U.S. Woodland

U.S. Woodland
Digitized swatch of the U.S. Woodland pattern
Type	Military camouflage pattern
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1981–2012 (U.S. military)
Used by	See Users (for other non-U.S. users)
Wars	Invasion of Grenada United States invasion of Panama 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
Production history
Produced	1981–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.^[1] 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",^[2][3] 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 Seabees.

Development and history[]

The woodland pattern is nearly identical to highland ERDL, only differing in that it is printed from an enlargement of the original.^[4] The woodland pattern was enlarged and the borders of the splotches were re-drawn to make them less regular. Part of the earlier pattern was left off the later pattern because the enlargement made them no longer fit on the width of the bolt of cloth. The pattern does not repeat horizontally across the width of the bolt, but only vertically along its length. The pattern was officially adopted in 1981.^[4]

The effect of enlarging the pattern was to make the pattern more visible at a distance, avoiding "blobbing", where smaller areas of color seem to blend into larger blobs. This also gave the pattern a higher contrast, making it stand out more sharply at close distances and defeating the camouflage effect at closer range. Digital and Flecktarn camouflage patterns resolve this problem by using a range of blob sizes to give a similar effect whatever the distance.

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.^[5][6]

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^[7] 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.^[8] The Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force's civilian auxiliary, also used woodland patterned BDUs until being discontinued 15 June 2021.^[9]

State defense forces[]

Several state defense forces use the Woodland Pattern on their BDUs.^[10] Members of the Virginia Defense Force wear a Woodland version of the Army Combat Uniform (ACU).^[11][12] The pattern also sees use among police departments, such as the Rhode Island State Police.^[13]

Users[]

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

See also[]

• United States Army Engineer Research and Development Laboratory

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Galeotti, Mark (2015). Spetsnaz: Russia's Special Forces. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1472807229.

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