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" after the Battle Dress Uniform it was first used on,[2] 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 SEALs.
Development and history
The woodland pattern is nearly identical to the brown-dominant version of the ERDL pattern, only differing in that it is enlarged by 60 percent. The enlargement was made in order to extend the effectiveness of the camouflage pattern to as close to 250 meters as possible [3]
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.[4][5]
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).
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.[7] The Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force's civilian auxiliary, also used woodland patterned BDUs until being discontinued 15 June 2021.[8]
Canada: Formerly used by the Canadian Forces as the pattern of helmet covers for the M1 Helmet (both regular and paratrooper variants), the PASGT Helmet and the Spectra Helmet otherwise known as the 'Barrday Helmet'.[21] The Woodland pattern had originally entered service around the same time as the US and had become the standard issue cover by the late 1980s, replacing the older Mitchell Pattern covers.[21] The cover pattern was fully phased out and replaced by CADPAT by the mid-2000s.[21] Helmet covers as well as uniforms (like former US BDUs) and webbing equipment are still seen in Woodland pattern for OPFOR training.
Russia: Russia uses near-copies (Komplekt kamuflirovannogo obmundirovannogo [KKO] and Лес or Les [forest]) and true copies (NATO) worn by MVD Agencies such as the Internal Troops and Spetsnaz GRU units.[46][47]
United States: Former standard issue camouflage uniform pattern for all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. At the state-level, several state defense forces use it.[49]
Ukraine: Blue Woodland camos used by MVS units.[50] State Border Guard personnel use green woodland clones.[50]
^Camouflage Uniforms of the Soviet Union and Russia: 1937-to the Present by Dennis Desmond, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. (December 1, 1997) ISBN978-0764304620[page needed]
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