US military camouflage: The differences between soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and others

Even the Army needs help with this sometimes.
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery Regiment, Wisconsin Army National Guard, implement battle drills such as reacting to simulated chemical attacks and other forms of enemy contact during Northern Strike 22-1/“Winter Strike”, Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center, Michigan, Jan. 25, 2022. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. David Kujawa)

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It seems like every few years one of the branches of the military changes its camouflage uniform. It seems this way because it is this way for every branch besides the Marine Corps which hasn’t changed its camouflage pattern since 2002. Keeping up with this can be difficult, especially since we are adding branches to the military — Shout out Space Force, which actually does exist

If you often get the uniforms confused, you’re not alone. Even the Army sometimes screws this up by confusing airmen for soldiers. Who can blame them? Airmen and Space Force Guardians all wear the same camouflage as the Army which totally isn’t confusing at all. 

To help our readers, ourselves, and the actual military correctly identify troops and their respective branches based on what camo they’re wearing, we put together this helpful video which is part of our new series “Task & Purpose Military Basics.” This will probably be outdated in a matter of months, so please watch it and share it now. 

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