ACU VS Multicam and my opinion!

It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've been truly busy with my work and debating. Just last-last week I was busy with the Kenyalang Debate Open and Arau Open. After flying back to Kuching from Penang Island, I headed for Saratok to celebrate Gawai. It's a 5-6 hours drive from Kuching. However, today, I'm not blogging about that.

Today, I'm going to blog about the Multicam and the ACU (Army Combat Uniform, the pattern itself is refered as ACUPAT). The rival patterns of the US Army and the degree of ridiculousness surrounding the debate. Now before we get deeper into this matter, let's see what's the issue and let's see what's so special about both camos.



The current issue: Last month, the United States Army has just decided to replace the ACU (pictured above on the right) with the Multicam (pictured above on the left). This has been controversial as the ACU has been used for years and the Multicam has been in the civilian market for quite a long time. Not to mention, the Multicam isn't digital camo, in which the American government has spent a lot of money for research on. Changing the pattern back to non-digital seems to make a statement to the American public that sounds like "Hey, we spent the tax payer's money on digital camo research and we have decided to use a private company's pattern which seems to be better. What a waste of tax payer's money!" That is one statement the Pentagon is making towards the genral public. However, the multicam seems to work better as a "universal pattern" more than the ACU which in the 1st place, is claimed as the "Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP)".

To better understand the issue even more, let's dissect what's so special and what's wrong with these patterns.

What's so special about the ACU?


The ACU uses a style of camoflage called "Digi-Cam" in which instead of the typical patterns and shape, it utilizes pixels on it's pattern. The 1st country that 1st used the pattern was Canada with their CADPAT. The American government spent a lot of money trying to emulate the CADPAT for their own purposes. Even the Colombian Army had their own digi-cam for woodland theater of operations. CADPAT came in 2 variants, the woodland variant and the temperate variant. The ACU on the other hand, came out in one variant: GREY. According to some smart-ass general, they claimed the ACU is a UCP or Universal Camouflage Pattern. Now judging from the above, the ACU works well in Mountain Terrains. It also seems to work fine in Urban and Snow terrain. So good in Urban terrain that the Polish's Police Special Forces with BOA, adopted it too. (The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency's Commandos aka STAR also adopted it). Due to the fact it is suppose to work well as a universal pattern, it is expected to work well in other terrains too. Then again, it works in Urban, Snow and Mountain terrains.

What's the problem with the ACU?

Now the problem with ACU is that, it does not function it's role as a universal pattern. While it works great in snow, mountains, grey coloured deserts and urban areas it does not blend in other theater of operations (READ: IRAQ AND THE AFGHAN PLAINS). What I mean by this is that Iraq has a tan desert. Using an ACU in such condition would only make you pop up from miles away. This explains why many PMCs prefer the old 90s DCU or it's much more popular name, Chocolate Chip. Not only that, some turn to the British Desert Variant-DPM that has been used by them. On the Afghan plains however, the terrain varies quickly. While one moment a patrol may be working in a snow covered terrain and rocky grounds, another moment, they would end up in poppy fields in which they stand out and become Taliban snacks. This explains why the DEA uses the Multicam in Afghanistan: to hide from the enemy there. It does not fulfill the role of it's so called universal pattern claims. Soldiers then prefer the multicam or 90s BDU/DCU.

Another problem when the ACU was put into service is that BDU and DCUs are not regulated like before. This gives less option for army personnel to choose what uniform to use in the battlefield. In fact, even the National Guard now totally uses the ACU. Most bases dropped the BDUs and DCUs straight away and totally, making it almost impossible to revert back to those uniforms without personnels to purchase it themselves. If they purchase it for themselves, they end up looking different from the crowd.

What's so special about the Multicam?


Multicam is also refered to as a Universal Pattern. It's the pattern that is preferred more compared to the ACU by American Personnel. It works in dry vegetation, woodland and it works in a different method compared to the Digi-Cam. Digi-Cam works by tricking the human eye with the squares and blends into the enviroment. The multicam on the other hand tricks they eye by tricking the eye in terms of shape and volume. The eye works in a way where a small portion of the brain receives colour while the rest is filled by the brain in a process called "filling-in". Multicam takes advantage on this concept by blending a few colours to make a "universal pattern". It uses green to blend in the forest and woodland areas, and tan to blend in the desert. This tricks the eye according to lighting, making it suitable for several terrains instead of just one.


As you can see from above, it works well in both vegetation and desert terrain. This makes it much more effective in terms of creating a universal pattern and that is what the American Armed Forces has been trying to look for.

What's the problem with the Multicam?

