When it comes to military clothing, the United States Military has almost as many types of camouflage patterns as it has abbreviations. Keeping up with camo can be a full time job. BDUs, ACUs, ABUs, or NWUs (Battle Dress Uniforms, Army Combat Uniforms, Airman Battle Uniforms, or Navy Working Uniforms) are available in a variety of camouflage patterns.
Woodland Pattern
The EDRL camouflage pattern (Engineer Research and Development Laboratory) contains woodland greens, browns, tans, and black and was used in military clothing for soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors up until the 1980s. EDRL was phased out in favor of the M81 Woodland pattern, which is an enlarged version of EDRL. Now M81 is being phased out in favor of the MARPAT (Marines), ABU (Air Force) and the NWU (Navy), which are digital or pixilated variations.
Desert Pattern
The 6 color desert pattern which was used in military clothing during the Gulf War, is a base of light tan overlain with patches of brown and pale olive green, along with clusters of white and black splotches scattered over everything. This pattern is also called the Chocolate-Chip or Cookie Dough camouflage and was phased out in favor of the 3 color desert pattern in tan, gray and green. Today’s Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) used by Army units in Afghanistan is being phased out, in favor of Operation Enduring Freedom Camo Pattern (OCP) also known as MultiCam or Scorpion Camo.
Camo patterns that have been phased out in the United States may still be used in other countries. The newer U.S. patterns are designed to be less specific to desert or woodland, and are used in military clothing for a variety of environments. Dominant colors of the environment bring out the same colors from the camo pattern, enabling the wearer to blend into the terrain more effectively.