Flecktarn" made no mistake!

[@anamericancelt6534]

Angry Cops' video on the pattern's retirement was great.

[@AWDfreak]

UCP actually works great in generally gray areas like urban and gravel environments. Otherwise, you stick out badly in any other environment.

[@jeffreyroot6300]

AWDfreak Wouldn’t even work in most American cities. We have trees and multi colored buildings, lots of red brick too. Urban sprawl means traditional wood houses and picket fences, doesn’t work there either.

[@ywe3]

@@jeffreyroot6300 UCP-D was the URBAN pattern...it KINDA works

[@jeffreyroot6300]

Thomas Dority Fair enough. Is it better than a khaki or medium brown that’s been rolled around in the dirt and mud? Or possibly grey likewise treated to the local dirt? I would like to see a test series on that. I accept your assessment in absence of data🤓.

[@unclefreedom213]

I remember being issued UCP in 04 or so they were comfy and the zipper crotch proved to be useful for emergency bathroom runs. We were rocking Woodland armor, od green Alice packs, od green chest racks the Acu flc with whatever color you could find pouches. Let be real we looked like we robbed an army surplus store and we were effectively just dress like grandma's old couch in the den

[@johnrodriguez7742]

I Am Prior Service USMC and US Army, and,I didn't know that. Thanks again for your Information and Intelligence (I2) on this Uniform History of the United States Army.🇺🇸🗽🦅🔫

[@lorrewatkins5925]

Great ! Great job man ! Keep up these good vids !

[@bryanmontgomery996]

Excellent, excellent work! Very well done.

[@just_another_gearhead]

I'd like to share some very interesting information. When my unit 2-2 infantry 1ID returned from Afghanistan in July 2009 we were a sent to achurch, the entire battalion had to to fill out a 20page or so packet that was full of patterns and colors of camoflouage. What is very interesting is that we were told that we were the unit that would be choosing two different trial uniforms for the next deploying unit and our insight was very much needed. If I remember correctly the majority of the people chose the multicam version as well as a bdu/dcu hybrid uniform. I assume that because while we were deployed we had Sec Def Gates award 9 purple hearts, a bronze start with v and a silver star for action of our unit. We had ok only been there about 2 months. We also pleaded for mraps. After he left we were told Humvees were not allowed to conduct combat patrols or convoys and Sec Gates said they were immediately pulling assets from Iraq to provide us with MRAPs. I guess our complaints really were heard when he asked what the problems were and what we needed.

[@mr.youtube1653]

2:27 When you fight the antagonist on the first level.

[@stuartdodson6630]

See what a lot of people don’t know is that it was supposed to be issued with a pack of multicolored earth tone sharpie markers and you would fill in the pattern depending on the environment you were operating in. Thus, it was universal.

[@TheBattleRabbit860]

I'm a Marine and I deployed to Iraq in 2009. I had seen the UCP before, and we thought the entire uniform looked ridiculous. It appeared to just sort of hand off each soldier. The pattern was so bad that the developers of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter had to adjust the color of the entire game environment to make it look like the ACU's actually blended into the environment.

[@Liam1991]

So why have they adopted multicam instead of the desert brush?

[@olliegoria]

Because the Operational Camouflage Pattern has variations that enable it to be used in different environments.

[@1337penguinman]

Because the purpose of the Army isn't to be combat effective. It's to line the pockets of Contractors and Congressmen.

[@ywe3]

Because the army still wants a UNIVERSAL pattern and for the most part MC/OCP/SCORPION is pretty good in all environments apart from urban and snow...tbf the BEST camo pattern is plain old olive drab or khaki brown...its also cheap and universal...but no the army wishes to be modern and "high tech"...smh I'm a taxpayer I could care less if the army had Jeans and sneakers as long as they are effective...

[@Chuckus69]

I remember ucp being issued at a time when rumsfeld was talking about streamlining the army so that it can be quickly deployed anytime, anywhere in the world at a moment's notice without having to re-issue kit. The Stryker vehicles (argued to fit better in transports and could be both tanks and troop carriers although that turned to not work out), UCP, F35, and the failed modular/customizable rifle trials were all part of that (now abandoned) doctrine. Was that not true or just left out of the video for time purposes?

