US Camouflage: 1942 to 2018 | Collector's & History Corner 

The woodland BDU was unequivocally the coolest looking uniform ever, it is timeless.

The Blueberries were very good at helping you hide ink stains.

It's not the Universal Combat Pattern it's the Useless Combat Pattern

I don't see anything on that table

not going to lie though MARPAT is probably one of the best camouflage patterns we've used. Only because it actually works

"Did Stevie Wonder approve this?" I'm dead

Even though his face was not shown - the name and voice was recognized immediately. Served with the moderator LTC Gurski many moons ago! Good to see that he is proving true to the adage that - "Old soldiers never die ....". From one - (tad younger) - old soldier to the next! LTC(Rtd) Panton.

I wish the US military went back to using a single uniform pattern like during the days of tri-colors. We look like a "rainbow" military now.

Navy should wear concrete camo to blend into the ship

RIP Blue USN uniform

I miss my blueberries everyday. Type I's are bulky. We never wore them at sea so the overboard thing is irrelevant and because it was designed to be a combination of ship's paint colors it was a great working uniform. You get paint on it and it wasn't very noticeable.

Random point: Australia used ERDL camo during the late years of the Vietnam war and US type woodland in ADF format is currently in use as OPFOR camo during training

11:28 - The woodland pattern Battle Dress Uniform is still available for sale from the original manufacturers. It has no zippers or Velcro, only buttons; so a lot of people prefer it to the current Army Combat Uniform for durability and noise. In my PLC pool we used it as our utility uniform.

He's missing the Navy desert digital uniform. AOR 1

My company was the very first one to get new USMC digital camouflage uniforms in 2002!

This guy is a fantastic presenter. I especially loved his offhand WAVEs crack at about 18:50

I miss the OD green.

Thanks man! Great video. Always wondered why there were so may US patterns. Loved learning the common names used for them :D

This was actually a really great history lesson, thank you sir!

I did like the blue navy, grey Air Force, desert USMC, and multicam army, it was so easy to identify them

18:30 This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of the NWU. It was never intended to be "camouflage" in the conventional sense. Rather, the pattern is intended to hide the inevitable stains and grime that come from many working rates aboard a ship while still looking somewhat presentable. The "what if you go overboard" thing is often *way* overrated and really seems more like a talking point that gets parroted than a legitimate criticism. The actual safety issue inherent to the NWUs was its construction was not remotely fire-safe and has an unfortunate tendency to literally melt into the wearer's skin when exposed to extreme heat.

Ironically he didnt mention that the MARPAT design was copied from the Canadian Forces CADPAT camouflage.

The Vietnam tiger stripe looks the best. Not useful outside of the jungle but still an amazing design.

Dad had a few sets of his issued tigerstripes. Still my favorite. And they work (new from army store) well for central north Carolina for airsoft.

Great video. Although I’m not an American I also collect these camos along side some European forces ones. I missed the traditional od green worn in Vietnam. The same worn in the nice M65 field jackets. Thanks for nice “class”. A lot of history there! Thanks for your service.

In fact, MARPAT was based on Canadian CADPAT - used with permission and with slight colour adjustments.

I love this! Again, very informative and cool. Keep posting.👍

Greetings from a British army vet. What a wonderfully informative video, I very much enjoyed it.

The NWU uniform was mostly created to help disguise oil, paint, and other stains on the uniform. Stains happen quite often on the uniform during a deployment. The uniform was not good for the ship though, it wasn't flame retardant.

The blueberry in my opinion is the prettiest choice of colors ever used in a camouflage. That being said not the wisest choice of colors for people who could possibly fall overboard.

Great vid thank you, well filmed and a good presentation.

In 1978, Marine Corps bootcamp, San Diego, I was issued the one you showed previous to the woodland, only my upper pockets were slanted at about a 40 degree angle.

