Some Marines that I worked with in Kuwait in 03 were wearing the new MarPat uniform and they liked it alot. All the AF and a few of the Marines were wearing the standard Desert BDU. The MarPat is a darker uniform, almost brown, and blends better in a darker environment (shaded areas, rubble piles, dusk & dawn) than the Desert BDU, and is also better at longer ranges. I have only seen the new Army uniform in pictures. I have read that the Woodland and Desert BDU's will be considered obsolete for USMC wear in 08, and all Marines will wear only the Desert or Woodland MarPat . I believe the "urban" pattern has been dropped completely.
The problem with the MarPat is that while it is a highly effective uniform, it has given birth to a whole new "we need a distinct look too" mindset in the U.S. Military, and now every branch of service wants it own uniform. The AF is looking at a bluish tiger stripe pattern that is so visible that it will only be worn stateside, and cannot be used in forward deployed locations. Hell, you may as well wear blaze orange with the words "Here I am, Please shoot me!" in Flourescent Pink! Thats how visible the uniform is.
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforce ... niform.htm
The Navy is looking at what can only be described as an "urban" type pattern, again, heavy on blue and grey that screams "Im an extra from a SciFi channel "B" movie.......Please Shoot Me! Now I love the SciFi Channel and "B" movies, but I dont want Navy to look like them.
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,1 ... 04,00.html
Here is the proposed Army Uniform.
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=6042
The bottom line is that with each service having seperate uniforms, the taxpayers are going to foot the bill, and the supply chain gets heavily burdened not to mention the poor troops that have to maintain all the different sets. When you consider work vs. inspection vs. deployment vs. dress uniforms etc. the wall locker and seabag are gonna be bursting at the seams.
I wont even go into the problem of friendly versus enemy recognition. If he aint dressed like me and my friends, he must not be a "friend" and he gets shot.
The upshot, at least for the miniature makers is that they will get massive repaint potential out of each figure mold! Maybe that will entice them to make more figures