One of my favorite scenes in the film, The Dirty Dozen is when they are in war games against the "Blue Force" and they keep changing their arm bands from red to blue and back again to deceive the enemy and capture a command post.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob1x-dRlKN4

With the ACU's velcro on both shoulder sleeves its now possible to stick on and peel off not just colors but important information to identify the Soldier for command & control in the dark WITHOUT WORDS OR WHISPERS and to note his medical condition in detail without fumbling around with casualty cards. During the war practices leading up to the operation, the ACU's velcro insignia holding feature can instill a greater sense of purpose within units and individuals as their roles and functions are readily visible to all like a football team's numbers for the back field quarterbacks 0-20, running backs 21-44, linemen 45-80, receivers 81-99 etc.

Position Identifier

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ1w4mmVZ40

Ranger Joe's offers an ACU cover-up kit consisting of two small 2x4" and two large 4x4.75" clear patches of ACU material with velcro backing that when applied to the soft side velcro covers it up completely to eliminate it getting dirty and wearing out. The two small cover-up pieces are for the left and right top pocket flaps.

www.rangerjoes.com/acu-digital-patch-cover-kit-p-3274.html

Usually the American flag covers up the right top pocket flap and a unit combat service patch below it. What we can do for the LEFT top pocket cover flap is take ACU nametape embroidery and turn the cover-up flap into a POSITION IDENTIFIER.

Here is an example of a Combat LifeSaver:

And a Medic in Iraq:

And with the lower velcro covered by the large clear ACU patch.

One of the problems I've encountered consistently through my 28 years as an enlistedman and officer is marines and Soldiers not taking their job seriously because its got no outward visibility--and hence no group esteem. Without this, CLS skills will be eroded by corrupt bureaucrats like the recent HQDA decision to rob I.V. training from the curriculum that will MURDER OUR MEN in combat when their blood vessels collapse and go into systemic shock:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAz4ocpMPgI

We can and we must change this by using the ACU's left top pocket flap as a POSITION IDENTIFIER like "Medic", "Combat LifeSaver" etc. In fact, if a CLS or a Medic saves a life, they can take a black pen and make a tally mark on the clear ACU material somewhat like we do in football when we score a touchdown, make a tackle etc. and place a sticker on the helmet.

This would encourage Soldiers to save lives and honor those who do with some eyeball peer recognition.

We can even go beyond this to show LEADERSHIP assignment. For example:

SQUAD LEADER
1-A CO 1-504 PIR

This means he's a SQUAD LEADER of 1^st Platoon, Alpha Company, 1^st Battalion of the 504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment (1^st Brigade of the 82^nd Airborne) . Thus, during war practice EVERYONE can see what his role in the overall scheme of things and he can take some measure of the importance of his task since its not hidden. Grenadiers who are to employ the 40mm grenade launcher under the M16/M4 rifle/carbine are constantly not taking their job seriously as grenade-carrying vests or MOLLE grenade pouches sit in the supply room unused or not purchased/ordered since the Army doesn't value the GL enough to create a non-lethal nerf sponge type 40mm round with marking powder that can be shot during war practices so it gets tactical play along with the kinetic energy bullets simulated by MILES laser tag.

During actual combat operations having position identifier information on the shoulder sleeve at night can enable leaders at the assembly areas after a parachute jump or helicopter insertion to rapidly identify who-is-who without having to talk or whisper. The position identifier patch also tells roughly what the Soldier is capable of doing well if units have to be formed from scratch due to a lack of personnel. If its feared the enemy's snipers can read the position identifier info on the patch to better determine who to shoot at or not shoot at, then during the day time the position identifier patch is peeled off and placed in the ACU pocket. In this case the vital function of letting we ourselves know what we are doing would be the benefit gained by wearing the position identifier during war practice.

Location/Task Identifier

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n289Uq4pQzQ

Unit Patch is Sewn or Velcroed under the Clear Plastic and visible when Indentifier Cards not in place

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aKRFMtSihc

Solid Colors Like French Foreign Legion Does with Arm Bands

Black Marker can be used to write Information directly onto the plastic or on the card underneath...

