Quote:
Originally Posted by miclo18d
The helmets weren't camouflaged for hiding as you can't hide in a diesel run HMMV or a Chinook and if we dismounted we would leave the helmets behind. It was really more for decoration. You can camo in the jungle but the desert you are just looking to blend into the background. While the regular guys were wearing the grey digitals we kept wearing our DCUs, and I saw that SF/Rgr went to Multicam about the time I retired.
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You can, however, hide dismounted in an urban environment. Especially so when every building is the color of dirt. That's why we wore the DCU instead of the ACU. Hell, the ACU only blends in with the sagebrush at the Yakima Training Center. Urban camo is also why we painted our helmets (and our rifles). It was an attempt to break up the outline when faced with an enemy primarily armed with an iron sighted weapon engaging from an unknown distance. Using the laundry bag as a template helped add visual depth to a rounded distinct piece of kit, helping make it harder to aim at. Close range engagements or going up against an enemy with a scoped rifle negates a lot of that, but you do what you can.
And if any of my guys dismounted without their helmet I would have beat them to death with it. There is no cool guy factor involved in dying of a head wound that could have been prevented.