Army Sacrifices Saftey to "Look Cool"

president camacho's first order of business would obviously be making sure the army had enough brawndo (its got electrolytes)... second order woudl be making sure the army had snazzy uniforms, possibly with the brawndo logo.

 I am thoroughly confused/mesmerized by this story. I found the link to in on the ticker over at Uni-Watch... where it was noted as being "branding run amok"... but this seems like a much bigger issue...

as the article states, in 2004, the army changed their camouflage design to something closer to the marines "digital" camouflage look.

i remember Billy Bob saying at the time, "they are just copying the marines"... now, i figured that was true, only because they simply wanted the most effective camo for their soldiers. (aka, they would be stupid not to use it, right?)

ok, army meeting. you guys need some new, cool, uniforms.

well if this article is accurate at all, the army simply just copied the style of "digital" pattern, but did little to no research on the colors to use, resulting in a camo that was essentially giant mapquest arrows pointing out all of their soldiers, while in the field.

the most damning quote came from the editor of "Soldier Systems Daily" ( i'm assuming this is a highly regarded magazine in military circles) who said “Brand identity trumped camouflage utility. That’s what this really comes down to: ‘We can’t allow the Marine Corps to look more cool than the Army.’ ”

if true, that is just a debacle, and really just takes the insanity of over-branding to a whole new level... it something south park woudl put in one of their shows to spoof how bad global branding has become... the military essentially slapping logos onto uniforms, to increase brand awareness, even though it might get you killed... how is this real?


its one thing to have your band manager suggest you put a bit of hay in your mouth to look cool... or buying some leather suits to snug up on you in the rain... but thats only a problem if you trying to get more gigs... the army doesn't need any more gigs...has ther ebeena worse call for saftely clothing since murray send brett out wearing reflective suspenders?

my feeling is that this is either overblown, and not a big deal (the reports of the camo being ineffective are limited, and unproven)... or, this a kind of a massive problem, and enough is not being made out of it... their can't be a middle ground right? you are either blending in, or you're standing out, right?

another scary/crazy quote came from an un-named cavalry scout who said: “If we can see our own guys across a distance because of it, then so can our enemy.”... how was this not IMMEDIATELY noted when the uniforms were first issued in 2004?

the army said these reflective suspenders would  keep us out of sight.

i can't quite get a firm grasp on this story from this article, mainly because it leaves out some pretty important info.... BBD, any way your associates at Starkwood can shed any light on this? any additional insight on this would be massively appreciated... i find this whole thing fascinating.... are the people quoted in this article actually "in the know"... it sounds pretty legit.... but i find this to be a massively huge story/problem - and i am not sure how its just getting this minor level of attention...   though it could be something that IS getting a ton of attention internally, just not on a public forum (which is highly plausible)... i mean, they have been wearing these "targets" since 2004!?...

the main question i found myself asking is, why does it work for the marines? how did they not ask about the marines research and development? was there any research and development? there had to be a ton, right? (again, this is probably not something the marines care to make public knowledge... but at least let me know that)

i know BBD has first hand account about how effective the marines camo is... how do they not go into the reasons why its effective?...

its also possible my uniform obsession intersecting with the safely of soldiers had caused me to have a minor freak out.