The color of field uniforms and web equipment- pack, belt, and canteen cover-blends well with most terrain unless the equipment is badly faded. If it is faded, color it to blend with the surrounding terrain. When no paint is available, use mud, charcoal, or crushed grass. Color in bold, irregular patterns.

Alter the distinctive outline of your helmet with a cover of cloth or burlap colored to blend with the terrain. Let foliage stick over the edges, but do not use too much of it. Use a camouflage band, string, burlap strips, or rubber bands to hold the foliage in place. Use mud or dirt to dull shiny surfaces of weapons, being careful not to foul working parts.

Camouflaging the Person

Exposed skin-even dark skin-reflects light. To prevent this, you should use camoflage face paint sticks. They are issued and used in a two-color combination. Although these sticks are called face paint sticks, they are used on any exposed skin and are issued and used in the following combinations:

1. Loam and light green for light-skinned personnel in other than snow regions

2. Sand and light green for dark-skinned personnel in other than snow regions

3. Loam and white for all personnel in snow regions

Apply face paint sticks or other materials as follows:

1. Paint the shiny areas (forehead, cheeks, nose, chin, exposed skin on the back of your neck and your hands and wrists) with the darker color. Paint the shadow areas (around the eyes and under the nose and chin) with the lighter color.

2. When applying face paint, use the buddy system with one man working on and checking another.

3. When face paint is not available, burnt cork, charcoal, or lampblack may be used. Mud should be used only when nothing else is available. Mud changes color as it dries, and when dry, it may flake off and leave exposed skin. Also, mud may contain harmful bacteria and should be used only on approval of a medical officer.

Camouflaging of Vehicles

A badly concealed vehicle can lead to much more than just a lost vehicle; it may mean discovery of your unit or complete destruction of an installation. As is always the case in camouflage, the aim should be to occupy a position without altering its appearance. To do this, you should park the vehicle under natural cover whenever available. When cover is inadequate, the vehicles should be parked so their shape will disappear into the surroundings. Better concealment can be obtained by using natural rather than artificial material to breakup the shape and shadow of the vehicles. This type of material is always available near a parking site or motor pool and can be erected and removed quickly. When cut foliage is used, be sure it is put up as it was growing because the underside of the leaves is much lighter than the topside, and the difference in color could give your position away. In addition, cut foliage should be replaced as soon as it starts to wither.

The principal artificial materials used to conceal vehicles are drape nets. They are easy to use, quickly erected, and quickly removed. Drape nets give complete concealment against direct observation, but, as with most artificial camouflage materials, they can frequently be detected by photographic observation because they often fail to blend with the background properly. In any case, drapes do conceal the identity of a vehicle, even though the drape net itself may be detected.