The tradition of red represented the Tudor Rose, but change is good. At this time, British rifle units switched to wearing green jackets and started blending into tree lines. Red is quite easily seen in most landscapes.
A Brief History of CamoĪt some point, around the Napoleonic Wars actually, someone pointed out that the British wearing red coats was actually a poor choice vis a vis camouflaging themselves from sight and general guerilla tactics. It consistently re-designs its field wear to match the area in which they’re deploying troops for combat or peacekeeping missions. For the military, its fashions depend on the enemy. The US military continuously updates its camouflage uniforms, turning out new battle dress uniform (BDUs), combat uniforms and dress uniforms. While fashion designers have co-opted the modern patterns of military uniforms, their original use remains hiding from the enemy. Those simple, drab colors matched local trees. Regardless, the Army says the OCP is now its official uniform pattern, replacing the short-lived UCP.Camouflage has come a long way since its earliest uses by gamekeepers and irregular units to hide from both game and poachers. According to the Army, the OCP offers better concealment than the UCP, presumably because of its non-pixelated pattern.
#UCP CAMOUFLAGE CODE#
Also known as its code name Scorpion W2, the OCP is a non-pixelated uniform pattern developed by the U.S. With the UCP officially retired, the soldiers will now wear the OCP. As a result, the Army stopped making uniforms with the UCP in 2014 and, instead, began focusing on uniforms with the OCP. In these studies, the Army found that the OCP offered better concealment for soldiers than the UCP.
#UCP CAMOUFLAGE SERIES#
Numerous reports emerged of soldiers claiming the UCP made them more visible, thus prompting a series of new studies by the Army to further investigate the UCP’s performance. When the UCP was initially rolled out in the mid-2000s, soldiers serving in Afghanistan begin questioning its effectiveness. It’s just now, however, officially retiring the UCP in favor of the OCP. Well, the Army actually discontinued the UCP back in 2014. Given that the UCP project costs over $5 billion - combined with the fact that it’s a relatively new pattern - you might be wondering why the Army decided to retire the pattern. After extensive testing in the early 2000s, the Army selected the UCP as its uniform pattern, believing it would offer the highest level of concealment for soldiers on the battlefield.ĬLICK HERE: To See the Best Made In USA Military Flags → Why the Army Has Decided to Retire the UCP Reports show the Army spent over $5 billion on the project. As shown in the image here, it’s characterized by a pixelated pattern, which is a direct variant of the Marine Corps’s MARPAT camouflage.Ĭreating the UCP wasn’t a cheap or easy process. But there’s a good reason why the Army is switching to the OCP.Īlso known as the Army Combat Uniform Pattern, the UCP is a military camouflage pattern developed by the U.S. After all, the UCP has only been around for about about 15 years. To many soldiers, news of the Army’s decision to retire the UCP was a surprise.
1, 2019, the Army announced that it would be switching to the traditional Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) featuring non-pixelated patterns of green and brown. Army has decided to retire its Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP). After being introduced in 2004 as the standard uniform for soldiers, the U.S.