Sample Black Marker Hand-Written Task ACU Identifier Cards

Under the top pocket flaps of the ACU sleeves is a very large square of soft "loop" velcro for the Soldier's unit patch. Rarely is this entire square taken up except with the humongous 1^st Cavalry and 2^nd Infantry's patches so velcro is exposed to the elements and the terrain/vegetation. By covering up these large patches we solve the wear-out and patch coming-off-when-snagging-on something problems. The unit patch should be SEWN onto the top of the cover-up patch and this means the 1^st Cavalry and 2^nd Infantry will need a smaller sized patch because we have things we need to do with the bottom part of the cover-up square.

We sew on 3 sides a piece of clear plastic which creates a SLOT for a WHITE or COLORED card to be insertion at the top like the old butt pack and ALICE packs had for individual Soldiers to write in their names, units etc. Now with this card in back or even no card at all, LARGE BLACK FELT MARKERS can be used to write the Soldier's LOCATION/TASK assigned to him. Let's say he is jumping into Drop Zone "A" with all of 1^st Battalion, 504^th PIR and needs to assemble at area "1". Leaders would write directly onto the clear plastic:

A-1

As the aircraft flies over the drop zone, others in his stick are cross-loaded from other units to assemble at other areas and would have their differing assembly area marked:

A-2

And so on. So if the Paratrooper lands in an out-of-place part of the DZ, he can meet up with a buddy and pointed or taken to the proper assembly area without any words or whispers.

Another option would be to make a mini-clear pocket by sewing a clear plastic to the 2x4" patch and writing in the Soldier's aircraft chalk number:

CHALK 1

So the Soldier knows which aircraft to board when its loud from engines and difficult to hear leaders etc.

You may recall that in the 1950s and '60s Army, we used to wear ugly white nametapes on olive drab uniforms and were expected to write in black marker our last names. It looked terrible but it had a functional benefit that uniforms could be issued out en masse to Soldiers after a battle and he could claim it as his own for future use. Today we can achieve the same and actually better effect by Schoomaker's velcro on the ACUs. By sewing only 3 sides of the clear plastic its possible to PRINT DESIRED INFORMATION on white, blue, red, green, yellow, orange etc. COLORED CARDS that will look very professional looking without variations in hand-written penmanship or the lack thereof---thanks to the proliferation of desk top computers and smudge-resistant laser printers. These cards can be handed out to Soldiers and inserted into their shoulder sleeve clear pockets. The backside could be printed vital info like a strip map of the drop zone with the assembly areas for example or left blank. After assembly, the cards could be taken out and TURNED IN TO THE STAFF NCO running the assembly area verifying that "PRIVATE SMITH IS PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR" for the battle. The same applies if extracting by an air, land or sea craft--the cards could be passed in to give leaders positive personnel accountability so we don't leave men like the 10 the marines left to the Cambodians on Koh Tang island in the 1975 failed rescue attempt. In fact, another problem is the "tap count" taken during patrols. The problem is confusion over whether you count yourself or not and its usually only ONE Soldier or marine who wanders off. By having large or small cards in the shoulder sleeves, at a halt the CARDS COULD BE PASSED FORWARD SILENTLY to the patrol leader and he can SEE MAN-FOR-MAN who is present or not, BY NAME not this silly whispering number stuff. The cards could be LAMINATED and have a hole in the corner so when the Soldier count is called for, the assistant patrol leader starts everything by clipping a metal circle binder to his hard and every Soldier attaches his card on top to the metal ring as its passed up to the patrol leader in the front.

