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CAMO CRITIQUES CONTINUE

The current Army Combat Uniform camo is ineffective not only in Afghanistan, but also here in Iraq.

I understand that the intent was one uniform for both theaters, but this color does not work. It is fine at night, but even in a woodland area U.S. troops are easily seen. If you are in a forest in Europe wearing ACUs, I can spot soldiers faster today than before when we wore the woodland pattern Battle Dress Uniform.

Why doesn’t the Army adopt the Marine camouflage pattern? I understand that Marines have two uniforms — one for desert and one for woodland — but they work.

I think MultiCam would be a good fit. The Army should have gone with it in the first place. The ACU doesn’t offer any real camo, unless you are fighting in gravel.

The Army doesn’t need a new uniform for Afghanistan. If anything, that’s one of the few areas where the ACU pattern actually works. There’s plenty wrong with the ACU, and I can rattle off lots of other reasons to change it, but this isn’t one of them.

However, if this does come to pass, I think the Army should take it as a sign that the universal camouflage concept has failed, and they should go back to having different uniforms for different environments. After all, why should we do it for Afghanistan but not any other environment?

There is ample evidence of more effective patterns available to the Army. You can find comparative analyses of many other types of battle uniforms that outdo the ACU in multiple environments. It seems as if the best interest of the actual combat soldier may not have been on the forefront of the thought process behind this apparently thoughtless choice.

Maybe it has slipped by me, but why not conduct an Army-wide survey to validate the ACU? There are obviously hundreds of thousands of soldiers that have served on multiple fronts. Our voice should be heard regarding this issue.

The ACU was, is and will always be a great mistake. Please do not repeat this mistake again, and look into a change.

There is no be-all, end-all camo. Why does the Marine Corps know this, but the Army does not? ... Snipers would have picked up on this a long time ago.

Maybe my old eyes aren’t seeing right. The ACU color just didn’t fit in with Iraq, as far as I could tell. But from what I’ve seen from Afghanistan, it’s a natural.

Enlisted have to moan and whine about something. I should know. I was and did. Don’t waste our tax dollars for a new uniform just for Afghanistan.

While I see many benefits in the structure of the ACU, i.e. shoulder pockets, etc., I have never found the ACU to be particularly camouflaged in any environment.

The Desert Combat Uniform worked fine in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002 and was easily utilized as camouflage in Iraq, Somalia and Haiti.

The three-color design of the DCU should be the “end-all” desert uniform, and a three-color woodland should be available for green, wooded areas.

HOME ASSISTANCE HANG-UP

The expanded Homeowners Assistance Program [“Home sellers to be spared upfront taxes under HAP,” July 27] is intended to ease the burden on service members who purchased homes during the housing “bubble” and were forced to sell their homes as a result of permanent change-of-station orders.

Though this program is funded and guidelines have been established, the HAP Web site (http://hap.usace.army.mil) advises that the guidelines must first be published in the Federal Register before the program can begin helping service members.

We have been waiting for this to happen for more than two months; those two months comprise the busiest PCS season and pose the best opportunity to sell such real estate. This wait is forcing service members to miss key opportunities to sell their properties while awaiting publication of the final guidance.

The attempt to help military members via the expanded HAP appears to be an effort that ultimately falls far short. This program is actually creating, not reducing, hardship faced by the members who are forced to wait for technicalities to be completed.

I am curious as to whether the same politicians who will no doubt laud their accomplishment with HAP to gain re-election will also ensure the final outcome is actually delivered to the members in a timely fashion.

SOLDIERS DIGNIFIED IN ACUs

After reading the letter [“ACU not always appropriate,” Aug. 3], my thoughts were as follows:

Not one of the soldiers pictured [in the dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, Del.] looked sloppy, lazy or slovenly. My thought went to the soldier being brought home, and I believe he was proud to be carried by his brothers in the uniform that he more than likely saw them in the day his life was taken.

I am a very proud grandmother of a soldier. When I see him in his ACUs he has never looked sloppy, lazy or slovenly. Our soldiers’ ACUs are a reality of the dedication and loyalty of our soldiers.

I pray for our military every night. My grandson spent 15 months in Iraq. He is proud to be in the Army, and he stands tall and proud in his ACUs.

KEEP FALLEN AT FOREFRONT

Ever since you started printing The Human Toll (Page 36), listing casualties in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, my personal tradition has been to turn to that page as soon as I pick up a copy to read the names and see the faces of those we’ve lost.

I was disappointed to see that section moved from the front pages of the Army Times to virtually the last. I think, at a minimum, we owe it to our fallen brothers and sisters in arms to keep them in the forefront of our minds and not shove them back just before the classifieds.

If I had my way, the same list would be printed on the front page of every newspaper in the country so every American could see who died fighting to preserve the freedoms and comforts they enjoy.