From the descriptions and photos I've given above, it seems like the Multicam works as an excellent universal pattern. However, lets dissect this debate and see it from different perspective. While the Multicam seems to work better in vegetation and several other terrains, the ACU works better than the Multicam in areas like snow, urban (still debatable) and mountain terrains. The grey colours of the ACU, blend perfectly in the Afghan mountains to an extend that it is better than the Multicam.

Another problem with the multicam is that, it is owned by Crye Precision LLC. A private entity, not government. This gives an image of the American Army being a body that fails to create their own pattern even with the tax payer's money but going on to a pattern that has been in the market for civilians for quite a long time. Not to mention other countries have been using this pattern with alterations to it. (The Polish Army for example, uses a darker version of multicam). Now the government wants to totally replace the ACU with the Multicam. It just gives a negative image from the Pentagon to the global media.

My proposal:

Whilst American Army generals are busy signing documents for supplies of Multicams to be shipped of to Afghanistan and Iraq, they should have looked at how the Marines manage the uniform. Now the Marines uses the MARPAT or Marine's Pattern. However, they have 2 variants. One for desert and one for temperate/woodland. In fact, they are also created one for snow/urban and mountain terrains.

Snow variant of the MARPAT.

Desert Variant of the MARPAT

Woodland/Temperate version of the MARPAT.

The American Army instead of trying to have universal pattern, they should drop the idea of having one because it's almost impossible to achieve a universal pattern. The best way is to have several variants of uniforms. Below are some suggestions.

Rocky Mountains - ACUs
Temperate - Multicam/BDUs
Green Mountains - Multicam/BDUs
Tan Deserts - Multicam/DCUs
Urban - ACU
Snow - ACU
Woodland - Multicam (Darker Variant)/BDUs/OD Greens (?)/Tiger Stripes(?)

While some may argue this is a logistical nightmare, just look at the Marines. They did it. Look at the Singaporeans, they have 2 variants too or maybe look at the Malaysian Army, they have 2 variants of their uniform, woodland and desert and finally, look at the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, they have 3 uniforms, zebra woodland, CQB Black and ACUs. Even a better example, the Chinese Army has 7 camouflage. Just use all of them. Simple as that.

Feel free to comment.

Edit: For another effective digicam, check out the Singaporean Digicam here: http://randomworksofterence.blogspot.com/2012/01/singaporean-army.html

Edit (2): US Army's newer selection of uniform, post Multicam: http://randomworksofterence.blogspot.com/2012/01/us-army-changing-uniform-again.html

To go or not to go?

Dilemma, dilemma bla3, choices, choices,


So my friend who was in the same company as me (Delta, Awie was in the same barracks as me) came and visited me in the afternoon. It was a long time since I met him. The last time I met him was probably before I went to UiTM. I wasn't even a Kesatria Commander at that time. Currently he's a Sergeant in the Police Cadets. So if I follow my old Police Cadet hierachy, he was my superior. Anyway, back to the story. He suggested that one day we should visit our old National Service Camp, Kem Putra Sentosa. I said okay and he told me to bring another company-mate of mine, Corporaal Saiful (The rank is from Police Cadets Corps too, not NS). He suggested that we should go there on the 30th and meet our old instructors.

I kind of miss the camp, there was a lot memories from there. I missed Sergeant Major Kamson's (RAMD) jokes. He's really funny. I could never forget how our Discipline Officer would punish us (1st Warrant Officer Isa). Man I sort of miss the days but I really hate the uniform. My Company Instructor (Ex-Ranger), En. Wahid was a great guy. Then again, there are some memories that I would not like to remember from there. I mean, the bad stuff did not actually happen in camp but it happened during the period I was in camp. A schoolmate of mine passed awat in that period, I quarreled with some people I loved and some people in camp did not like me because I had a rank there. So what? If you're jealous then it's up to you, I got it and you didn't face it.

M-16 rifles from camp

Another thing that is bugging me is that recently I received a letter from the Maritime Enforcement Agency (Malaysian version of Coast Guards) for an interview on the 26th. The interview though is not for an officer intake but it's for enlisted men (recruits). I was thinking of going just to see wheter I can make through the physical test but my Dad said I will be wasting my time there. I was thinking of joining as a recruit and take a semester leave from my studies. I finish basic training then I finish my studies. From there I could go for the rank of Maritime Lieutenant or I finish my diploma first and join basic training for the same rank. I'm not so sure if it was possible to do something like that. I know an Army guy doing something similar but at the same time he's a PALAPES instructor. He's Captain though if anyone is wondering what's his rank.

So should I do for the interview or don't. I'm scared I might regret joining service too early. I'm not so sure can I even continue my Kesatria activities if I follow this. Would I be stripped off from my rank and be barred to join Kesatria? Then again if I'm allowed to join I don't think so I will have the time as might have to go for trainings on weekends if what I predict about MMEA was right.