[@1337penguinman]

I still think the Germans had it right in WW2 with combat smocks.

[@509Gman]

Strykers can fit in C-130s (which in turn can land on very austere airfields compared to bigger aircraft). No, they’re not great tanks and only passable transports. “One camouflage for everywhere” seems to be a grail for a long time. The sensible answer would be reversible uniforms (as the Finns had, camo on one side, winter white on the other). It’s been done in the past (WWII marine corps had a green camo/tan camo reversible coverall) “One aircraft for all missions” is the same sort of boondoggle. If it’s fast enough to fight other aircraft it’s too fast for CAS, and vice versa, or too small for lots of bombs/missiles.

[@stupidburp]

Yes, the purpose of UCP was initially intended to be a default pattern for garrison and being acceptable but not ideal for rapid deployment anywhere. This was supposed to be followed up by local color pattern gear ASAP. It could take a long time to get local color patterns made and issued and UCP was supposed to fill in until that happened. Never really worked that way in practice because local pattern versions were defunded and UCP became even more universal than intended.

[@Tadicuslegion78]

You could probably make a 100 hour video on all the ways Rumsfeld fucked up the military, and not just Iraq/Afghanistan operations.

[@touko_nanami]

F-35 and the Stryker are far from abandoned lol.

[@EmperorSenate]

It would have been nice if all the branches had adopted the MARPAT. Multicam/OCP works very well, It'll be interesting to see how both the USMC and entire department of the Navy respond to the idea of finally getting the entire DoD under one uniform.

[@mardiffv.8775]

You have the same idea as Secretary of Defense McNamarra, he ordered all services to wear the same OD jungle fatigues and OG 107 uniform on land in the 60's. Those were later replaced with woodland and chocolate desert chip uniforms. But then in the 90's the USMC wanted their own camouflage pattern uniform. And wearing the same uniform for all branches has one additional advantage besides cost cutting and that is....no disinction between low grade troops, like rear support troops and elite troop. During the Vietnam war, the NVA attacked an Arvin unit and they got slaughter, the NVA that is. Why? Because the NVA mistaken a South Korean unit for an Arvin unit. The SK's were elite troops, many NVA's got their necks broken by Tea Kwon Do blows to the neck. The SK's wore the same OG 107 uniforms and gear as their Arvin counterparts. Also the Portugese gave their elite Casadores, Commando and Paratroopers Lizard camo and the orther troops OD. This happened also during the 60's. The elite troops had higher casualty rates then the orther troops, because their camouflage uniforms made them a prime target for the African opposing forces in Mozambique, Angola and Guinee.

[@EmperorSenate]

@@mardiffv.8775 Outstanding comment. Very informative, thanks! By the looks of it, OCP or any other multicam variant will most likely be the uniform that the entire DoD adopts. Both MARPAT uniforms are fantastic, but multicam blends in almost every environment.

[@ywe3]

TBF marpat isn't good...no Pixelated camo pattern is good the human eye can spot the pixels a mile away the army has the testing to prove it from 1970...it just looks MODERN...and for an all volunteer force looking cool is part of the recruiting process why do you think all the marine commercials had the swords in them in the 90s...or how the army's commercials always show the future soldier gear [the visor helmet, OICW, camera mounted on the gun barrel, and the monocle sight for CIC [combat information and Control]...it LOOKS cool and make you want to join up to use it...

[@PF9O]

@@ywe3 AOR1 was a successful digital. The examples I've seen it looks incredibly effective at blending.

[@ywe3]

@@PF9O except when the naked eye knows it exists...as we age and see things our brains naturally adapt to them when a pixel pattern exists naturally we can immediately spot the difference at medium range

[@ScoutSniper3124]