My first term, '77 to '81, in the Army everyone wore the solid green fatigues. The trouser pockets were patch pockets sewn to the outside of the sides of the trousers. A design guaranteed to let anything, keys and coins, fall out. You knew it was a few days before payday because everybody would go to the rec room and search the sofa for coins to get snacks out of the vending machines. Re-enlisted in '84 and got the BDU. It had thicker cloth so was very hot in the summer, but, great in autumn and winter. So the Division Commander had the option of the older Viet-nam green utility uniform. The top had the slanted pockets. You had to buy them with your money. None were issued. Thought the BDU was better than the old green "pickle suit" anyway. Plus, you didn't lose whatever was in your pockets. Just couldn't rely on the couch for extra beer money just before payday.

WOODLAND 4 LIFE BOIS

There was a time .... not long ago..... that camouflage was a valuable skill.......not a fashion statement.

Really good video!!!

Hoped for some ucp-delta, still nice collection though

Very good video! The hot weather combat suit (see minute 8:30 to 9:00) was still used in the summer of 1989 by the US Army in Germany. I was in the German Army in this time and have saved such a dress (with all the patches). Only the fold in the pockets is missing.

I served in the USMC from '79 to '83. We were issued the ripstop woodland cammo. That's all we had, but once in awhile, we could buy the slanted pocket Vietnam era mostly green cammo, like you have there. We didn't have reinforced elbows, knees and seats, so a couple of trips to the field would make our cammies essentially unserviceable, due to rips and tears. Thanks for this video. It was good to see some of this old stuff again and the new stuff too!!

Very interesting collection. Thanks

Camo was to an extent (to my knowledge) was first used by sharpshooters in the civil war. They wore green, and rubber buttons to reduce shine.

MARPAT is either green or tan, and each style has its own role, depending on climate and surroundings. The ACU pattern is gray, and you never see grey in the desert, and seldom see it in the woods. Unless you're searching for a guy wearing ACUs, in which case you'll definitely see him.

The Disclaimer at the beginning was well put and direct.

I loved your little conversation about Vietnam near the end of the video !

I like the blue berry just because I think it looks cool.

"If you fall overboard, you'll blend in with the waves" Well Life Jackets are worn by the Navy and usually Life Jackets are ORANGE

Outstanding video! Thank you Sir for your service.

Great video, very funny but interesting as well. Thanks for uploading it

In 2006 during pre-deployment training for Iraq. The Army decided to issue the ACUs en mass to all soldiers even in Iraq to replace the DCUs which was better because it was cooler to wear in the summer in a desert environment. The ACUs material was crappy because they tore very quickly after being washed. The Army even mandated that the detergent used to wash the ACU was Woolite. Even the summer of 2007 in Iraq it became apparent that these thing were even hotter to wear even without body armor. The pattern was useless as a camouflage uniform in any environment. The older DCUs and Chocolate Chip were issued to the Iraqi Army and Police. If ACUs were worn out or beyond repair, soldiers were to burn them after going to company supply to order a new set. These uniforms were never ever given to any Iraqi Army or Police or civilians and treated as sensitive items. The only Iraqis who wore them were the "Terps" or interpreters who were assigned to any Army combat unit or worked in Theater Internment Facilities a.k.a POW camps.

The navy blue berries were not made to be worn while underway on ships. The primary uniform of the day while underway are flame retardant coveralls (FRV's) in the event of a fire these will be worn with firefighting turnout gear and if you're in the aviation community that works on the flight deck or hangar bay you would be wearing flight deck gear. Blue berries are only worn while in port ONLY. -Navy vet

Awesome video!

Thank you for doing this video.

Air force is switching to OCP now too.

He completely misidentified that Mitchell pattern shelter half. It's not called ERDL. ERDL is a later pattern used in development of the M81 Woodland pattern.

Fort Dix! My late father was US Army, Sergeant First Class at Fort Dix for 10 years of 1956 to 1966. And his brother was US Army, Colonel at same base for 22 years of 1950 to 1972

Missed one. The OD BDU transitional uniform. Great video.

About the Blueberries, it was never meant camouflage sailors, it was meant to hide the ship on the sailor. It is the same colors as all the colors on the ships paint.

