Do you think the other services will adopt the Army's Scorpion/OCP patter?

TSgt Terry Hudson — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 07:35:41 -0400

With the Army recently releasing their new camouflage, and Congress requiring all service share uniform/camouflage, what do you think the other services will do? The OCP's have been operational for a while now and widely used by all branches. Should all branches go ahead and adopt them as well?

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 11 at 2014 2:00 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 14:00:38 -0400

I think that the OCP is one of the better uniforms but I believe we should all still wear our rank in the areas that we have in our respective branches. Like Air Force on sleeve and army on the chest. Just so we can still feel separate but unified.

Response by LTC Paul Labrador made Aug 11 at 2014 3:42 PM

LTC Paul Labrador — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 15:42:28 -0400

I think the AF will likely follow suit. As for the Navy, they may adopt it for folks who are doing land combat ops (ie CB's, SEALs, etc), but I think they will keep the dark color uniforms. They were adopted to hid grease stains after all. The Marines will only change if forced to do so by someone who outranks the Commandant....

Response by CMSgt James Nolan made Aug 11 at 2014 4:31 PM

CMSgt James Nolan — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 16:31:03 -0400

All for it. OCP is significantly better than the ABU, and we could ditch the smurf boots as well. As far as rank, I have always felt that we should go to keeping the individual service stripe/bar insignias, but go to common location. Go with subdued for field and shiny officer for garrison. All done with velcro, will save the troops a ton of money and give everyone a single location to look for rank.

Plus look at the overall benefit-any troop, anywhere could replace an unserviceable uniform, and we could possibly get a top notch uniform manufacturer.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Aug 11 at 2014 4:46 PM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 16:46:44 -0400

Doubtful. MARPAT is still an extremely effective pattern.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 11 at 2014 10:35 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 22:35:25 -0400

In the current fiscally strained environment, I believe that we all need to follow suit and decide on one uniform across the board. It is senseless that each service spends millions of dollars to R&D its "own" uniform for the sake of "individuality." That is what the service tape above your left pocket is for. As far as where rank is or isn't located, I could go for either. It would make it easier all around especially in a joint environment look in one place to figure out what rank someone is.

The Scorpion V2 pattern is an effective pattern based off of Crye Precision's MultiCam pattern. They just don't have to pay to use the pattern. In the case of MARPAT, it is effective but suck it up and look like your brothers or let other services wear the MARPAT patter without the USMC symbol embedded in it. It makes you less of a target outside the wire. Plus testing has shown that MARPAT of both colors does not perform well under NIR and SWIR testing. The camo pattern almost disappears under these conditions and looks white.

If you want to read in-depth about it, check it here: http://www.hyperstealth.com/coyote/

Why not just use MARPAT?

Special Addition: Night Vision Device (Gen-III) comparison photos of US4CES and some of the U.S. Army Phase IV camouflage patterns

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 7 at 2014 5:16 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 17:16:44 -0400

I don't think so. The USMC has their MARPAT, and the Navy has NWU Type II and III. The Marine Corps will not give up their pattern without a fight. I doubt the Navy will either. However, the Navy did issue OCP to Sailors deploying into Afghanistan. There will have to be a jointly-developed, mutually agreed-upon pattern for all five services to use before we go back to wearing the same thing.

Response by SSG Maurice P. made Oct 7 at 2014 8:39 PM

SSG Maurice P. — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 20:39:47 -0400

the corps ought to go back to the sateen olive drab uniform with sateen cover oohrah

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 4 at 2014 2:45 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 02:45:16 -0500

The problem I have with the Army's adoption of "Scorpion" pattern is this: it was developed YEARS ago in conjunction with Crye Precision, the same guys who make MultiCam. Somehow it was beat out during testing by UCP (which is CLEARLY the superior pattern -.-). Army then fields MultiCam in Afghanistan after realizing how crappy UCP really is in certain environments like everywhere. Next the Army tries to buy the rights to MultiCam. Crye Precision even went waaaay out of its way to give the Army a good deal, the ability to manufacture OCP within 1% the cost of current UCP gear. Army said no way, too expensive. And now they fall back on a pattern they have been sitting on for no good reason other than because some idiot decided UCP was the way to go.

Response by SrA Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 5 at 2014 3:00 AM

SrA Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 03:00:01 -0500

I cant decide on whether I like the idea of all the branches sharing one uniform or not, but I love the idea of the location of rank insignia all being in the same spot and maybe even sharing a universal structure.

Response by SrA Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 5 at 2014 3:06 AM

SrA Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 03:06:51 -0500

I already left a comment but this might be a good spot to ask this question.
I don't know why the Navy NWU's are blue. They're cool looking, but the only thing they camo in with is the water and if a sailor goes overboard at night it makes looking for them much more difficult. Otherwise, their "camo" makes them stick out like sore thumbs anywhere else.
Any insight on why they're blue?

Response by GySgt Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 11 at 2014 12:07 AM

GySgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 00:07:38 -0500

Nope. The Marines won't have it... Our former Commandant tried to make a change to the uniform (no rolling sleeves) lasted for about a year because the NCOs and down said we want to roll them. If they try to make us like everyone else we will raise all hell (no offense). And if helos can't see me 100 feet off the deck I'll keep my digies

Response by SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 16 at 2014 8:57 AM

SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 08:57:57 -0500

Unit Specific: AF Security Forces wears a blue beret, I would be all for the idea of changing the uniform if the blue beret could be tan or brown to match the uniform and also have a subdued type SF flash, otherwise I believe the colors would clash and not give a professional image. As a prior Marine, I can understand the pride of the Eagle, Globe and Anchor embedded in the uniform and for those that commented saying "suck it up", it's apparent that you have never been through Marine Corps boot camp having the honor to wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor. A lot of blood and sweat went into that accomplishment, so good luck trying to get my fellow marines to part with what they so diligently earned to wear.