Army to finally adopt new uniforms

N&P: Discuss governments, nations, politics and recent related news here.

Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital

User avatar
Tsyroc
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 13748
Joined: 2002-07-29 08:35am
Location: Tucson, Arizona

Post by Tsyroc »

At least in the desert they might be able to get the uniform dusty enough that it sort of blends in.

So far this new uniform reminds me of the "haze grey" of the Navy. Ships tend to blend into the horizon. We even mostly paint our planes grey now so they aren't as easy to spot. It even gets to be a sort of splotchy pattern as the ground crew retouches the paint on the plane.

Woodland camo works great even when people are very close to you. This new uniform won't be as effective at close ranges. I suppose it may work well enough in the urban environment or when people only get a quick look and want to snap a shot off, but otherwise I think it's a mistake except for being able to accept more armor.

Incidently, the picture of the guy in the new uniform with his berret on reminds me of the dress uniforms in the Starship Troopers movie, except not cool looking. :)
By the pricking of my thumb,
Something wicked this way comes.
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks.
User avatar
Wicked Pilot
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 8972
Joined: 2002-07-05 05:45pm

Post by Wicked Pilot »

What the hell is wrong with the Army? I mean seriousily, are they secretly going through a RIF, and trying to purposefully make retention and recruitment go further down the shitter? Looking at the Army lately, with their "Be a Soldier of One", berrets for everyone, and now their one color fits none BDUs, my confidence in that service is at an all time low.


On a plus note, at least us in the aviation world will have a less hard time distinguishing friendlies from the enemy. We'll just look for the idiots sticking out like sore thumbs in their dress whites, er I mean BDUs. I can just here the Tac-Ps on the radio now, "see those stupid fucks wearing what appear to be long johns, yeah, that's us, shoot everyone else."
The most basic assumption about the world is that it does not contradict itself.
User avatar
Son of the Suns
Lex Eternus
Posts: 1495
Joined: 2003-06-03 05:01pm

Post by Son of the Suns »

I hope they aren't running around in the forest in those. No matter what kind of digital camo you have the Mark I eyeball would see you a mile away.
User avatar
BlkbrryTheGreat
BANNED
Posts: 2658
Joined: 2002-11-04 07:48pm
Location: Philadelphia PA

Post by BlkbrryTheGreat »

Polically Correct Appointments + Heriarchal Command Structure = Incompentance = Horrible Uniforms
Devolution is quite as natural as evolution, and may be just as pleasing, or even a good deal more pleasing, to God. If the average man is made in God's image, then a man such as Beethoven or Aristotle is plainly superior to God, and so God may be jealous of him, and eager to see his superiority perish with his bodily frame.

-H.L. Mencken
User avatar
His Divine Shadow
Commence Primary Ignition
Posts: 12791
Joined: 2002-07-03 07:22am
Location: Finland, west coast

Re: Army to finally adopt new uniforms

Post by His Divine Shadow »

Master of Ossus wrote:It's about time the US Army got new uniforms, though I don't really see how these provide much better camoflauge protection than the old ones. Seems like a compromise to allow one uniform to provide minimal concealment in a wide range of areas, rather than offering good concealment in a single type of terrain.
The US army is apparently going to follow the tactics of the Brittish in WW2 according to Monty Python where they fought the Germans with the perfect joke.
Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who did not.
User avatar
Master of Ossus
Darkest Knight
Posts: 18213
Joined: 2002-07-11 01:35am
Location: California

Post by Master of Ossus »

So... does everyone agree with my general sentiment that the Army's reasoning was an attempt to provide some concealment over all types of terrain, rather than good concealment over specific types of terrain?
"Sometimes I think you WANT us to fail." "Shut up, just shut up!" -Two Guys from Kabul

Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner

"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000

"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
Howedar
Emperor's Thumb
Posts: 12472
Joined: 2002-07-03 05:06pm
Location: St. Paul, MN

Post by Howedar »

Except that I'm not joking when I say the clothes I'm wearing right now blend in better with their photographed environment than the new BDUs.