I like to combine camouflage to break up My pattern even more. I have a Waffen SS reversible jacket. It is very relevant in the environments that I am in

Excellent collection! Congrats! 👏 Greetings from Athens 🇬🇷

First of all thank you both for your service and I found an authentic very resent mitilary jacket

personally i like the navy digital blue camo, it looks the best in my opinion, makes the sea dwellers look like they actually do something cool LOL

I actually really like the ACU uniform the most

Love your videos mate! =)

Need that multi cam in my life. Almost got some issued. Much better than ABUs and it breaths.

Very Informative! He's completley accurate!A very well said video!

I never knew the U.S. Marines wore bape back in 1942 01:03

Very cool video, great info.

I do a lot of varmit calling at night and have found that the tiger strip camo blends in the best! I also have a friend that was one of the first "seals" in Viet Nam. He was a member of the UDT squad and was offered a new assignment so he took it. They all wore the tiger strips as they gather info in Laos and Cambodia. I also wear the digital desert USMC pattern in West Texas and it does a great job in blending in.

Your multicam uniform is so messed up. Why do you have 2 flags on It?

Im glad the Marines went to their own pattern. I almost lost rank on an army base because some dumb army officer kept referring to me as a soldier. I even replied the first time and informed him that we were all Marines.

Thanks for the great introduction

My father was a member of the Brown Water Navy on PBRs in Vietnam. One of their jobs was to insert and extract special forces units. He mentioned that he saw a lot of the woodland style camouflage among US special forces.

Actualy the navy units sea or land are replacing all of their uniforms

That chocolate chip camo looks beautiful

Did stevie wonder approve this... brilliant !! Really good video, thank you. I learnt alot from this.

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

Great video and very informative! Yes, a lot of money was made with the non-camoflage patterns and should be investigated. Thank you for the video and thank you for your service. Enjoy your retirement!

7:35 My brother-in-law wore tiger stripes in VN. He has photos taken of him wearing them although his MOS was 11B with the 25th Inf Div at CuChi 68-69. But there's also photos of him wearing standard OD. Not sure what's the story on the tiger uniform. I know Special Forces were on Black Virgin Mountain at one time and the NVA tried to knock them off. But I'm unsure of time periods of what happened when. So tiger uniforms were in his immediate area. Sometimes I don't think he's telling the whole story of all that happened there. He sort of makes it sound like he was just a supply guy but other details slip out that indicate something different. His entire company would clean their M16s every evening and take turns cleaning the M60s. They were never ordered to clean weapons, they just did it. They were a very tight bunch and still stay in contact with periodic gatherings although fewer and fewer attend. I've always had the impression that only certain types of soldiers/pilots formed such a tight bond and supply grunts isn't one of them. But I could be mistaken. But maybe he requisitioned the tiger stripes and his NCO's and officers didn't care if he wore it. I know from my dad that in Korea some GI's preferred to be at the front to avoid spit and shine at the rear. So unauthorized "stuff" happened to equipment etc. Maybe that was the case at CuChi. The area wasn't named Iron Triangle for nothing. Sometimes he felt the NVA or VC had a personal vendetta against him as it was rare day when they weren't rocketed. They finally scored a direct hit on his hooch and blew it to pieces. Brother-in-law was not there, out on a patrol sweep IIRC.

Nice video and I like how he have vintage comos

Thank you for taking care of our nation and thank you for the history lesson!

18:50 Why would you, as a sailor, be wearing your blue camo while on deck? You're not supposed to wear the thing on deck. There really isn't a threat of falling off your boat if you're not on deck either.

Woodland BDUs made us Air Force folks that worked on concrete stand out....like trees on concrete. The later ABUs actually did make you blend with the concrete, especially with heat waves. THe 3-color desert worked quite well on concrete as well.

Thank you for this, I really like it

MARPAT and UCP My Favorites! Digital Era Camouflage!

22:08 Abu my favorite, after high school i want to join the Air Force.

Anyone want to buy Rhodesian cammo .???

Thanks for the history!

Very interesting believe it or not answered so many questions thank you.

