966: “MarPat” (Marine Pattern) USMC Camouflaged Utility Uniform, 2002, by John M. Carrillo and Kenneth Smith-Christmas

“MarPat” (Marine Pattern) USMC Camouflaged Utility Uniform, 2002

“MarPat” (Marine Pattern) USMC Camouflaged Utility Uniform, 2002

Plate No. 966

On some occasions, the U. S. Marine Corps has been derided by critics for just “making do with Army cast-offs,” but, in fact, the Corps has often embraced new technologies, and has been at the forefront of innovation. Examples, such as amphibian tractors, landing craft, field packs, and various small arms, abound throughout its history. The use of camouflaged uniforms is also a “USMC-First,” in that during the early years of World War II, the Marine Corps issued green/brown reversible camouflaged combat-utility uniforms to its parachutists, raiders, and scout-snipers and by the end of the war, all Marines were wearing this same camouflage pattern on their ponchos, canvas helmet covers, and shelter halves.1 Marines continued to use this green-brown/brown-tan pattern through the Korean War and into the early 1960s, when the familiar “leaf pattern”—an all-Department of Defense style— replaced it.2

During the Vietnam War, some Marines adopted the familiar “Tiger Stripe” camouflaged combat uniforms and, by the late 1970s, the Corps had adopted a three-color camouflaged uniform, of “rip-stop” material.3 In the 1980s, the Corps transitioned to a utility uniform in the all-service “Woodland Camouflage Pattern” developed by the U.S. Army’s laboratories in Natick, Massachusetts. Col. Donna J. Neary, USMCR (Fellow 1971), detailed this uniform in her series of uniform plates that accompanied the 1983 Marine Corps Uniform Regulations.4

When Marines deployed to the Persian Gulf area for Operation Desert Shield in 1990, various patterns of desert camouflage replaced the woodland camouflaged combat uniforms. By the successful end of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Marines were wearing an array of camouflaged uniforms and, once again, the Marine Corps History and Museums Division captured all of these variants in a celebrated uniform plate, also painted by Colonel Neary.5

However, by the mid-1990s, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, as well as other Marines, feared the Corps was losing its unique identity through its use of “All-DoD” (Department of Defense) combat/utility uniforms. Indeed, Marines had always worn a distinctive uniform that had set them apart from the other services and this was an integral part of their esprit de Corps. A search soon began for a new unique camouflage pattern for the combat/utility uniform.

Inspired by a pattern of digital pixels that the Canadian Forces had developed for their combat uniforms, the Marine Corps’ Systems Command at the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Virginia, undertook a program to test various mixtures of miniature square dabs of color instead of using the flowing blobs of colors that had been used previously, and nearly universally, by the world’s military organizations. This new approach had been in experimental development by the U.S. Army as early as the 1980s.6 The Marine Corps exhaustively tested a number of different combinations of colors and pixel arrangement before deciding on the final two versions—one for “Woodland” environments, and one for a desert setting. Incorporated into the pattern is a miniature of the Marine Corps’ “Eagle, Globe & Anchor” insignia and the U.S. Marine Corps holds a patent on the design.7

Concurrent with the inauguration of the new uniform, the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Permanent Marine Corps Uniform Board decided to publish a painted illustration, showing the variations of the uniform in garrison and in the field. The Project Officer approached the staff of the Marine Corps Museum for assistance, but while the museum staff could advise on the series of steps needed to produce such an illustrated plate, they were completely focused on the requirements to build the new National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico, and could not afford the time necessary to take an active role in the project. Worse, Colonel Neary was recuperating from an injury she had sustained while on active duty, and was on “medical hold” prior to retirement. However, and most fortunately, a talented graphics artist, Sgt. John M. (“Jack”) Carrillo, was found who could undertake the project. Stationed at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Carillo was temporarily assigned to Quantico.8

During autumn 2002, Sergeant Carillo conferred with Colonel Neary and began painting the figures. The project officer had already formulated a matrix for the five figures in the plate, and had arranged for the temporary loan of all the correct uniforms, accouterments, and weapons. During this process, and just as Neary had done in 1983 and 1991, he selected Marines who would represent the entirety of the Corps—in terms of both gender and ethnicity—and arranged for them to pose in the uniform plate. Each figure also represented the basic military occupational specialties into which Marines are grouped, and the resulting uniform plate is often mistaken for one of Neary’s plates. The 2002 “MarPat” plate is yet another example of the Marine Corps’ official uniform depictions, in a tradition that dates back to 1859.

Art: John M. Carrillo Text: Kenneth Smith-Christmas

1. Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas, “The Marine Corps Utility Uniform of

World War II,” MC&H, 43, no. 3 (Winter, 1991): 170–177. 2. Charles Melson and Paul Hannon, Vietnam Marines, 1965–73 (Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1992). 3. An example of the “Tigerstripe” pattern is on the uniform worn by the former director of the Marine Corps History and Museums Division,

Col. John W. Ripley, now on display in the Vietnam Gallery of the

National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico, Virginia. 4. Col. Donna J. Neary, USMCR, U.S. Marine Corps Uniforms, 1983 (Washington: GPO, 1983). 5. Col. Donna J, Neary, USMCR, U.S. Marines in the Middle East, 1991 (Washington: GPO, 1991). 6. Sgt Anthony Fusco, “West Point Explores Science of Camouflage,” Press

Release, West Point Directorate of Public Affairs & Communications,

USMA, West Point, NY, 3 June, 2010. 7. U.S. Patent US6805957 B1. 8. Corp. Ethan E., Rocke, “Rifle—Check, Ammo—Check,

Drawing Pad and Pencils?” Press Release, Marine Corps

Recruiting Command, Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA, 25

October 2002.