U.S. Woodland was the former standard issue camouflage pattern of the United States Armed Forces from 1981 to 2005 in the cut of the Battle Dress Uniform and a dozen other pieces of clothing that were issued, until its replacement in the early 2010s.[2] It is a four color, high contrast disruptive pattern with irregular markings in green, brown, sand and black. It is also known unofficially by its colloquial moniker of "M81" after the year of its adoption,[3] however this term was never officially used by the U.S. military.
Although BDUs have been long phased out of frontline use in the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Woodland is still used on some limited level since MOPP suits, vests, and other equipment were printed in it and never fully replaced. Some modernized uniforms such as modified BDUs and FROG gear were used by special forces such as the USMC Forces Special Operations Command and United States Navy SEALs.
Development and history
The woodland pattern is similar to the Vietnam War version of brown-dominant ERDL pattern, only differing in that it is enlarged by 60 percent and the shades adjusted for contrast. The changes were made in order to extend the effectiveness of the camouflage pattern to as close to 350 meters as possible.[4]
The enlargement of the pattern was made as part of a shift of tactical focus of the United States military from the close-range fighting of Vietnam to planning for potential longer-range fighting across European woodlands.[5]
The US Woodland pattern was printed slightly darker than ERDL for two key reasons. First, the chosen colors complemented the pattern sizing, preventing the visual blending of colors at greater distances and enhancing the effectiveness of the pattern. Also, by starting with slightly darker colors, the eventual fading of the fabric through use and washing would result in colors moving closer to the desired target, thereby prolonging the garment's useful life.[6]
It is not labeled as NIR compliant however testing done on the material and dyes used in the creation process found it to be effective in camouflaging under infrared light.[6][7]
In the U.S. Army, the woodland-patterned Battle Dress Uniform was replaced by the digital Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) found on the Army Combat Uniform, introduced in 2004. UCP itself was replaced by the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) in 2019. The pattern is still used on MOPP suits and some older models of body armor yet to be retired, such as PASGT vests and Interceptor Body Armor.
U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy no longer uses the Woodland pattern. Most of the Navy has transitioned to the Navy Working Uniform, which uses digital patterns in either a woodland colorway (NWU Type III) or, for some deployed tactical units only, a desert version (Type II).
The Air Force phased out the woodland pattern battle dress uniform in 2011 when they went to the Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) which used a pixelated version of the tiger stripe pattern. It was in turn replaced by the Army's OCP by 2021.[9] The Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force's civilian auxiliary, also used woodland patterned BDUs until being discontinued 15 June 2021.[10]
Russian Internal Troops wearing LES, a Russian camouflage pattern similar to the woodland camouflage
Afghanistan: Taliban used copies and US made uniforms circa 1996 to 2001 before the invasion of Afghanistan. Uniform copies and US uniforms used by Taliban during insurgency period. After 2021 takeover woodlands continued to use by Islamic National Army.
Montenegro: Used by the Montenegrin Special Anti-Terrorist Unit.[34]
North Korea: Reported to be used by North Korean soldiers stationed in the DMZ from 2010.[35]
Philippines: Woodland uniforms and gear is commonly used but also universally superseded by their locally produced DPM patterns.
Russia: Russia uses near-copies (Komplekt kamuflirovannogo obmundirovannogo [KKO] and Лес or Les [forest]) and true copies (HATO), English NATO, worn by MVD Agencies such as the Internal Troops and Spetsnaz GRU units.[36][37]
South Korea: Initially in the early to mid-1980s several local variations were produced in limited amounts and used by certain units in the ROKA and the ROKMC. In 1990 the Republic of Korea Armed Forces introduced a locally produced version based on US woodland (TonghabKorean: 통합) across all branches, which was the standard issue pattern for uniforms, vests, webbing and helmet covers until 2010 when it began to be replaced by digital patterns Granite B for ROKA and ROKN, digital "tiger stripe" style camouflage pattern, known as 물결무늬 (Wave pattern) - aka WAVEPAT - or 해병 디지털 (Marine digital) for ROKMC and Doksa (독사 or "venomous snake") for ROK-SWC due to reports of North Korea issuing copies of Woodland, however the woodland pattern still continues to see limited use.[38]
Australia: Formerly used by OPFOR in training during the 1990s and 2000s.
Azerbaijan: Obtained Turkish-made Woodland uniforms and used from around 2000–12.[43]
Canada: Formerly used by the Canadian Forces as the pattern of helmet covers for the M1 Helmet (both regular and paratrooper variants), the PASGT Helmet and the Spectra Helmet otherwise known as the 'Barrday Helmet'.[44] The Woodland pattern had originally entered service around the same time as the US and had become the standard issue cover by the late 1980s, replacing the older Mitchell Pattern covers.[44] The cover pattern was fully phased out and replaced by CADPAT by the mid-2000s.[44] Helmet covers as well as uniforms (like former US BDUs) and webbing equipment are still seen in Woodland pattern for OPFOR training.
China: Used a clone of the pattern known as "Type 07".
^"Woodland Is Back!". Soldier Systems Daily (SSD). 17 November 2014. Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2025. SWANSBORO, NC – 17NOV2014 – We've settled the camouflage debate!!!!! A large portion of our product line is now available in M81 Woodland Camo, based on military and shooting sport customers demand. However, instead of just producing in the vintage fashion, High Speed Gear® commissioned our webbing provider to produce, jacquard M81 Woodland webbing to match the Cordura®. No more olive drab PALS covering the pattern, everything matches, and High Speed Gear has this exclusively.
^Desmond, Dennis (1997). Camouflage Uniforms of the Soviet Union and Russia: 1937-to the Present. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN978-0764304620.[page needed]
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