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Soldier feedback

We asked you, our readers, to weigh in on the camouflage debate, and the response was staggering. The following letters are just a sample:

The ACU should never have been authorized. There are much better uniform patterns available, e.g., MultiCam, for service anywhere.

In Europe and in Asia, where there is plenty of green, the ACU is a miserable failure. I was able to identify ACUs long before Battle Dress Uniforms.

The Marine Corps had it right.

From its inception to its many flaws, I have never agreed with our leadership’s decision to change from our previous Battle Dress Uniform and Desert Camouflage Uniform to our now Army Combat Uniform.

It is a sad state of affairs when the same leadership who made the decision to go to the ACU, instead of truly going to the soldier in the field, just continues to ignore our pleas for them to right this wrong. It becomes embarrassing for all soldiers to have to watch our senior leaders get scolded by Congress [“Get new camo, Congress says,” June 29] while forcing them to make such changes that were obvious from the beginning.

To have Congress intervene and direct the Army secretary to come up with a new camouflage combat uniform by September of this year is just plain wrong, as it is usually us who goes to them for the funding to approve such changes.

There is a simple solution in that I would suggest that the ACU be replaced by the Marine Pattern combat utility uniforms.

The current ACU is great for urban operations. But I agree that the Army could use a little more flexibility with woodland and desert camouflage patterns. All our vehicles are woodland or desert colors, so why not the uniforms? The Marine Corps patterns would be fine.

The soldiers in Afghanistan definitely need new uniforms. The current ACU pattern does nothing for camouflage in the varying levels of vegetation, which are found throughout the country, or any other nonurban environment. The former Desert Camouflage Uniform worked best for the lower elevation levels, but in the higher mountains, a woodland camouflage like the old Battle Dress Uniform is better suited.

I can’t speak for those in Afghanistan, but in Iraq the ACU is not effective camouflage. We need separate patterns for each environment. The Marines know that. Why don’t we?

I am not an ACU hater, at all, but the MultiCam pattern is the best thing out there. What do we do with the surplus of ACUs? Give them to the privates at Basic Training.

MultiCam will actually do what the ACU has failed to do, and that is camouflage soldiers.

The ACU camo pattern does not match any terrain I have ever served on in my 26-year Army/National Guard career. I’ve been to Ukraine, Poland, Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Oman and Canada. The pattern does not protect our soldiers in any of those countries.

Any soldier venturing outside the wire needs the MultiCam uniform. Soldiers [in ACUs] involved in combat tracking stood out vividly against the browns and light greens of Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

However, if the fight is inside a gravel parking lot, they’ll be hidden and kicking Taliban ass.

It was a mistake to try to use one pattern to cover all areas. The ACU needs to be replaced with two patterns (woodland and desert), just the way it was before, and how the Marines are doing now. The survivability of our soldiers should be the deciding factor, not the cost.

As a prior-service Marine, I can definitely say the ACU is the worst uniform of all time. When first considering my transition into the Army, I made a list of pros and cons. At the top of my list of cons? The Army Combat Uniform.

It is just terrible in every way. I much prefer the Marine Pattern.

However, I do not think the Army should adopt MARPAT. That was developed and innovated by the Corps and should remain as another point in their proud traditions. The Army needs a totally different pattern. My choice and the choice of nearly all my peers and subordinates is MultiCam. It is crisp, blends in and would look good in garrison as well. For any further proof that MultiCam is preferred by soldiers, just take a look at any combat unit’s gear while deployed — the array of MultiCam pouches, packs and hydration systems is astounding. The Army needs MultiCam, and it needs it before 2009 is up.

We all know the Army wants a camo pattern that blends with everything (it’s cheaper in the long run), and let’s face it — MultiCam is the only way. I feel very strongly the pattern they might choose will be an offshoot of MultiCam.