After somebody showed us these photos of guys in the 82nd Airborne Infantry Division decked out in UCP-D, we heard that certain elements of the 508th were issued coyote brown vests in addition to the new camo pattern. It's hard to tell if this is an extension of the army's camo test or if the battalion S4 just got a good deal on the coyote. But, it could mean the army has moved into another phase of their camo evaluation. They could be deciding whether its worth it to spend the money on UCP-D vests and accessories or to move to Marine Corps style solid-colored add-ons for versatility.
This backs us into the bigger but unconfirmed camo bombshell, one of our sources over at PEO Soldier just told us that the command is going to recommend the theater-specifc adoption of UCP-D during the Chief of Staff's decision brief. PEO's official response is that the camo test is still underway and they haven't reached any conclusions.
UPDATE: We just received a comment from PEO Soldier's Col. Bill Cole, program manager for Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment, stating that PEO has not issued any coyote brown equipment. They also told us that they have made no recommendation on alternate camouflage patterns for the Army Combat Uniform.
"Any recommendation will come after the Army has finished gathering and analyzing a large volume of data gathered through the photosimulation study and Soldier surveys," he wrote. "Senior Army leadership will be briefed on the data and results and recommended courses of action in late January, after which a decision will be made on whether to provide Soldiers in Afghanistan with different camouflage alternatives."
So, it looks like the Army is still sifting through the camo test data and weighing its options. With the Chief of Staff's decision brief coming up fast after the new year, the PEO/Natick/AWG's PowerPoint ninjas are going to be pretty busy over the holidays.
U.S. Army Sgt. John Clayton with 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division makes his way through a river while on a joint patrol with soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division in the Arghandab River Valley, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Dec. 13, 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Juan Valdes/Released)
more
