USMC Camouflage Uniform Shortage
I was not aware of this until I ran across it on Facebook. It appears that the United States Marine Corps has a major shortage of camouflage uniforms. In fact, the CMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps) was not aware of it until Marines started to complain about it up the chain.
According to what I can find online and on some of the Facebook groups that I belong to, the Marine Corps is really hurting for uniforms. Some Marine Corps Exchange (MCX) and Navy Exchange (NEX) locations have no camouflage utility uniforms for sale, period. If you go online and search at either website, you will find that they are on backorder till fall of 2024.
Some Marines are being forced to wear unserviceable uniforms because of this outage, and the Marine Corps officially said that it won’t be until the summer of 2024 until Marines will see some relief.
Currently, Marines are wearing the Digital Woodland MARPAT cammies in garrison and the Digital Desert MARPAT in desert surroundings. MARPAT is the Marine Pattern design, formed by small rectangular pixels that provide better camouflage in natural settings. Marines are not authorized to wear M81 Woodlands, ERDL, OC-107 Sateen, or Tiger Stripes.
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There are some Marines that are claiming that some recruits are being issued Flame Resistant Organizational Gear (FROG) blouses. This is really unacceptable to ask Marines to wear unserviceable uniforms.
Some Marines are turning to Facebook Marketplace, thrift shops and friends to obtain used uniforms that are still in serviceable condition.
I hope that the Corps irons out the problem soon.
