MARPAT CAMO

A swatch of MARPAT-printed fabric in the woodland pattern variant

MARPAT desert pattern

MARPAT (short for Marine pattern)^[1] is a multi-scale camouflage pattern in use with the United States Marine Corps, designed in 2001 and introduced from late 2002 to early 2005 with the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform (MCCUU), which replaced the Camouflage Utility Uniform. Its design and concept are based on the Canadian CADPAT pattern. The pattern is formed of small rectangular pixels of color. In theory, it is a far more effective camouflage than standard uniform patterns because it mimics the dappled textures and rough boundaries found in natural settings. It is also known as the "digital pattern" or "digi-cammies" because of its micropattern (pixels) rather than the old macropattern (big blobs).

The United States government has patented MARPAT, including specifics of its manufacture.^[2] By regulation, the pattern and items incorporating it, such as the MCCUU and ILBE backpack, are to be supplied by authorized manufacturers only and are not for general commercial sale, although imitations are available such as "Digital Woodland Camo" or "Digital Desert Camo".

MARPAT was also chosen because it distinctively identifies its wearers as Marines to their adversaries, while simultaneously helping its wearers remain concealed. This was demonstrated by a Marine spokesman at the launch of MARPAT, who stated: "We want to be instantly recognized as a force to be reckoned with. We want them to see us coming a mile away in our new uniforms."^[3] As such, the U.S. Marine Corps restricts use of the camouflage, preventing its use in most other divisions of the United States military with the exception of some elements of the U.S. Navy.

MARPAT was designed by Timothy O'Neill, Anabela Dugas,^[4] Kenneth G. Henley,^[4]John Joseph Heisterman, Jr.,^[4] Luisa DeMorais Santos,^[4]Gabriel R. Patricio,^[4] and Deirdre E. Townes.^[4]

The concept of using miniature swatches of color as opposed to large splotches is not new. In World War II, German troops used various patterns similar to the current German Flecktarn, which involved similar small dabs of color on a uniform to provide camouflage.

The Canadian Forces originally developed the pattern called CADPAT, on which MARPAT was based.^[5] Timothy O'Neill's^[6] USMC design team in charge of this process, initially with the assistance of Kenneth G. Henley and then John Joseph Heisterman, Jr. (both active duty U.S. Marine Scout-Snipers), went through over 150 different camo patterns before selecting three samples that met their initial objectives. These were two versions of tigerstripe and an older design of Rhodesian Brushstroke. The influence of tigerstripe can still be seen in the final MARPAT. These three samples were then reconstructed using new shapes and unique color blends that would allow a more effective uniform in a great range of environments.

The new patterns were then field tested in different environments, day and night, with night vision and various optics. MARPAT did exceptionally well in their wet uniform test when viewed with night vision while illuminated with IR, where normally patterns appear as a solid. The MARPAT patent lists U.S. Army research into fractal pattern camouflage as the basis for MARPAT.

The MARPAT pattern was chosen in a run-off against seven other patterns at the USMC Scout Sniper Instructor School.^[7]

Preliminary development of MARPAT began in April 2000,^[8] with field testing of the pattern and the MCCUU beginning in 2001. The patent for the MARPAT pattern was filed on June 19, 2001,^[4] whereas the patent for the MCCUU uniform was filed on November 7, 2001.^[9] Early prototypes of the MARPAT desert pattern from 2001 featured grey, whereas the finished product did not.

Two U.S. Marines test out early prototypes of the MCCUU in 2001. The two prototypes feature removable sleeves, a feature that was later abandoned on the finished production version. The uniform on the left features an early version of woodland MARPAT.

The uniform made its official debut at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on January 17, 2002,^[10] and the changeover was completed on October 1, 2004, a year ahead of the original requirement date set in 2001, of October 1, 2005.^{[11][12][13][14]}

The MARPAT uniform was officially fielded as standard issue to the recruits of 3rd BN Mike Company in late 2002 at MCRD San Diego;^{[15][self-published source]} it continues to be the USMC's standard issue uniform pattern to date.

In all, the MARPAT development process from concept to completion took 18 months, the fastest time for a U.S. military-developed camouflage pattern.^[16]

Design and colors[edit]

Different ratios and variations of colors were tested before final candidate patterns were actually printed to textile for field trials. A modified version of Vietnam War–era tiger stripe also made it to final trials but was eliminated due to MARPAT being superior in all environments. The purpose of the digitized pattern is to create visual "noise" and prevent the eye from identifying any visual templates. Thus, the pattern is intended to not register as any particular shape or pattern that could be distinguished.^[17]

There were initially three MARPAT patterns tested: Woodland, Desert, and Urban. While keeping the rights for Urban only the Woodland and Desert patterns were adopted by the Marine Corps for general issue, replacing the U.S. Woodland pattern and the U.S. Three-Color Desert pattern. Webbing and equipment worn with MARPAT Woodland and MARPAT Desert is produced in Coyote Brown, a mid-tone color common to both the woodland and desert patterns. Although a digital snow pattern has also been adopted on cold-weather training over-garments, this uses a different pattern from the Canadian company Hyperstealth.^[18]

Authentic MARPAT material is distinguishable by a miniature "Eagle, Globe, and Anchor" emblem incorporated into the pattern above the letters "USMC", in both the woodland and desert patterns.^[19]

The 3 tested MARPAT patterns: Desert, Urban, and Woodland pattern.

Similar designs[edit]

U.S. Marine wearing Desert MARPAT (left) and sailor wearing the Navy Working Uniform (right)

MARPAT is aesthetically similar to Canadian Forces CADPAT, which was first developed in the 1990s.^[20]

The United States Army used the same shapes in designing its Universal Camouflage Pattern, which uses a much paler three-color scheme of sage green, grey and sand for use on the Army Combat Uniform. After major questions about its effectiveness arose, the Army adopted the "Scorpion W2" Operational Camouflage Pattern in 2015, to be fully phased in by 2019.

The United States Air Force has designed its own Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) using a standard tiger stripe pattern and slight variation on the color scheme of ACU, also designed to be phased out by the OCP uniform by 2021.

The United States Navy announced approval for a digital "BDU-style" work uniform in late 2008. The Navy Working Uniform (NWU) was chosen by surveyed sailors for consistency and longer life, while the blue-grey-black Type I pattern was designed for aesthetic purposes rather than camouflage to disguise them at sea. In January 2010, the Navy began considering new Navy Working Uniform patterns modified from MARPAT, named Type II and Type III, desert and woodland respectively. The Woodland pattern was actually an earlier coloration of the MARPAT scheme, not adopted following USMC trials.^[21] These patterns are overall darker than their respective MARPAT progenitors, modified with different color shades,^[22] and addressed the fact that the blue and grey Type I pattern was not meant for a tactical environment (the Battle Dress Uniform in M81 woodland and Desert Camouflage Uniform were still used for this purpose until the Type II and III patterns were introduced).^[23] Backlash from Marines, including an objection from former CommandantConway, led to restrictions when NAVADMIN 374/09 was released:^[24] Type II pattern to Naval Special Warfare personnel, while Type III is restricted to Navy ground units.^[25]

Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Collin T. Thomas

Polish army

DBDU CAMO (desert battle dress uniform)

The Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU)^[1] is a U.S. arid-environment camouflage battle uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces from the early 1980s to the early to mid 1990s, most notably during the Persian Gulf War. Although the U.S. military has long since abandoned the pattern, it is still in widespread use by militaries across the world as of the early 2010s.

The Desert Battle Dress Uniform was designed in 1976^[2] and uses a camouflage pattern known as the Six-Color Desert Pattern or colloquially as Chocolate-Chip Camouflage and Cookie Dough Camouflage. The camouflage received its nickname because it resembles chocolate-chip cookie dough. It is made up of a base pattern of light tan overlaid with broad swathes of pale green and wide two-tone bands of brown. Clusters of black and white spots are scattered over, to mimic the appearance of pebbles and their shadows.

Although the chocolate-chip camouflage became well known during the Persian Gulf War, it was originally designed decades prior, in 1962. The U.S. Army, believing that it might one day become necessary to intervene in the Arab–Israeli conflicts, developed a test pattern using the deserts of southwestern United States as a model. When the hostilities in the Middle East wound down, the test pattern was mothballed. The formation of the U.S. Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) in 1979, with its remit to operate in the Middle East, and protect U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf region, saw the need for desert camouflage clothing to emerge again.

U.S. Army[edit]

Desert Battle Dress Uniform wearing Lieutenant General Robert C. Kingston, commanding general, US Central Command, fires a German built 7.62 mm G3 Heckler and Koch rifle during BRIGHT STAR '82, an exercise involving troops from the US, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia and Oman.

With limited issuing dating back to the 1980 mission the rescue American hostages in Iran, the DBDU was unique, in that when it was officially issued in 1981, the 6-color desert pattern was only issued in limited numbers to division personnel like the U.S. 82nd Airborne or 101st Airborne who deployed to Egypt and the Sinai desert to participate in the "Bright Star" exercise in December 1980. The DBDU was the U.S. Army's first fully functional desert combat pattern from 1981 to 1992.

U.S. Marine Corps[edit]

Like the Army, the DBDU was seldom issued whenever Marines were deployed to participate in the "Bright Star" exercises, but became their standard arid combat uniform by 1985. The 6-color desert pattern was used by the U.S. Marine Corps from 1982 to 1995.

Operational use[edit]

The six-color desert pattern entered service in 1981 at the same time as the woodland BDUs and would be worn in limited numbers by U.S. troops taking part in the biennial Bright Star exercises in Egypt during the 1980s, and by FORSCOM peacekeepers assigned to the Multinational Force and Observers in the Egyptian Sinai Desert, but was not issued in large numbers prior to the Persian Gulf War. However, there is evidence that the six-color desert pattern camouflage was in use before 1981 with photographs of American military personnel involved in Operation Eagle Claw in April 1980 using this camouflage pattern in the failed attempt to rescue U.S. embassy staff being held hostage in Iran.

Feedback from these users indicated that the design contrasted too much with the terrain, preventing the camouflage from blending in effectively. Anecdotal evidence suggested that the dark areas of the pattern warmed up more than the paler parts under desert sunlight, and retained the heat longer. The six colors were also more expensive to manufacture than three or four colors, and the need for a camouflage that would be suitable for use in any desert resulted in a requirement for a new desert camouflage uniform. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center began the search for a substitute. Samples of sand and earth from the Middle East were measured for optical and infrared reflectance, and seven trial patterns were created using these statistics. The patterns were evaluated in fourteen different desert locations and narrowed down to one favorite. The resulting "Desert Camouflage Pattern: Combat" was standardized in 1990, but was not ready before troops deployed to Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War. Consequently, U.S. forces wore the six-color BDUs during the campaign. During that war, after initiatives by General Norman Schwarzkopf, the six-color Desert BDU was produced in 100% cotton poplin without reinforcement panels in order to improve comfort in hot desert conditions. A total of 500,000 improved cotton BDUs were ordered. However, cost concerns caused the cotton six-color Desert BDU to be discontinued shortly after the Persian Gulf War.

Replacement[edit]

An initial batch of desert BDUs in the new camouflage scheme was en route to the Middle East when hostilities ceased.^[4] The pattern, officially issued with the newer Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU) in the early 1990s, consisted of a subtle blend of large pastel green and light tan shapes, with sparsely placed, narrow, reddish brown patches, leading the design to be unofficially nicknamed the “Coffee Stain” pattern.

Both patterns were briefly used together during the transition period, most notably during Operation Restore Hope and Operation Gothic Serpent (some U.S. Army Rangers during the latter occasionally wore the newer three-color DCU's along with kevlar helmet covers retaining the old six-color pattern. The same dress was also worn by soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division during the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi in 2001). During Operation Bright Star 1995, Third Army personnel wore the three-color uniform while troops from Fort Bragg (330th MCC) wore the six-color uniform for the 75-day exercise. In the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the U.S. military used the DCU's tri-color pattern and the MARPAT camouflage pattern.

As of the early 2010s, the chocolate-chip pattern is still in widespread use across the world, long after the United States abandoned it. A uniform similar to the Desert Battle Dress Uniform was issued to the Iraqi National Guard before it was dissolved in 2004 and to the Iraqi security forces. South Korean forces have used, in limited numbers since 1993, a variant with brown replacing the black in the American design; this South Korean design has also been tested in the United Arab Emirates. The Oman National Guard use a pattern mixing chocolate-chip with 'amoeba', while the National Guards of both Saudi Arabiaand Kuwait use a grey variation on the chocolate-chip design. The Saudis also use a grey, black, and white 'urban' variation and the police wear a blue version of the same design; Palestinian police also use a blue chocolate-chip patterned uniform. The South African "Soldier 2000" pattern is similar to the U.S. design. A copy of the pattern, using tan, medium brown, bottle-green and greyish green, in addition to the black-on-white pebbles, is used in Kazakhstan.