Frog Skin

M1942 Frog Skin[3]

The M1942 Frog Skin pattern was the United States military's first attempt at disruptive coloration camouflage.[1] In 1942, the Marine Raiders were the first issued the Frog Skin uniform, which was reversible with a five-color jungle pattern on a green background on one side and a three-color beach pattern with a tan background on the other side.[3][1][4] The Paramarines had their own pattern uniform in the same camouflage pattern in the Bougainville campaign.

The uniform was worn by the Marines in other campaigns, notably the Battle of Tarawa. In the ETO certain US Infantry divisions wore the uniform in France, but the uniform was withdraw for resembling German camouflaged uniforms.[5]

The United States supplied the Frog Skin pattern to France who issued it to their 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment and 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment during the First Indochina War.[6] In 1961, the Cuban exiles Brigade 2506 were issued the Frog Skin pattern by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the Bay of Pigs Invasion.[6] During the Vietnam War, the United States Special Forces issued Frog Skin to the Montagnard for their guerrilla warfare activities.[6]

Over the years, many battledress mottle patterns have been developed by militaries around the world that are similar to the Frog Skin. The German created Flecktarn is a multi-colored mottled pattern, which creates a dithering effect by eliminating hard color boundaries and has been adopted by many countries. The Australian Defence Force Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform is a five-color mottle pattern, which utilizes disruptive coloration to break up a soldiers outline with a strongly contrasting design.

The duck hunter camouflage pattern marketed as hunting apparel for sportsmen was designed by a civilian, Norvell Gillespie and printed as a green and tan dominant version.[7][8]

•  Afghanistan: Known to be used by the DRA's 26th Airborne Battalion.[9]
•  Biafra: Acquired USM1942 camos in 1968 for Biafran soldiers.[10] Pro-Biafran mercenaries recruited also use the same camos.[11]
•  South Vietnam: Used by Vietnamese Rangers.[12]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Military camouflage patterns.

• Isby, David C. (1986). Russia's War in Afghanistan. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-0850456912.
• Jowett, Philip (2016). Modern African Wars (5): The Nigerian-Biafran War 1967–70. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1472816092.
• Rottman, Philip (2010). Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1954-75. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1849081818.