Military
Clothing – America’s New Look
Years of study went into designing
and creating an effective and durable modern army uniform – so
how has military clothing in America evolved?
Advances in military clothing
The Army Combat Uniform (ACU) marked a
major advancement in military clothing when it was launched in 2004.
The ACU became standard-issue
in 2005 for all deployed US troops. But upgrading military clothing is
a major step and in the last one hundred years, military clothing and
the army uniform has only been redesigned a small number of times.
Nature of war
The update in military clothing has to be put down to some
extent to the changing nature of war and changes in the state of soldiering.
Restrictive military clothing
Military clothing at one point was dominated
by ceremonial dress and authoritarianism. Perhaps epitomized by the British
soldiers who stand
guard outside Buckingham Palace – the military clothing is restrictive
and cumbersome. The new American uniform couldn’t be further removed.
The military clothing uses modern developments in fabric design so that
it can breathe and move with the body more easily. The black polished
leather boots were replaced with tan desert boots.
Camouflage and military clothing
One of the major concerns for the new
uniform was that it functions effectively as camouflage against the enemy
but is visible to comrades.
One way of achieving this was attaching an infrared element to the US
flag emblem traditionally found on American military clothing. The stars
and stripes were redesigned to muted khaki colours making it hard for
the enemy to see, but the infrared element meant the emblem was visible
to those equipped to see it.
Digital camouflage
The military clothing incorporates the latest technology.
Digital camouflage pattern is bit-mapped on a computer and printed onto
nylon for a pixel-effect.
The idea is that the military clothing ‘suggests’ shapes
and colours without being shapes and colours – the camouflage therefore
helps the soldier blend into space he is moving in. Black is no longer
part of the military clothing because it isn’t a colour found in
nature and disrupts camouflage. The fact that modern warfare tends to
be dominated in desert and urban settings dictates the design of future
military clothing.
Psychological warfare
Although military clothing is now designed to help
soldiers do their job rather than look the part, all military clothing
goes beyond the
purely practical – the uniform gives a sense of identity, purpose
and marks out the wearers from the rest of the world.
John Bull Military Clothing is a supplier of quality merchandise to
the Forces worldwide. John Bull Military Clothing is based at the Catterick
Garrison, North Yorkshire. For all your military clothing, outdoor and
survival equipment needs you can order from the online shop. For more
details telephone 01748 833614 or email: mail@johnbullclothing.com
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