30-698: MARPAT (short for Marine pattern ) 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
60-499: 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, with a Type II desert pattern and Type III woodland pattern. The Woodland pattern
90-563: A range of scales. In 1976, Timothy O'Neill created a pixellated pattern named "Dual-Tex". He called the digital approach "texture match". The initial work was done by hand on a retired M113 armoured personnel carrier ; O'Neill painted the pattern on with a 2-inch (5.1 cm) roller, forming squares of colour by hand. Field testing showed that the result was good compared to the U. S. Army's existing camouflage patterns , and O'Neill went on to become an instructor and camouflage researcher at West Point military academy. By 2000, development
120-646: 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. Preliminary development of MARPAT began in April 2000, with field testing of the pattern and the MCCUU beginning in 2001. The patent for the MARPAT pattern was filed on 19 June 2001, whereas
150-571: A uniform to provide camouflage. The Canadian Forces originally developed the pattern called CADPAT , on which MARPAT was based. O'Neill's 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
180-404: 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. By regulation,
210-452: 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. MARPAT is aesthetically similar to Canadian Forces CADPAT , which was first developed in the 1990s. 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
240-400: Is related to their function. Large structures need larger patterns than individual soldiers to disrupt their shape. At the same time, large patterns are more effective from afar, while small scale patterns work better up close. Traditional single scale patterns work well in their optimal range from the observer, but an observer at other distances will not see the pattern optimally. Nature itself
270-507: Is to provide camouflage over a range of distances, or equivalently over a range of scales (scale-invariant camouflage), in the manner of fractals , so some approaches are called fractal camouflage . Not all multiscale patterns are composed of rectangular pixels , even if they were designed using a computer. Further, not all pixellated patterns work at different scales, so being pixellated or digital does not of itself guarantee improved performance. The first standardized pattern to be issued
300-458: Is very often fractal , where plants and rock formations exhibit similar patterns across several magnitudes of scale. The idea behind multi-scale patterns is both to mimic the self-similarity of nature, and also to offer scale invariant or so-called fractal camouflage. Animals such as the flounder have the ability to adapt their camouflage patterns to suit the background, and they do so extremely effectively, selecting patterns that match
330-612: The Army Combat Uniform . After major questions about its effectiveness arose, the Army adopted the "Scorpion W2" Operational Camouflage Pattern in 2015, which was fully phased in by 2019. The United States Air Force designed its own Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) using a standard tiger stripe pattern and slight variation on the color scheme of ACU. It was also phased out by the OCP uniform by 2021. The United States Navy announced approval for
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#1732858277835360-529: 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. Authentic MARPAT material
390-497: The BDU and DCU by the MCCUU was completed on 1 October 2004, a year ahead of the original requirement date set in 2001 of 1 October 2005. The MARPAT uniform was officially fielded as standard issue to the officer candidates of OCC-181 at MCB Quantico and the recruits of 3rd BN Mike Company at MCRD San Diego in late 2002;It continues to be the USMC's standard issue uniform pattern to date. In all,
420-460: The MARPAT development process from concept to completion took 18 months, the fastest time for a U.S. military-developed camouflage pattern to be produced. 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
450-514: The Type II and III patterns were introduced). Backlash from Marines, including an objection from former Commandant Conway , led to restrictions when NAVADMIN 374/09 was released: Type II pattern is restricted to Naval Special Warfare personnel while deployed, while the NWU Type III is the standard shore working uniform for all Naval personnel effective 1 October 2019. The blue and grey Type I uniform
480-555: The design looks like a field of solid light grey, failing to disrupt an object's outlines) and arbitrary colour selection, neither of which could be saved by quantizing (digitizing) the pattern geometry. The design was replaced from 2015 with the Operational Camouflage Pattern , a non-pixellated pattern. The idea of patterned camouflage extends back to the interwar period in Europe. The first printed camouflage pattern
510-542: 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. 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
540-447: 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