And no, I'm not a camo-wearing redneck.
Howedar is no longer here. Need to talk to him? Talk to Pick.
User avatar
His Divine Shadow
Commence Primary Ignition
Posts: 12791
Joined: 2002-07-03 07:22am
Location: Finland, west coast

Post by His Divine Shadow »

Soontir C'boath wrote:
Knife wrote:Even then, white overalls are issued in artic or winter mountain conditions that cover up the massive amounts of green colored, cold weather gear you wear. :wink:
Headlines:US Army cannot afford white overalls anymore to go with regular uniform. :wink:
In finland our uniforms where green camo on one side and white on the other, during winter we just wore them outside in, they where designed for that, one uniform for two seasons.
Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who did not.
User avatar
His Divine Shadow
Commence Primary Ignition
Posts: 12791
Joined: 2002-07-03 07:22am
Location: Finland, west coast

Post by His Divine Shadow »

Master of Ossus wrote:So... does everyone agree with my general sentiment that the Army's reasoning was an attempt to provide some concealment over all types of terrain, rather than good concealment over specific types of terrain?
No, my sentiment is that they are trying to kill the enemy by making him laugh so hard he can't shoot back.
Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who did not.
User avatar
Master of Ossus
Darkest Knight
Posts: 18213
Joined: 2002-07-11 01:35am
Location: California

Post by Master of Ossus »

His Divine Shadow wrote:In finland our uniforms where green camo on one side and white on the other, during winter we just wore them outside in, they where designed for that, one uniform for two seasons.
Well... I think that idea's pretty crappy, too, but I understand why it would make sense in Finland.
"Sometimes I think you WANT us to fail." "Shut up, just shut up!" -Two Guys from Kabul

Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner

"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000

"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
User avatar
Drooling Iguana
Sith Marauder
Posts: 4975
Joined: 2003-05-13 01:07am
Location: Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha

Post by Drooling Iguana »

At least now I don't feel so bad about our troops going into the desert wearing forest camo...
Image
"Stop! No one can survive these deadly rays!"
"These deadly rays will be your death!"
- Thor and Akton, Starcrash

"Before man reaches the moon your mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California, to England, to India or to Australia by guided missiles.... We stand on the threshold of rocket mail."
- Arthur Summerfield, US Postmaster General 1953 - 1961
User avatar
Oberleutnant
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1583
Joined: 2002-07-06 04:44pm
Location: Finland

Post by Oberleutnant »

Lord Revan wrote:I have say to that even the finnish M-91 uniforms look better then this and we finns have not been in any war since WW2.
Dunno. The M/91 pattern is quite horrible and there are many other things what should be fixed in that thing. Still, the M/91 is lot better than the godawful M/62, which will be entirely replaced in few years.


The new M/05 uniform of the Finnish Defence Forces:

http://tietokannat.mil.fi/np03/data/ima ... _press.jpg

Seems quite effective.




Coastal jaegers dressed in the M/91s:
http://tietokannat.mil.fi/aalto2004/inc ... &width=640 (0,3 megs)
"Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this."
User avatar
Lord Revan
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 12229
Joined: 2004-05-20 02:23pm
Location: Zone:classified

Post by Lord Revan »

Oberleutnant wrote: Dunno. The M/91 pattern is quite horrible and there are many other things what should be fixed in that thing. Still, the M/91 is lot better than the godawful M/62, which will be entirely replaced in few years.


The new M/05 uniform of the Finnish Defence Forces:

http://tietokannat.mil.fi/np03/data/ima ... _press.jpg

Seems quite effective.

Coastal jaegers dressed in the M/91s:
http://tietokannat.mil.fi/aalto2004/inc ... &width=640 (0,3 megs)

I've only used M/91 or M/62 so I can't anything of M/05, but seems pretty good
Atavarius
Padawan Learner
Posts: 309
Joined: 2003-04-30 10:05pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Post by Atavarius »

There must be other colors. Here as well. Unless my eyes are fooling me.

