Posted on 02/08/2005 2:37:39 PM PST by The Loan Arranger
FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) - Army soldiers are being issued new fatigues with easy-to-use Velcro openings and a redesigned camouflage pattern that can help conceal them as they move rapidly from desert to forest to city in places like Baghdad.
"It might give you the extra second you need, save your life maybe," Sgt. Marcio Soares said Tuesday after trying on the new all-in-one camouflage uniform that is the first major redesign in Army fatigues since 1983.
Soares' unit, the Georgia National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade, is the first to be issued the new fatigues as part of a $3.4 billion Army-wide makeover being phased in over the next three years.
The uniform will replace the standard forest camouflage - green, brown and black - and the desert camouflage - tan, brown and grey - now used by U.S. troops in Iraq.
Twenty-two changes were made to the uniforms, most notably the new camouflage pattern.
Instead of bold jigsaw swatches of colors, the new camouflage pattern uses muted shades of desert brown, urban gray and foliage green broken into one-centimeter segments. Black was eliminated completely because it catches the eye too easily.
The resulting camouflage - similar to a pattern the Marines adopted two years ago - conceals soldiers in forest, desert or urban battlegrounds, said Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Myhre, the uniform's lead designer.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews1.iwon.com ...
Not as stealthy as buttons, though.
I've always thought a guy in one those old uniforms was soo sexy. They will be missed, but if it is safer, I can let go I guess
Gota love since Shinsecki has been the Army chief of staff he as tried to make the army more like the Marines. These new fatigues only nicely prove the point.
Brigadier General Rich McPhee, left, and Col. John Norwood talk Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005, while their troops from the 48th Infantry Brigade, Georgia Army National Guard receive new combat uniforms at Fort Stewart, Ga. McPhee is dressed in the old-style uniform while Norwood is dressed in the new uniform. The pattern for the new camouflage coat and trousers is a mix of light green, tan and gray and is designed to allow soldiers to blend into urban, desert and forest environments.
No stripes is a good thing...
"The Loan Arranger"?
You aren't from Lake Charles, Louisiana by any chance?
Has anyone heard of any attempts to redesign the Army dress green uniform?
I've heard they're under some pressure to come up with a uniform that looks less "corporate" and more "military."
How so?
"easy-to-use Velcro openings "
How do we know when the Army has finally reach the stupid of stupid when recruiting? When it considers buttons not "easy-to-use". I guess the Army must also use zippers on their combat boots as the troops keep getting their fingers stuck in their shoe laces??
Well, as a girl I doubt I would have looked too pretty in one, but men were very sexy wearing them. A bus load of boys wearing a uniform like that was always what me and my friends needed to stay interested in Burger Kings and such.
Lot cheaper to just rip-off velcro patches from BDUs...
Yup, one of the major complaints.
seems that velcro would be noisy.
Seems like just yesterday we thought we were hot stuff in our starched & pressed green fatigues, making fun of the "brown shoe Army". What goes around, comes around.
In ten years they'll discover that a dark olive drab is the most neutral color. :-)
Description: Sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) model new camouflaged uniforms during the unveiling of the new Task Force Uniform concept for Sailors E-1 through O-10.
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