CASEVAC

As said before, the top and/or bottom cards could be printed on both sides or blank. A possibility is on one side would be a CASUALTY CARD that a medic or combat lifesaver would fill-out in detail so when the Soldier is medevaced care givers can know instantly what the situation is. Even if there's no card at all in the clear plastic sleeve, his generalized condition can be written in black permanent marker (comes off with alcohol) to the clear plastic like say "T" for tourniquet and the date/time it was applied:

T
0530
12 Feb 08

MILES War Practice

Currently when we do war practice with MILES laser tag systems, a casualty card is placed in the BDU pocket and retrieved when injured. When a first aid provider arrives, he has to find the card or have the victim TELL HIM what's wrong which is very unrealistic. With the ACU clear plastic sleeve pocket once a Soldier is injured he PLACES THE MILES CASUALTY CARD IN THE CLEAR PLASTIC POCKET and then begins to ACT OUT HIS INJURY. The first aid providers will have to determine his injuries from his acting or reading the MILES card through the clear plastic.

ACU Identifier Cards Ready-to-Print

www.combatreform.org/ACUidentifiers.ppt

Possible Criticisms

Now we now some people are going to oppose this idea and will be looking for a reason to reject it to coincide with their prejudices. They might say, "Hey that clear plastic is shiny and it reflects light and is bad for camouflage".

Damn right it is.

The point of it is TO BE SEEN because ITS MORE IMPORTANT THAT WE KNOW WHAT THE HELL WE ARE DOING THAN POSSIBLY LETTING THE ENEMY FIGURE IT OUT. Guess what?

If we got our act together, everyone is assembled, whatever and we want that good camouflage returned to, REMOVE THE CLEAR PLASTIC PATCH OR PATCHES and place it in your ACU pocket for when its needed again for C&C or CASEVAC etc. Complaint solved. Prejudice defeated.

CAVEAT: if you are wearing Interceptor Body Armor Ballistic Shoulder Flaps you would attach the ACU Identifier Clear Plastic Patch to the velcro on it instead of the ACU shoulder sleeve.

No More Rank

Another positive of the ACU is that it eliminates BRANCH insignia on the collar reducing somewhat the snobbery that runs rampant in the Army, light versus heavy, combat versus combat sustainment units etc. I'm sure many will not want to hear the following proposal but it must be stated. With the ability to rapidly re-label ourselves via the uniform's velcro features it becomes possible to ELIMINATE RANK ALTOGETHER as this is THE major source of snobbery and inbred incompetence of all. We have an entire class of enlistedman who doesn't THINK at all because he's taught to be a FIDO victim who take feces and calls it chocolate cake. Its not. If its feces its feces and we should never lose sight of it by labeling it what it is and FIGHTING against it so we have a better situation. An Army without rank would have ALL OF ITS SOLDIERS THINKING about and practicing for war because only their FUNCTIONAL ASSIGNMENT will be marked on their uniform. If you are a PLATOON LEADER you are a PLATOON LEADER no more of this you are an enlistedman dumbshit who cannot think. If the college/West Point/OCS graduate platoon leader is killed, that blue-collar platoon sergeant had better be ready with his tactics and his Sun Tzu, Liddell-Hart, Doug Macgregor, Dan Bolger, Dave Grange and Erwin Rommel to peel off that ACU shoulder sleeve patch from his fallen CO as he's medevaced back to the FOB and assume COMMAND of the unit. Now you might say, "wait a minute! what if the PL is taken out and there's 3 squad leaders, who takes over if there's no rank?".

Easy.

The center velcro tab that was once holding rank now holds an embroidered NUMBER--the number of years in the service or a succession of command sequence already decided by the chain of command BEFORE they started to get themselves killed and wounded off. Each year the Soldier is in the service, he gets a new number, YEAH it means I'd be wearing a "27" and that's the way it should be because that's REALITY. Respect should be driven by REALITY not how the organization plays its little favoritism games. And yes, its true that if you are in an unit that hates you, you may not get ANY leadership assignment patch to wear and the CO might put you in the order of succession down to the last man just to spite you despite your years. This is why I advocate the years of service as the ACU center insignia number. If officers must command automatic respect then they are marked generically as officers without rank on the ACU in some visible way. This way, enlistedmen and officers will all be equal except by their leadership position and more inclined to stop pulling rank and lording it over the younger and/or less experienced officers so some brain cells might grow to create the TECHNOCRACY WE NEED TO PREVAIL ON THE NON-LINEAR BATTLEFIELD instead of shriveling up. Maybe if we started getting our head in the game and started talking to each other instead of ordering each other around we might actually start UNDERSTANDING and ADAPTING to OVERCOME the threats arrayed against us.