My squad, Batch 17

Protectors of the Malaysian Waters

In our sea waters, we currently have 3 different special forces doing anti terrorism works and enforcing Malaysian waters. Those 3 forces are the Combat Diving Unit (UGERIN) from the Marine Police, the Special Tactics and Rescue (STAR) from the Coast Guards and PASKAL aka KD Panglima Hitam, Navy Special Forces.

From what I know UGERIN has power up to 12 nautical miles off the Coast. They were formed to handle jobs what the VAT 69 can't do in the sea as they are not deployed in Coastal or Sea areas. UGERIN are trained by American Navy Seals and they are tasked to deal with HRT works on beaches and up to 12 miles of beaches. Besides that, they do riverine patrols and do river HRT works.

The pictures above are old pictures before they changed their name from UST to UGERIN

 Coast Guard's Special Forces on the other hand do HRT works in deeper waters and they also do hard arrest onto pirates on boats. They are also tasked onto destroying pirates bases at beaches on piers, either from elimination of key targets or bombings.Besides that, they are trained to do amphibious assaults onto pirates and do hard arrest or chase into riverine areas. They are trained by all branches of Malaysian Armed Forces's special forces. During it's begining they were formed by the Malaysian government through absorbing members from PASKAU (Airforce Special Forces) and PASKAL (Navy Special Forces). It was even suggested that half of PASKAL should be absorbed into STAR, Coast Guard's Special Forces but it was too expensive as the Navy needs to train and recruit more into PASKAL if they actually did this. So they sent some but not half and no official figure was given so far. During times of war or emergency, they can be deployed by the Navy anywhere and cooperate with PASKAL or other Navy/Coast Guard units.

The pictures above are demostration by STAR units for the media. The picture above also shows them cooperating with the Navy's Special Forces, PASKAL.

The third unit is PASKAL (Pasukan Khas Laut) which is under the command of the Navy. Their main task is to enforce Malaysia's EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone). They were trained by American Navy Seals and Royal Marine Commandos. Their beret are maroon in colour to honour their close relationships with Indonesia's Kopaska (Navy Special Forces). During their early days, they were infact trained by Kopaska. Paskal were formed the government in the first place to combat naval terrorism and to combat piracy which was huge threat to Malaysia's economy. Recently, they were given the title KD Panglima Hitam (Translates loosely as Black Knights or Warriors). Such titles were given to people who have contributed a lot the country and has high martial art skills and PASKAL were famous for their martial art skills.

The pictures above shows PASKAL troopers and officers demostrating some of their weaponry. The third picture shows all different timelines PASKAL and showing their old uniforms and weapons alongside new ones.

Notice all these water/marinal infantry use American BDUs. They use these uniform to show respect to the special forces that have trained them and worked with them before, mainly from America.

Special Forces in Malaysia

After the National Service I became quite interested in Malaysia's Special Forces after meeting some ex-SF guys in camp. There was once this instructor who was an ex-PASKAL, the Malaysian equivelant of the Navy SEALs, he seemed to be strict all the time and I don't blame him to be like that. So here is a brief run through about the Special Forces in Malaysia.

As I said before, PASKAL is the equivalent of the Navy SEALs in Malaysia. Trained by the SEALs, SAS and Indonesia's Kopaska, they are quite the Donald Trump in underwater demolition. They're hardcore.



This is the VAT 69, named after the whiskey of the same name. Trained by the SAS, they are jump and dive qualified. Formed by the government to track down communist terrorist in the 70s inside the deep forest of Malaya. The picture below shows them in their new camo uniform. VAT 69 were also involved with the Al-Maunah case where they cooperated with GGK (Grup Gerak Khas or Special Actions Group, look below)



PASKAU is the airforce's elite commando unit. Their main task is to sabotage enemy airbases, rescue pilot behind enemy lines, combat search and rescue, and marking designated target for pilots. These people are the ones who blow up enemy planes before they get off the ground.



GGK or Grup Gerak Khas is the Army's Special Actions Group. These boys are trained by American Green Berets and was formed the SAS. These people come in when situations conventional army infantry could not handle. They also could be deployed through Delta-ish tactics, winning the hearts and mind of people. They normally work closely with Indonesia's Kopassus, another elite group in South East Asia.


When the Malaysian Coast Guards were formed a few years ago, there was demand for assistance for special units as certain situations couldn't be handled by conventional forces. When pirates are armed to the extend of a small Navy, conventional warfare is probably not the brightest idea. Unconventional warfare such as sabotage, demolition and espionage could be the trick of the trade here. Hence, the government formed the STAR team or the Special Tactics and Rescue for the Coast Guards. Formed from PASKAU and PASKAL troopers that were absorbed into the Coast Guards. These guys may be new but they are hard hittin' commandos, ready to take pirates and terrorist at sea.