In March 1999, the US Marine Corps staged a practice invasion in the San Francisco Bay Area with a fleet of five battleships, hovercraft, dozens of helicopters, hundreds of combat-equipped Marines in an exercise named "Urban Warrior."
The Urban Warrior exercises were part of a major effort by the Marines to refine U.S. military strategy for an increasingly urbanized world that remains highly polarized between a handful of imperialist powers and billions of oppressed people around the world. The Pentagon wants the Marines ready to invade and "pacify" major cities -- including the large, sprawling Third World metropolises. A Marine information packet on Urban Warrior states, "Our potential enemies also have a role in choosing where we fight. These enemies -- having watched Desert Storm on CNN -- know they cannot engage the United States with conventional methods. These potential foes view cities as a way to limit the technological advantages of the American military. They understand that cities -- with their complex and large number of civilian non-combatants -- place limits on our technological superiority and especially our use of firepower."
The Marines have come up with an experimental Battle Dress Uniform for this environment, or MOUT; Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain. The USMC Experimental Urban Camouflage "T" pattern BDU's debuted during the 1999 Urban Warrior MOUT exercises. The pattern consists of three gray tones in geometrical patterns. Like normal BDU's, this two piece outfit features four pockets on the shirt, and two large cargo pockets on the pant sides. It is a lightweight rip-stop material which breathes easily, and is easy to dry in sunlight. |