570-542: The human visual system efficiently discriminates images that have different fractal dimension or other second-order statistics like Fourier spatial amplitude spectra; objects simply appear to pop out from the background. Timothy O'Neill helped the Marine Corps to develop first a digital pattern for vehicles, then fabric for uniforms, which had two colour schemes, one designed for woodland, one for desert. Tigerstripe Too Many Requests If you report this error to
600-498: The patent for the MCCUU uniform was filed on 7 November 2001. Early prototypes of the MARPAT desert pattern from 2001 featured grey, whereas the finished product did not. In 2001, Marine Forces Pacific Lt. Gen. Frank Libutti and Sgt. Maj. Stephen Mellinger were the first Marines to publicly wear the uniform before the uniform made its official debut at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on 17 January 2002. In February 2003, MARPAT-patterned helmet covers began to be produced. The replacement of
630-437: 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
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#1732858277835660-476: The pixellated look is a question of fashion rather than function. The design process involves trading-off different factors, including colour, contrast, and overall disruptive effect. A failure to consider all elements of pattern design tends to result in poor results. The US Army's Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP), for example, adopted after limited testing in 2003 and 2004, performed poorly because of low pattern contrast ( isoluminance —beyond very close range,
690-610: The spatial scales of the current background. A pattern being called digital most often means that it is visibly composed of computer-generated pixels . The term is sometimes also used of computer generated patterns like the non-pixellated MultiCam and the Italian fractal Vegetato pattern. Neither pixellation nor digitization contributes to the camouflaging effect. The pixellated style, however, simplifies design and eases printing on fabric, compared to traditional patterns. While digital patterns are becoming widespread, critics maintain that
720-531: Was actually an earlier coloration of the MARPAT scheme, not adopted following USMC trials. These patterns are overall darker than their respective MARPAT equivalents, modified with different color shades. They were introduced because 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
750-463: 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." 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
780-405: Was designed by Timothy O'Neill , Anabela Dugas, Kenneth G. Henley, John Joseph Heisterman Jr., Luisa DeMorais Santos, Gabriel R. Patricio, and Deirdre E. Townes. 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
810-601: Was discontinued . ARMPAT, an Armenian version of the MARPAT pattern, is currently used by the Armenian Armed Forces , and the Artsakh Defense Army . It has the same design as the MARPAT, but with different color sets. Multi-scale camouflage Multi-scale camouflage is a type of military camouflage combining patterns at two or more scales, often (though not necessarily) with a digital camouflage pattern created with computer assistance. The function
840-799: Was the 1929 Italian telo mimetico , which used irregular areas of three colours at a single scale. During the Second World War, Johann Georg Otto Schick designed a series of patterns such as Platanenmuster (plane tree pattern) and Erbsenmuster (pea-dot pattern) for the Waffen-SS , combining micro- and macro-patterns in one scheme. Pixel-like shapes pre-date computer-aided design by many years, already being used in Soviet Union experiments with camouflage patterns, such as "TTsMKK" developed in 1944 or 1945. The pattern uses areas of olive green, sand, and black running together in broken patches at
870-606: Was the single-scale Italian telo mimetico . The root of the modern multi-scale camouflage patterns can be traced back to 1930s experiments in Europe for the German and Soviet armies. This was followed by the Canadian development of the Canadian Disruptive Pattern ( CADPAT ), first issued in 2002, and then with US work which created the Marine pattern ( MARPAT ), launched between 2002 and 2004. The scale of camouflage patterns
900-867: Was underway to create pixellated camouflage patterns for combat uniforms like the Canadian Forces ' CADPAT , which was developed in 1997 and later issued in 2002, and then the US Marines' MARPAT , rolled out between 2002 and 2004. The CADPAT and MARPAT patterns were somewhat self-similar (in the manner of fractals and patterns in nature such as vegetation), designed to work at two different scales. A genuinely fractal pattern would be statistically similar at all scales. A target camouflaged with MARPAT takes about 2.5 times longer to detect than older NATO camouflage which worked at only one scale, while recognition, which begins after detection, took 20 percent longer than with older camouflage. Fractal-like patterns work because
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