Retired LTC Ranger Larry Altersitz writes:

"Mike:

Interesting article, thanks.

I think the easiest way to solve the velcro problem is go back to sewn-on patches. I wrote to INFANTRY commenting on an article and letter in the early 80's; the letter writer sent me a letter where he commented on the use of velcro on pocket flaps as less than desirable.

I do like the MEDIC and CLS identifiers on a uniform, and "attaboy" marks are a good morale booster for all in the unit. That embroidery should be done at government expense. The rank badge might also include years of service (YOS) beneath the rank, which could be needed if we ever had to return to the "shake and bake" NCOCS of Vietnam fame. The YOS might be a quick indicator that the wearer wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed if you saw a low rank/high YOS combination, assuming you didn't personally know the wearer. Getting people to think is a function of leadership; smart leaders are training their replacements at all times. Teams need leaders to do different things at different times. Sergeants do things; officers should be thinking ahead on what's next and getting the resources to do the next mission. Only fools don't expect and want communications in multiple directions to complete the mission at the lowest cost in personnel and material.

I'm ambivalent over the further ID of units and personnel; I will sit on that a while longer. If it's removable and only used in airborne/airmobile assaults, I can go with it, but not a permanent item on a uniform. It might be wise to include something in the embroidery that allows it to be seen at night if illuminated by a certain type of light, i.e., infrared, to allow the questioner to make the ID. I'd also use snaps, clips or safety pins to attach it to the uniform or MOLLE gear, rather than velcro.

The need to have some method to bring the GL into real play is pressing; yours is a concept that might be useful as a means to reach the goal. Nerf is good, but doesn't have the range due to lack of mass. I do like the ID card on ring concept for tracking folks in large numbers. Might want to break it down a little further and have the TL or SL pass his card up to the next higher to indicate all of his element is present, saving on the need for passing up and returning items to folks. Turn-in at the DZ/LZ assembly area allows for a good head count.

The LZ/DZ/assembly area method with a card behind clear plastic is not needed, IMHO. What is needed is a signal that orients jumpers/airmobile troops to their specific site. Maybe a panel on a collapsible frame with IR illumination that flashes on and off so troops can use NVG equipment to orient themselves. Night DZ/LZ aren't quiet places and whispering can be cut to a minimum if folks get oriented correctly. Casualty card data needs to be in a primary or secondary place on the casualty to reduce fumbling around to find the data by the medevac personnel."

Larry

What would the ideal REVCAM BDUs/ACUs look like? Functional Bottlenecks: When you carry Too Much of the Wrong Gear

When trouble comes, people invariably say, "tighten the belt". In the case of our Soldiers overloaded we are not doing this, we are ADDING A BELT onto an overloaded Soldier's body. Let's face it. Human beings wear pants. If they do not cover the whole leg, they are shorts.

There are two ways to keep those pants from falling down: suspenders and a waist belt.

If you use suspenders you do not have the sagging problem but the suspender doesn't do anything else for you. So you have a belt for your uniform pants.

Now let's back up. You can merge the pants and shirt into one, which is the belt-less jumpsuit which in Nomex flight crews and ground vehicle crews AND DISMOUNTS should wear for fire protection. No waist belt is needed to keep the pants from sagging since the entire one piece fits to the form of the body. This streamlined covering would HELP the infantry Soldier despite his ego aversion to looking like an "aviator" or "tanker". The problem is cooling and going to the bathroom. You unzip your jumpsuit and you have this upper shirt dangling possibly into the toilet and if you just want to cool off, its hot.

OPTION A

So why not make the jumpsuit top detach?

Now you have not only improved the Soldier's uniform function, you've lessened his load by LESS MATERIAL in overlap. However, when the top of the jumpsuit detaches, IT BECOMES A DEFACTO pair of pants and it needs a belt.

