In an effort to save money during the transition from the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) to the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP), Lawmakers at the U.S. House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on readiness are interested in re-dying the existing UCP inventory with the new pattern.

According to Kit-up! of Military.com, the U.S. Army is scheduled to fully transition to the OCP with each soldier fully fitted with the pattern come October 1, 2019. The U.S. Army has selected the OCP in 2014 to replace the UCP.

The OCP, which is based on the Scorpion W2 which in turn is a modified Scorpion Pattern developed by Crye Precision on 2002 which became the commercial Multicam patten. Due to dispute in printing fees the United States Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center developed the Scorpion W2 and retains licensing rights to it. The USSCOM first used the Multicam Pattern with the other branches started using the pattern during deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Though the U.S. Army will call it as OCP, for many, it will be seen as the Multicam pattern, not noticing the difference between the two. Mulitcam is darker with thicker splashes of colour.

U.S. Army Soldiers in Kunar Province, Afghanistan 2010. Photo shows both the UCP and Multicam Patterns.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte)

The Program Executive Office Soldier is evaluating dyeing technologies that will be able to turn the big inventory of UCP uniforms that will blend better with the OCP as seen in the marked on the released proposed fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act document which Kit-Up quotes:

“This evaluation could validate processes that could alter UCP printed products into a color palette that blends with the new camouflage prints, allowing the Army to conserve resources by overdying UCP materials for use with OCP patterned equipment."

The U.S. Army has been criticized for adopting the UCP in 2004 over other competing patterns including the Crye Precision Scorpion pattern which the UCP performed poorly against in tests and in actual conditions such as in operations in Afghanistan. The U.S. Army could have saved billions of dollars if it had selected the Multicam pattern early on.

Top photo: U.S. Army soldiers with the UCP uniforms (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel N. Woods)