Army will allow soldiers to recolor M4s - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Army will allow soldiers to recolor M4s

The Army is finally going to give soldiers the green light to paint their black weapons so they blend in with the terrain on the battlefield.

Soldiers have been using commercially available, spray-on camouflage paint since the beginning of the war — despite an unenforced Army policy prohibiting the practice.

Army weapons officials announced March 2 they will soon release guidelines on the proper way to paint M4 Carbines and other weapons so paint doesn’t interfere with the weapon’s operation.

“The soldiers are doing it anyway; if you go to theater, you will see that units have their weapons sprayed,” said Col. Doug Tamilio, head of Project Manager Soldier Weapons.

The reversal of the policy follows the Army’s Feb. 19 decision to start issuing MultiCam camouflage uniforms and equipment to soldiers deploying to Afghanistan this summer in an effort to help soldiers blend more effectively with the Afghan terrain.

Most Army infantry weapons are black.

“It sticks out, and we need to give them that ability,” Tamilio said. “We should issue out in the next couple of months an advisory message ... to say, ‘It’s OK to spray paint your weapons, but here is how to do it.’Ÿ”

The guidelines will identify parts of the weapons that should not be painted, such as inside the chamber and accessories such as optics.

“If you get any spray on these optics, you reduce the capability of that optic,” Tamilio said. The guidelines will also recommend the safest paints to use.

Weapons officials stressed that soldiers will have to get approval from their unit commanders before they paint their weapons.

“It will be up to the commander to say we are going to do it or we are not going to do it,” Tamilio said.