No problemo, WE WANT A BELT. We just don't want to wear TWO OR MORE BELTS.

If we would make a STIFF 2 inch wide belt that has emergency rappel capabilities, a SUPER RIGGER BELT, this could be worn on the outside on the Nomex detachable combat jumpsuit and HANG GEAR FROM IT. If the belt is not wide enough or stiff like current Rigger's belts at the most you could do is hang a knife and a SERE kit pouch for escape & evasion, ehh recovery contingencies. A stiffer belt means a detachable buttpack, magazine pouches, etc. could be worn.

You simply wear a Cool-Aid vest under the jumpsuit and then drape then your body armor (IBA) on top with additional magazine pouches connected directly to it or a load bearing vest you prefer WITHOUT NEED OF ANOTHER BELT. You only wear 1 BELT AT THE WAIST.

OPTION B

OK. You may not like the combat jumpsuit for myriad reasons. Fine. Then WIDEN THE BELT LOOPS ON BDU pants so it can accept the Super Rigger belt. I pray to god you are wearing Nomex 2-piece BDUs if in an aircraft or a ground vehicle to protect against fire. Its your life.

All of the benefits of weight savings, simplicity and less range of motion restrictions at the waist are gained in this approach using Super Rigger belt and a 2-piece uniform.

The human body is hindered when we interfere with its range of motion. Draping a holster of any kind on the leg is going to incur a severe energy cost every time the leg muscles work. I do not buy into it at all. We should keep weight off the legs as much as possible. The ballistic protection of a 3 pound hunk of metal in one place on your leg is not adequate to protect the femoral arteries. We should stop screwing around and cover them with a minimalist flap of kevlar that would cinch down around the quadriceps muscles but flex with elastic. This is all the function impairment we should accept on the legs.

itsg@hotmail.com

A 1^st TSG (A) member writes in:

"Thanks for the BDU Fix info we call them camouflage 'utilities' or 'cammies' for short."

"I agree that warm weather cammies function fine in cold weather. I've worn mine during cold weather ops in Korea, Norway, Chile and Minnesota. With careful layering they work just fine."

XXX XXXXX XXXXXXX,USNR Group Aid Station
4th Medical Battalion
4th Force Service Support Group

Another response:

I like your web site, I hope this has been of interest."

Phil West writes:

"The old 'Velcro is noisy' argument always amuses me -only if you peel bits off it. If you are creeping up on someone and suddenly decide to change you unit insignia yes it's a problem (but you are probably too stupid to be given a weapon in this case anyway!) Velcro on a knife flap -bad idea. On a hood or insignia, fine. I seem to recall something about SAS man Cameron Spence actually replacing the zipper and buttons on his smock with velcro"

Kevin Paulson writes:

"Mike,

Supplycaptain.com has the capacity to have custom IR-reflective patches made, if I remember correctly. Also, this reminds me of the WW2 British practice of having DZ Flashes worn on the sleeves of their Dennison smocks so that at a glance you could pick your people out on a DZ. I like this idea, especially on the chance that people on convoy ops or on a large DZ will be working with unfamiliar people and not know who the SL, TL, CLS and so forth are. Perhaps a keyed symbol like the symbols used on the 101st's steel pots during WW2 might be a good idea? I am thinking that the only objections you'll hear from the potential customer base on this idea will be that the insignia might identify priority targets for enemy snipers. Otherwise, I'm on board with this.

Thanks!

Kevin"

An Army Field Artilleryman writes:

"That's an interesting idea.

One thing that I recommend adding to it would be a flap of fabric over the Position Identifier, that could be folded down over it (such as for the scenario where enemy snipers are looking for specific PI tags) --- that way, there's less risk of either losing or mixing up the PI tags. The flap could simply be sewn onto the existing uniform, with two small velcro tabs for the 'show' and 'hide' positions, respectively."

Our reply:

My first stab at it:

www.combatreform.org/ACUidentifierYcoverflap.ppt

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