I want to be the person that sells all those buttons to the USAF. Dear gawd, my ABU pants have 12 of the things. That said, they are really practical,as they are easy to replace, and quiet. The shirt, er blouse has even more. Also the AF is obsessed with pens/pencils, and where to "stick them" on your person. Kinda interesting.....

Guy does not know what he is talking about. The first cammy uniform he shows is not a Marine uniform. I was in the Corps for 20 years. We were still being issued the WW2 cammy uniforms in Recon up until Vietnam.

thanks for the information friend, it means a lot.

Outstanding!

He carried a 38 and a 'Tommy Gun'??? Hmmmmmmmm Do ya think________________ ????

23:04 I thought it was "What Would Jesus Say"

I love watching these videos

Pretty cool vid.

The navy camo should be orange.

I wonder why soldiers got dissentary so often back then. I remember my grandmother telling me my great grandfather got it while serving in the British Army. Was it just a certain food item they ate?

WWII and Korea: The U.S. Marines wore this camo as it was effective it was in the jungle terrain of the South Pacific. It made famous during the Guadalcanal Campaign in 1943. The U.S. Army didn't have a camoflage. HOwever, Airborne Troops often had leaves on their helmets throughout Sicily and Normandy. The U.S. Army did wear white covers during the Battle of the Bulge to hide in the deep snow. All of these would continue to see use in the Korean War. Vietnam (Leaves and Tigerstripes): The ground forces of Vietnam still bore the OD Greens on the field. But helmet covers in the form off jungle leave patterns were adopted by the Army and Marines. Although they were commonly graffitied on. Elite forces such as the S.O.G. wore the Tigerstripe pattern which was exclusively avalible to these forces. It would become one of the most popular patterns in the world with various variations. In 1976, the Department of Defense realized it needed to modernize it's military to the extreme. Needing uniforms to operate on multiple fronts. The Woodland BDU was given to all branches in 1979, baring the name "Jungle Camy" fit to blend within not only jungle terrain, but for use in Europe in the threat of a Soviet invasion and would go on to be the most popular and widely used pattern in the world. Also, the 6 Colored Desert BDU was designed and adopted in the early 1980s. It would not go into service until the Gulf War during operation Deserts Shield and Storm. Because of it's first time being in combat, the pattern saw limited service contrary to popular belief and was often mixed in with the Woodland BDU. Despite this, it made famous bearing the nickname "Chocolate Chip" because of it's similar appearence to the cookie dough. During this time, the Tri-Color pattern was introduced and made it's fame within the same campaign aswell as the Battle of Mogadishu, Iraq War, and War on Terror, replacing it's short lived predacessor. Soon after the start of the Afghanistan and Iraq War, rather than having multiple different patterns, the Marines decided to introduce a digital pattern for Woodland and Desert known as MARPAT. Both patterns were effective and signal the dawn of the Modern U.S. Military. In 2005, the Army took influence of the digital design and sought an attempt to make a single pattern capable of blending in with multiple terrains rather than having 2 different ones. The Navy also adopted blue and green variations, and the Air Force designed a unique grey digital variant of the Tigerstripe pattern. The Department of Defense also released the Multicam Camoflage which was exclusive to Special Units. The Universal Camoflage Pattern was introduced and saw service for almost 20 years until they finally realized how ineffective it was. So in 2014, it began phasing out with the Operational Camo, an upgrade to the Multicam Pattern, which was more suited for both grassland and mountain terrain before being completely replaced in 2019, followed by the Air Force adopting it in 2018, and the Space Force in 2020. Like the ERDL Woodland, it's used worldwide by hundreds of militaries.

My neighbor had a uncle who was a colonel serving in Vietnam. His uncle sent him a tiger stripe uniform home when he was about 12. He wore it until he outgrew it than he gave it to me and when I outgrew it I gave it to my nephew who wore it till it feel apart. Three young boys who were walking in high cotton when it was there turn to ware the uniform . We were the only one in the area that had a set of tiger stripe and we were very proud of it.