Army camouflage - does it work?

[aadenny]

Whenever I see a squaddie, he's almost always clad in 'camouflage' fatigues, and he's the first person I see in any group. Is there any evidence that camouflage uniform works? Surely, in modern warfare, the soldier is usually most under threat from terrorists, in urban and social situations, and thus shouldn't be wearing camouflage or khaki? .

[Ginbottle]

Green camouflage works in the Army because the army are in a field or a jungle most of the time. The colour also works for "village fighting" ( around buildings & cities) because there are trees & green areas. In the Navy, black works for submarines; grey works for surface ships: How many submarines & warships have you seen in the ocean?

[Ginbottle]

Green works a damn sight better than red on all occasions. As red was used 300 years ago to hide the blood.

[incitatus]

Making a bit of an assumption there. Soldiers are rarely under threat from terrorists. It's mainly the police and public who are. Incidentally there are a number of colours of army fatigues to match different terrains, but in the two most recent wars (balkans and afghanistan) most fighting has still been in the open, and greens (or browns) are still effective.

[Foxhill]

In addition to previous answers... There are various different colour schemes and types of camouflage available. Urban - Black/Grey/White Polar - White/Light Blue Desert - Light/Dark Browns (desert pink) Jungle - Dark Greens Water - Dark Blues Steppe - Mixture of Browns and Slate They have all been proven to work in the surrounds they were designed for, but sometimes an alternative is used so that they DO stand out. Such as in Peacekeeping operations and regimental duties.

[atalanta]

Curiously, camouflage doesn't always work if there is an observer who is colour-blind. If tanks, tents, etc, are covered by camouflage, a colour-blind observer who looks down from an aircraft will often be able to spot the bogus bits. Atalanta

[petergarrity]

The main idea behind most camouflage isn't so much to allow someone resemble the objects around them, it's principal purpose is to "break up" the familiar shape of the human form (or the shape of a tank or structure). The modern camouflage used by the armed forces is normally referred to as "disruptive pattern material" (DPM). This can mean using irregular blotches of colour or stripes to disrupt the image & fool the eye of the observer who is looking for a familiar outline. Zebras are the best example of this having black stripes on a white background and manage to fool a lot of predators by simply breaking up their outline. Similar principles can be applied to camouflage in urban situations by adopting a mode of dress which looks non-threatening, inocuous and simply doesn't draw attention to the wearer.