Also it seems that the collar is not to be worn up all the time, only with the new body armor system.
User avatar
Oberleutnant
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1583
Joined: 2002-07-06 04:44pm
Location: Finland

Post by Oberleutnant »

https://peosoldier.army.mil/photos/ACU1_low.jpg

I suppose this picture is closer to the real thing than the one used in the CNN article. After all, not only does it look more sound, but also matches the description of the new uniform much better: ". . . is a mix of light green, tan and gray."

From an aestethical viewpoint the new Army uniform still looks butt-ugly.


Seems quite effective.
That should've been "Seems quite effective pattern."
"Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this."
Howedar
Emperor's Thumb
Posts: 12472
Joined: 2002-07-03 05:06pm
Location: St. Paul, MN

Post by Howedar »

I find it amusing that the rank insignia is perfectly placed to be covered up by body armor.

I'd like to think that there'd be alternate placement when the body armor goes on, but I certainly don't see any.
Howedar is no longer here. Need to talk to him? Talk to Pick.
User avatar
Master of Ossus
Darkest Knight
Posts: 18213
Joined: 2002-07-11 01:35am
Location: California

Post by Master of Ossus »

Howedar wrote:I find it amusing that the rank insignia is perfectly placed to be covered up by body armor.

I'd like to think that there'd be alternate placement when the body armor goes on, but I certainly don't see any.
I would think that it would be pretty easy to attach a rank insignia to the body armor itself, since it's basically coated with cloth. However, a lot of soldiers and units purposely cover up their ranks, or even remove them, before they go into combat just so that enemy snipers have more trouble identifying officers and high-ranking NCO's.
"Sometimes I think you WANT us to fail." "Shut up, just shut up!" -Two Guys from Kabul

Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner

"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000

"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
User avatar
Beowulf
The Patrician
Posts: 10619
Joined: 2002-07-04 01:18am
Location: 32ULV

Post by Beowulf »

Master of Ossus wrote:
Howedar wrote:I find it amusing that the rank insignia is perfectly placed to be covered up by body armor.

I'd like to think that there'd be alternate placement when the body armor goes on, but I certainly don't see any.
I would think that it would be pretty easy to attach a rank insignia to the body armor itself, since it's basically coated with cloth. However, a lot of soldiers and units purposely cover up their ranks, or even remove them, before they go into combat just so that enemy snipers have more trouble identifying officers and high-ranking NCO's.
This is related to the reason why you don't salute officiers in the field. "Congratulations, you just turned him into a target!"
"preemptive killing of cops might not be such a bad idea from a personal saftey[sic] standpoint..." --Keevan Colton
"There's a word for bias you can't see: Yours." -- William Saletan
User avatar
Wicked Pilot
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 8972
Joined: 2002-07-05 05:45pm

Post by Wicked Pilot »

Atavarius wrote:There must be other colors. Here as well. Unless my eyes are fooling me.

Also it seems that the collar is not to be worn up all the time, only with the new body armor system.
Those pictures look more reasonable, so I'm guessing the CNN photo was overexposed. I still think the idea of having one color for two environments is pretty dumb.


At least it's not blue though.
The most basic assumption about the world is that it does not contradict itself.
User avatar
Master of Ossus
Darkest Knight
Posts: 18213
Joined: 2002-07-11 01:35am
Location: California

Post by Master of Ossus »

Wicked Pilot wrote:
Atavarius wrote:There must be other colors. Here as well. Unless my eyes are fooling me.