Here's OCP's history as I know it... U.S. Army tried "Digital" camouflage on vehicles at the R&D stage, didn't like the hassle it took to paint them. Canada liked the U.S. Army's digital idea and it was the Canucks that invented and fielded the first uniforms (CADPAT - Canadian Disruptive Pattern first fielded in 2002). U.S. Marine Corps liked the CADPAT and did their own copy (using the SAME pattern) but with classic BDU colors of (black, green, brown and tan ) which they incorporated little Eagle Globe and Anchors onto (to keep them STRICTLY a Marine Uniform!) known as (MARPAT - Marine Pattern first fielded in mass in 2003). The U.S. Army now behind the loop tried to talk the USMC into "sharing" but the Marines in true Marine fashion, told the Army to GO TO HELL. So the Army in their "Infinite Wisdom" (aka. Complete IDIOCY) (using the SAME Canadian then USMC pattern) came up with a "Universal" (good no where) pattern they called known as (UCP - Universal Camouflage Pattern fielded in late 2004 or so) that was complete crap. From day one the UCP was an abortion, flimsy, Velcro that blew sound discipline in the woods to hell, and wore out quickly, and all around a JOKE. Still the Army bought tons (literally tons) of these crappy things and worse all the "matching" field gear to go with it. No one in the Pentagon had the balls to tell those who mattered it was crap... but crap it was. Finally sometime around 2007 or 2008, an new CENTCOM Commander did a PR tour in Afghanistan and asked the Troops what changes they'd like to have, and it was the first time the "U" in UCP was truly UNIVERSAL, they ALL rejected this junk uniform and requested something along the lines of the new and EFFECTIVE Multicam. So the U.S. Army being the bureaucratic nightmare they are, wouldn't just buy off the shelve Multicam and field it, no they did a few million dollars of testing and study groups, came up with a LESS EFFECTIVE THAN MULTICAM BUT STILL WAY BETTER THAN UCP color pattern and WHALAAA!!! OCP was born. (OCP - Operational Camouflage Pattern, fielded in around 2011 with serious reliability flaws and re-fielded in 2014 in a somewhat better version). SSG. U.S. Army (Medically Retired), Infantry / Sniper, multiple tours ... and don't get me started on the USAF wanting to get into the "digital race" with Tiger Stripes!

[@stupidburp]

USAF gray tiger stripe looks fine to me and works well enough for air fields, hangars, and offices

[@nerd_world8919]

I’m not the only one who hates the ucp right? It’s colors look too Greyish and unnatural especially since its digital. I do much prefer the newer OCP

[@johnrodriguez3870]

ACU means " Army Combat Uniform", as a replacement for the Battle Dress Uniform, aka, BDU. ACU came in UCP, meaning " Universal Camouflage Pattern, and , OCP, Organizational Camouflage Pattern, " 🦂 W2, the Army's Answer to MultiCam by Crye Precision ®️.

[@SonOfTheDawn515]

OCP performs better than MultiCam in Florida and Kansas. MultiCam is too tan. In Utah and Arizona MultiCam worked pretty well from my observations.

[@Phoenix_OP]

I wore the ACU/UCP when I first join the State Defense Force and I hated the crap out of it. The pattern turns slightly pink when it's not was properly and fades to easily. I'm just glad that some of us either switching to OCPs.

[@nickairsoft2922]

Daniel The misfit Mandalorian I thought maybe my eyesight was bad because because I noticed my pants had a slight pink color to them too after a while.

[@sovereignstate6760]

UCPD looks pretty cool.

[@TenmaFN]

When I was in basic 2005 we still had the old greens an polished jump boots. Around early 2006 was when they issued us the ACU..I hated them, I missed ironing my coat and pants, and polishing my jump boots. Then there was the Molly vs. the Alice pack, sure you had more room in the Molly.. but that also ment they increased the things you were to carry thus more weight. The many of us broke the plastic racks on the Molly during jumps.

[@expl0sives4day58]

Us army went "my oc plz don't steal!".

[@rc59191]

UCP doesn't deserve the hate it gets. It does it's job well in urban environments and outside of that most firefights are at distances of over a 100 meters. Camos intended to breakup your outline not hide you out in the open.

[@SonOfTheDawn515]

In assfuckistan maybe. In ramadi they were under 300 with most being well under 100 meters. Hell, I've had fights from across the damn street.

[@G1000-r5c]

I agree with you, I personally like the UCP ngl

[@rc59191]

@@SonOfTheDawn515 at that range you need armor and firepower not camo lol

[@rc59191]

@@G1000-r5c the Ukrainians actually perfected it and made it better than OCP with their version.

