U.S. Woodland (Redirected from US Woodland)

U.S. Woodland
Digitized swatch of the U.S. Woodland pattern
TypeMilitary camouflage pattern
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1981–2012 (U.S. military)
Used bySee Users (for other non-U.S. users)
WarsInvasion of Grenada
United States invasion of Panama
Lebanese Civil War
Somali Civil War
Persian Gulf War
Yugoslav Wars
Operation Uphold Democracy
War in Afghanistan
Iraq War
2008 Cambodian-Thai stand-off
Russo-Georgian War
Syrian Civil War
Russo-Ukrainian War
Production history
Produced1981–present

The U.S. Woodland is a camouflage pattern that was used as the default camouflage pattern issued to the United States Armed Forces from 1981, with the issue of the Battle Dress Uniform, until its replacement in the mid to late 2000s. It is a four color, high contrast disruptive pattern with irregular markings in green, brown, sand and black. It is also known unofficially by its colloquial moniker of "M81" after the Battle Dress Uniform it was first used on, though this term was not officially used by the U.S. military.

Although completely phased out of frontline use in the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Woodland is still used on some limited level by some branches such as MOPP suits, equipment and vests left over while some modernized uniforms (either BDU or commercial) were worn specifically by special forces such as USMC Forces Special Operations Command and United States Navy SEALs.

Development and history

The woodland pattern is nearly identical to the brown-dominant version of the ERDL pattern, only differing in that it is enlarged by 60 percent. The enlargement was made in order to extend the effectiveness of the camouflage pattern to as close to 250 meters as possible

These changes reflected a shift in the tactical focus of the United States military from fighting an extremely close-range war such as the one in South Vietnam to a longer-range one such as on the fields of Europe.

Usage

U.S. Army National Guardsmen on an exercise in 2000 while wearing Woodland BDUs and PASGT helmets

U.S. Army

In the U.S. Army, the woodland-patterned Battle Dress Uniform was replaced by the digital Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) found on the Army Combat Uniform, introduced in 2004. UCP itself was replaced by the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) in 2019. The pattern is still used on MOPP suits and some older models of body armor yet to be retired, such as PASGT vests and Interceptor Body Armor.

U.S. Navy

The U.S. Navy no longer uses the Woodland pattern. Most of the Navy has transitioned to the Navy Working Uniform, which uses digital patterns in either a woodland colorway (NWU Type III) or, for some deployed tactical units only, a desert version (Type II).

U.S. Marines

The Woodland Pattern BDU was phased out by the Marine Corps with the introduction of the digital MARPAT Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform in 2002, although it was reintroduced for the United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command in 2011 and was also worn by MARSOC forces in the War in Afghanistan.

U.S. Air Force

The Air Force phased out the woodland pattern battle dress uniform in 2011 when they went to the Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) which used a pixelated version of the Tigerstripe pattern. It was in turn replaced by the Army's OCP by 2021. The Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force's civilian auxiliary, also used woodland patterned BDUs until being discontinued 15 June 2021.

State defense forces

Captain Gay of the Virginia Defense Force wearing ACU pattern woodland camouflage.

Several state defense forces use the Woodland Pattern on their BDUs. Members of the Virginia Defense Force wear a Woodland version of the Army Combat Uniform (ACU).

Law enforcement

The pattern also sees use among police departments, such as the Rhode Island State Police.

Users

Russian Internal Troops wearing LES, a Russian camouflage pattern similar to the woodland camouflage

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-02-23 20:27 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari