The U.S. Army will soon replace its digital, Universal Camouflage Pattern, but soldiers may still be wearing the service’s Afghanistan pattern for many years into the future.
The Army’s recent decision to authorize the 75th Ranger Regiment to wear MultiCam in garrison has triggered questions about the pattern’s future as the service prepares to transition to its new Operational Camouflage Pattern in 2015.
The new OCP is very similar to MultiCam, a pattern made by Crye Precision that the Army adopted for use in Afghanistan in 2010.
It’s similar to MultiCam because Crye developed the pattern with the Army for its Objective Force Warrior program in 2002. He later made small adjustments to the pattern for trademark purposes and called it MultiCam.
The unique blend of greens, browns and tans has been a favorite of Special Operations Command for almost a decade. MulitCam has also proven extremely effective in several Army studies.
Army leaders are considering whether to allow soldiers to wear MultiCam alongside the new OCP, but no decision has been announced, according to Army officials.
Never before has the Army introduced a new camouflage pattern that is so close to one that it has already issued to soldiers in great quantities.