[@G1000-r5c]

@@rc59191 cool

[@zacharyruiz1542]

This is interesting keep up the good work

[@GruntProof]

I received that garbage in 2005 prior to heading to Ramadi. It is total crap: pattern and function. I just did a full review on it, if anyone wants to know how us Soldiers actually felt about it.

[@SonOfTheDawn515]

2006 for Ramadi myself. First gen uniforms tore easily and didn't blend for shit during the day.

[@CaspianWint]

The first time I saw ACU, I just assumed it was a new pattern of urban camouflage, which I think it would be quite suited to. How many billions did that cost? I shudder to think.....

[@johnrodriguez7742]

I Am Prior Service USMC and US Army ( USMC, 870702-910701, Corporal (E-4), MOS 2531; US Army, 930108-981217, Sergeant ( E-5), MOS 92G2P), and I and My Wife both wore M-81 Woodland Camouflage Pattern BDU. My Son was a 11B10( Infantry Soldier) in The Army from 2012, until He died in 2017, and He had worn both Army Combat Uniform,in both UCP and OCP MultiCam. In His Honor, I own 3 complete UCP Uniforms but also OCP MultiCam Combat Shirts, Condor Ball Covers, and yes, a set of M-81 Woodland Camouflage Pattern BDUs.

[@jasonspades5628]

Damn. This was well made.

[@1lostinspace]

I think everyone is missing the point of UCP, it’s obviously made out of the top performing NIR colors it’s primarily function is night operations. We all agree it’s not bad in urban matching roads and parking lots. Its good in snow woods as well, rocky mountains and so on, I wish the 500 tan was more of khaki color, that would take the too light look to it away and start to actually start blending with nature, its why when UCP gets dirty it starts to work really well

[@MichaelR58]

Definitely a fail and a costly mistake, someone got some kickbacks on that crap .thanks for sharing !

[@charlesshelton7989]

BDU's: Her dad DCU's: Her mother MARPAT: The guy she told you not to worry about UCP: You

[@bigredone1030]

Her ex: CADPAT

[@fatdelinquent85]

subbed. entertaining and informative. thanks.

[@spongebob7296]

UCP works great if your only battlefield is granite mountains

[@colineason6135]

So do we know how and why the decision was made to use UCP? The video made it seem like it popped up out of nowhere like some kind of fungus.

[@micahfrye8885]

What are those bottom pockets for? The two on the calfs I can't find a use for them

[@jamestheotherone742]

When you are seated (in a vehicle, or probably whomever thought of it, and office chair) they are fairly convenient to reach. The are just big enough to hold a M-16 mag, but you wouldn't want to walk very far like that. I used to keep my issued Nokia phone in one.

[@jacobb2449]

What pattern is the Estonian soldier wearing in the picture?

[@highonimmi]

the officer responsible for choosing the acu pattern retired soon after and was hired by...guess what company?

[@JayKayKay7]

I wore Woodland BDU's in the USAF '88-90 at Clark Air Base, PI. Great uniform and over there was pretty good in the jungles over there. My kid was at Ft Jackson graduating Basic and we went out there for it. Everybody was in ACU's and in the right twilight were very hard to see. Which is why everybody had yellow reflective belts, but you've explained the phenomena when a soldier has all their gear on, they almost glow. He didn't like it but now 9 years later post OCS, Ranger School, and two deployments to Iraq with a Stryker platoon and one to Afghanistan with a company of the 82nd, they wear the OEF, I think.

[@quazy1328]

In Iraq we could see people wearing ACU's from over a mile away, the DCU's were better because they actually blended in with the desert that is actually tan. Who would have thought a tan combat uniform blends in magnitudes better than one based on grey.

[@coronisk.1564]

"Completely retired by Oct. of 2019" he says, as I look behind me to all of my ACU gear issued to me Nov. of 2019

[@ywe3]

Retired doesn't mean thrown out...ACUs are still issued stateside because they're expendable equipment...and available en masse...but last I checked BDUs are still allowed on base and that's probably what I'd wear just go to any army/navy surplus store...they're literally 65 cents...

