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So I was looking at my OCP Uniform the other day and I started to think to myself... If I can get my badges, rank, and nametapes sewed on my uniform, what was the point of switching from the BDU'S? One of the many reasons the ACU'S were brought into existence was to save Soldiers money by not having to sew everything on..fast forward 10 years and you can sew anything on and it's even more expensive now then it was then. I can go on about the buttons and how OCP looks like a different color woodland pattern but wanted to pose this question for everyone. Thoughts?
Uniforms
OCP
ACU
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 49
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to support the rag Makers who are supporting the Congress Critters and The Commanders in the nose Bleed Sections...
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It was a money move. Congress wanted a uniform that was best in all environments to save from theater-specific uniforms. ACU tested as the best pattern across theaters (not the best in any single one, but best overall).
Clearly not good rationale there. ...unless of course a Soldier is sleeping under a truck in a concrete Garrison motor pool- then the ACUs could hide them.
Clearly not good rationale there. ...unless of course a Soldier is sleeping under a truck in a concrete Garrison motor pool- then the ACUs could hide them.
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SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
For sure Sergeant Smith, seems some of the camo patterns for example in a woodland area they don''t blend, not only can You see them but the only thing that may make them more apparent would be white or a bright orange or Yellow. Even the old olive drab fatigues blended better than some of the uniforms of today. You look at some of the patterns and then look at the surroundings, it shouldn't take a genius to figure out what colors are in nature and how to blend with them !
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CW4 Tim Claus
ACU coloring is pretty good in the rushes and other foliage along desert and arid country streams, rivers, etc, but not so good elsewhere. Having a career that spanned from cotton fatigues to ACUs and just to the beginning of the current uniforms. Except for the perma-press OD fatigues, all were better than their predecessors, at least until the CSMs started to insist on starching so they 'looked professional'. BDUs were a definite improvement over fatigues, and the ACUs better than BDUs/DCUs. Uniforms evolve, get used to it. The one change I did not think was really good was when we went from the winter weight AG 44/summer weight AG 344 combination for Class A to just the 344s. The wool 44s were the best looking of all the variations of Class A uniform.
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OCP, as far as the cut of the uniform, is a better uniform to wear with body armor (and the combat shirt is an improvement over that). I don't understand why the Army removed the option to sew badges on in the first place, as the only thing soldiers frequently replace in garrison was their unit patch. As far as the color, it blends into a broader range of environments than the BDUs did without making the universal claim that ACUs failed at. The other uniform requirement the Army is working is a jungle pattern (most likely with be Crye Precsion's jungle colors in the Army's Scorpion 2 pattern just like they did with Multi-Cam).
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MAJ (Join to see)
//I don't understand why the Army removed the option to sew badges on in the first place, as the only thing soldiers frequently replace in garrison was their unit patch.//
True for most. I was one of those exceptions. My wife and I wear the same size ACU, and sometimes we would accidentally grab each others' when popping out the door at some god-awful hour. It was helpful to keep a few rank and name tape sets (along with the unit patch etc.) in the car for those instances. Since then we've synchronized names, which is one less worry, but it's still a risk that I might show up to duty wearing SSG stripes, or that she might show up with an oak leaf. Our current solution is that I've switched to OCP but she hasn't (which has the luxury of having us able to sew on again, which we have, because I don't want to be the one field-grade without it).
True for most. I was one of those exceptions. My wife and I wear the same size ACU, and sometimes we would accidentally grab each others' when popping out the door at some god-awful hour. It was helpful to keep a few rank and name tape sets (along with the unit patch etc.) in the car for those instances. Since then we've synchronized names, which is one less worry, but it's still a risk that I might show up to duty wearing SSG stripes, or that she might show up with an oak leaf. Our current solution is that I've switched to OCP but she hasn't (which has the luxury of having us able to sew on again, which we have, because I don't want to be the one field-grade without it).
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CW4 Tim Claus
The Velcro patches were a pain, and usually the edges caught on everything. Plus, when the corners pull up in the laundry, everything sticks together. Much preferred the change when we could sew the name tapes and rank on. Those don't change all that often that it is a big problem, or expense.
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Between the Senior military leaders at the Pentagon and select Congressmen, someone was getting a nice payday with all the changes to the combat uniform, headgear, dress uniform, and PTs. We thought the same about Velcro tags and no more sewing until you saw how much it cost for one patch. At least, I could do my own sewing. ACUs failed both noise discipline and durability. There's no such thing as one uniform for every environment.
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Sp4 Byron Skinner. Its all fashion, to me the most practical uniform in modern times was the Vietnam era light weight jungle fatigue. No starch, just a simple coat lose fitting pants with plenty of pockets, the lose fitting was very welcome that after a night patrol you licked up some leeches looking for a ride and a snack. A leech on one testicles is not a good way to start the day. Some idiot officers who never went to the field and spent 36 hours on a sweep mission never used the lower pockets on the blouse, that was where we kept out snack items and small can's of C's to eat while we had smoke breaks. The same bird brains over the past decade spent over $2 billion dollars to find the right camouflage pattern just to return to the one they started with. Personally I think the camouflage in any pattern looks silly looks rather silly. The evidence that camouflage uniform make the soldier any less recognizable in the filed has no supporting evidence. The Velcro is noisy and pulling off a patch is just saying to the enemy: "I'm over here… " But its sexy and hey we need something for the over 1,000 flag officers to. As a sailor said a while back about the Navy's Blueberry Camouflage, it doesn't conceal anybody except the guy who feel overboard. Then it does a great job.
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Last month a buddy at my unit asked the same thing. My answer to him (flippant to be sure): "Because it was Tuesday".
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BDUs and DCUs actually helped in camouflaging soldiers in combat. ACUs made soldiers sticking out like a sore thumb the opposite of camouflaging. OCPs is the Army fixing a big screw up that are ACUs.
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SSG (Join to see)
I am not sure what the ACU was a camouflag pattern for, but it sucked. I ran a qualification range, and they were just beginning to switch to ACU's. we had a hard time picking up the drill sgt against the woods in the old BDU's but once the ACU came out it was no problem to see them against the wood line.
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