Also it seems that the collar is not to be worn up all the time, only with the new body armor system.
Those pictures look more reasonable, so I'm guessing the CNN photo was overexposed. I still think the idea of having one color for two environments is pretty dumb.
The new pictures make the uniform look much better. I still think they should at least have a woodland and desert set, but at least that one doesn't stand out against EVERYTHING. I think it actually provides a reasonable degree of concealment in the desert, forest, and an urban environment, which is actually quite impressive. Nonetheless, it still can't compete with clothes designed to suit a particular environment.
"Sometimes I think you WANT us to fail." "Shut up, just shut up!" -Two Guys from Kabul

Latinum Star Recipient; Hacker's Cross Award Winner

"one soler flar can vapririze the planit or malt the nickl in lass than millasacit" -Bagara1000

"Happiness is just a Flaming Moe away."
User avatar
Perinquus
Virus-X Wannabe
Posts: 2685
Joined: 2002-08-06 11:57pm

Post by Perinquus »

Beowulf wrote:
Master of Ossus wrote:
Howedar wrote:I find it amusing that the rank insignia is perfectly placed to be covered up by body armor.

I'd like to think that there'd be alternate placement when the body armor goes on, but I certainly don't see any.
I would think that it would be pretty easy to attach a rank insignia to the body armor itself, since it's basically coated with cloth. However, a lot of soldiers and units purposely cover up their ranks, or even remove them, before they go into combat just so that enemy snipers have more trouble identifying officers and high-ranking NCO's.
This is related to the reason why you don't salute officiers in the field. "Congratulations, you just turned him into a target!"
In the army, our term for this action was "sniper check".
User avatar
GrandMasterTerwynn
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 6787
Joined: 2002-07-29 06:14pm
Location: Somewhere on Earth.

Post by GrandMasterTerwynn »

In other news today, the United States Army has announced that it is in the first stages of carrying out President Bush's latest plans to attack an insidious, anti-American foe . . . the color-blind.

"With the latest in digital technology, we have invented a uniform that will finally give us an edge in the war against the color-blind!" General Hopalong said, amid protests that color-blind people are usually blind to the red or green portions of the spectrum . . . already making the old uniforms invisible to the color-blind.

. . .

Christ that's a stupid uniform design. I can take my glasses off, go across the room and I could probably hit that target using my bad eye.
User avatar
Solid Snake
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1540
Joined: 2002-07-16 07:46pm
Location: 30 miles from my armory

Post by Solid Snake »

Wicked Pilot wrote: On a plus note, at least us in the aviation world will have a less hard time distinguishing friendlies from the enemy. We'll just look for the idiots sticking out like sore thumbs in their dress whites, er I mean BDUs. I can just here the Tac-Ps on the radio now, "see those stupid fucks wearing what appear to be long johns, yeah, that's us, shoot everyone else."
Why are the the E-1-E-4 paygrade morons for doing something our brass tells us?
US Army Infantry: Follow Me!

Heavy Armor Brigade
User avatar
Wicked Pilot
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 8972
Joined: 2002-07-05 05:45pm

Post by Wicked Pilot »

Solid Snake wrote:Why are the the E-1-E-4 paygrade morons for doing something our brass tells us?
I was commenting on the Army as a whole. I actuall feel sorry for the poor grunts whome have this crappy uniform foisted upon to.
The most basic assumption about the world is that it does not contradict itself.
User avatar
RogueIce
_______
Posts: 13387
Joined: 2003-01-05 01:36am
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
Contact:

Post by RogueIce »

Wicked Pilot wrote:
Solid Snake wrote:Why are the the E-1-E-4 paygrade morons for doing something our brass tells us?
I was commenting on the Army as a whole. I actuall feel sorry for the poor grunts whome have this crappy uniform foisted upon to.
We should make a poll on which one is worse: the AF blues or the Army, um, grays they look like.

In terms of looks, I think the Army takes the cake. In terms of usefulness, well, the AF is worse me thinks; this stuff might actually be a little bit effective, unlike the new AF cammies which seem to be an overly glorified dress uniform for working occassions (anytime they point out some form of "symbolism" on a supposedly working uniform, I get very doubtful).
Image
"How can I wait unknowing?
This is the price of war,
We rise with noble intentions,
And we risk all that is pure..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, Forever (Rome: Total War)

"On and on, through the years,
The war continues on..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, We Are All One (Medieval 2: Total War)
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight
Post Reply