Woodland pattern is the name of the default camouflage pattern issued to United States soldiers, Marines, airmen, and sailors from 1981, with the issue of the M81 Battle Dress Uniform until nearly the present day.[1][2][3] It has been phased out by the Marine Corps for the digital MARPAT with the introduction of the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform, the Army's digital Universal Camouflage Pattern with the introduction of the Army Combat Uniform (ACU), The U.S. Navy maintains its use for specific units and organizations. The U.S. Navy SEALs and Seabees are the primary users of this uniform in addition to sailors wearing the trousers while working during flight deck operations aboard aircraft carriers. Sailors on ships and other navy catches have moved onto the Navy Working Uniform, and the Air Force's Airman Battle Uniform which uses a modern incarnation of the Tigerstripe pattern. The camouflage pattern is still in use when it comes to NBC suits, and has also been seen on parkas' issued during basic training in the Army. Various law enforcement and SWAT teams also still use the woodland pattern for their personnel as well. Examples are LAPD SWAT, US DEA operators, Portland Oregon SERT team, Boise SWAT, and even the FBI HRT team.
Woodland pattern is identical to ERDL pattern, but is printed from an enlargement of the original pattern.[2] ERDL pattern was enlarged and the borders of the splotches were re-drawn making them less regular.[4][5] Part of the earlier pattern was left off the later pattern because the enlargement made them no longer fit on the width of the pattern. The pattern does not repeat horizontally across the width of the bolt, but only vertically along the length of the bolt.
The effect of enlarging the pattern was to make the pattern more visible at a distance, avoiding "blobbing", where smaller areas of color seem to blend into larger blobs. This also made the pattern have a higher contrast, and stand out more sharply at close distances. This defeated the camouflage effect of Woodland pattern at closer range. Digital and Flecktarn camouflage patterns resolve this problem by using small blobs that converge into larger ones at longer range.
These changes reflected a shift in the tactical focus of the United States military from an extremely close-range war in Vietnam to a longer-range battlespace on the fields of Europe.