[@mixmaster2909]

My local ROTC still issues interceptor vests in UCP and PASGT helmets with UCP cover hell they still issue tricolor desert molle rucksacks

[@BStrambo]

Unfortunately just the "uniform" not the equipment. If only the equipment was FDE from the beginning. I got lucky and have all OCP gear issued now.

[@arizuokusawa6953]

The intro rocks a lot

[@ShaDOWDoG667]

This is exactly what I did my senior project on in Highschool back in 2014.

[@unitednationsrep.lipton2470]

I like universal because it was the camp I grew up with so I will wear it. There will be plenty of surplus on that after October yaaa

[@carloshuertas8101]

I didn't like the A.C.Us at 1st, but now I love it, and I will miss it greatly :(

[@Jaeounion]

The number of people that confuse ACU (the uniform name) with OCP (the camouflage pattern) is staggering. ACU is not a camo pattern, OCP is!

[@MigueldeCastro719]

I confess that I like this ACU/UCP uniform

[@Gh0st800]

UCP works after you jump in a pile of dirt

[@omegacheese6095]

Jesus used it to escape the rocky caves where his tomb was

[@massv953]

Real question...why are civilian camo patterns used by hunters seemingly so much better at being camouflage than military camo? look at things like realtree etc, seems to work far better than any military pattern?

[@jeffreyroot6300]

Cory R Free enterprise is all about serving the customers needs . Those who do so best stand to make the most money while leaving happy customers. Military acquisitions are top down processes that turn a lot of that relationship upside down, sometimes leaving no one satisfied, even the contractors can lose out. Example : Colt produced millions of weapons and parts for World War 2, but was not allowed to make a good profit ( FDR didn’t like business). They made some money, yes, but not enough to retool worn equipment and develop new technology and products. Some formerly profitable products were discontinued because the tooling was shot and not worth replacing. Add in multiple management errors and they went bankrupt several times.

[@lil__boi3027]

How eas colt not allowed to profit from their own factories in ww2? First time hearing about this​@@jeffreyroot6300

[@maccliff2115]

Excellent Video. I liked how you sourced official documents. I was issued ACU’s and all the high speed ACU Molle gear in 2006. I went to A-Stan with the All American 82nd Airborne. I liked the boots. Who remembers KIWI? LoL However the pattern was not effective camouflage and faded to cook whites over time. I’m out now and I stuck with old school woodland camo BDU’s

[@moxnixgaming9591]

Call me crazy but that UCP-Delta looks decent. I always thought our ACU's looked decently effective when they were filthy from 2 weeks in the field, which is kinda the same look, just adding tan.

[@walkingoutdoor7284]

Velcro pockets on a field uniform? o.O

[@FieldMarshalFeels]

Yep. They replaced most of the velcro pockets on the OCPs, but it's still terrible with the loss of nametapes and unit patches. Velcro is loud, ugly, and wears out. The buttons are the best, zippers are alright, but velcro? That shit is trash.

[@thecavalrygeneral3453]

Behold the coming of the Cement Monsters!

[@Realchairborne]

I joined the Army and wore the woodland camp which wasn’t bad or great, the. I got issued UCP digital crap on my first deployment; as soon as we saw the uniform we all thought it was just a test uniform to wear on deployment because it didn’t blend in with anything. On my last deployment we where issued multi cam which is the best uniform I have seen while deployed and many nato countries are adopting versions of it.

[@johnrodriguez7742]

Effective 191001, The United States Army Uniform Camouflage Pattern Army Combat Uniform will be replaced with a different Camouflage Pattern, called the Organizational Camouflage Pattern MultiCam Uniform. I Am Prior Service USMC and US Army, and, here in Tucson, Arizona, I Am already beginning to see Veterans and Civilians wear parts of The UCP, including a digital camouflage baseball cover/cap/ headgear.

[@Dilo22]

Let's adopt camo that functions best against nightvision/IR. You know, that equipment that the durkas we're fighting dont have. Also, maybe I missed it, but did we ever find out where the pattern came from/why it was picked? Like it skipped all the testing and was just chosen out of the blue behind closed doors? I've heard explanations of that it just looked futuristic and cool. I pray the administration of the army isn't that vapid.