Woodland camo

A 1948 leaf pattern

Woodland starts with a four-color pattern drawn in 1948 at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Laboratories, the source of the name ERDL. The Army tested it against plain olive and other camouflage in 1962 but kept plain uniforms for general use. In Vietnam it finally went into service from 1967 on tropical combat uniforms, first for Special Forces and reconnaissance teams. The first Vietnam version was bright, with lime green leaf shapes, so Natick Labs toned it down into a brown-dominant version in late 1967 and 1968. By the end of 1970 all the services were wearing ERDL, and it had pushed aside Tiger Stripe in many of the reconnaissance outfits that had made that pattern famous.

Scaled up for a different war

After Vietnam the Army's planning turned to Europe, where fighting in woodland was expected at longer ranges. ERDL's small shapes had been drawn for close-range fighting in jungle. Trials in 1975 printed the pattern at four scales: the original, and enlarged by 30, 60 and 100 percent. The 60 percent version did the job, and it became Woodland. Natick engineers Alvin Ramsley and William Bushnell wrote up the work in a January 1981 report. The aim was a pattern that still broke up a soldier's outline out to about 350 meters.

The colors were set as four Army shades, numbered 354 to 357: light green, dark green, brown and black. Woodland was printed a touch darker than ERDL on purpose, so that washing and sun would fade it toward the intended shades rather than past them.

The BDU years

The Army approved the requirement for a new camouflage field uniform in June 1979, and soldiers received their first Woodland BDUs on October 1, 1981. That first uniform was a heavy 50/50 nylon and cotton twill with reinforced knees, elbows and seat. It proved too heavy for the tropics: troops in Grenada in 1983 complained about it, and by March 1984 the Army was testing a lighter version. A hot weather BDU in cotton ripstop followed, and the uniform went through three cuts, in 1981, 1984 and 1989.

Woodland soon covered far more than shirts and trousers. It went onto cold weather parkas, Gore-Tex shells, chemical protective suits, vests, pack covers and the poncho liner, so a soldier of the 1980s and 1990s could be in Woodland from head to sleeping gear. You can read the liner's side of the story on our What is a woobie? page.

Retired, and still around

The digital patterns of the 2000s ended Woodland's run. The Marines finished their changeover by October 2004, the Army formally retired the BDU in April 2008, and the Air Force dropped Woodland in 2011. It never quite went away. Marine special operations forces went back to a Woodland uniform in 2011, some state defense forces still wear it, and some 50 countries and armed groups have worn Woodland or close copies of it, from South Korea's own version, adopted in 1990, to the copies made for Russia's interior ministry troops.

That long run is why it is the pattern so many veterans picture when they think of their own kit. For a quick comparison with the other patterns we make, see our camo patterns guide.