THE CAGE: TAKIN’ IT OLD SKOOL DCU!

IT’S A PATTERN THAT APPEARS TO HAVE GONE A LITTLE OUT OF “AIRSOFT FASHION” THESE DAYS, BUT ONE THAT IMMEDIATELY SCREAMS “SCENARIO!” TO US. THE US DCU OR “TRI COLOUR” PATTERN WAS AN EFFECTIVE ONE THOUGH, AND SET A TONE FOR AIRSOFT GAMES IN THE PAST THAT STILL RESONATES WITH US TO THIS DAY! AS USUAL, BILL LEADS OFF…

Icannot for the life of me picture the US Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU), or “Tri Colour” as we often refer to it, without immediately thinking

“Black Hawk Down”, and I also can’t quite bring myself to admit that the real events took place in 1993 and even the movie version that we all love was released on 2001!

“Black Hawk Down”, especially the movie, for many of us changed the way that airsoft was played in that it (in my mind at least) really kicked off what we now know as “FilmSim”, that being an airsoft scenario that is based largely on the scenario shown in a movie. Now I’ve played many, many games based loosely, or in some cases wholly, on a movie story, but “BHD-themed” games really stand out for me for a number of reasons.

““BLACK HAWK DOWN”, ESPECIALLY THE MOVIE FOR MANY OF US CHANGED THE WAY THAT AIRSOFT WAS PLAYED IN THAT IT (IN MY MIND AT LEAST) REALLY KICKED OFF WHAT WE NOW KNOW AS “FILMSIM”, THAT BEING AN AIRSOFT SCENARIO THAT IS BASED LARGELY ON THE SCENARIO SHOWN IN A MOVIE”

Airsoft is sometimes a little like pantomime in that we need to acknowledge a whole bunch of “suspension of disbelief” to really get into the feel of the game that we’re involved in, and one of the key facets here is that of “immersion”. It was those early “BHD” games that really made you think hard about being in the “right kit”, with the right AEG or GBB to really to get into character, whether that be Ranger, DELTA, or even “Somalian OPFOR”.

For many it was a reason to buy that “M4” (although of course the carbines used were in reality were more likely the Colt Model 653, 723,, and 733s…), an M16A2 (ish), and a set of that threecolour DCU… as always many of us ran out and bought up not only the DCU but also black vests and “Protec” style skate helmets from our local toy store to get into the DELTA vibe, and a select few also picked up M14s with an ACOG on top… this was also the very first time I’d also thought about spraying a camo pattern onto my carbine, something that has continued through my “airsoft life”!

“BHD” quite literally changed our game overnight! Gone was our surplus-store DPM, replaced by the US desert pattern. Gone also was the “just throw some kit on” for a game in favour of, in some cases, living history standard loadouts! Gone also for some of us was the simple “attack/defend or capture the flag” game, this replaced by scenarios that drove the game along in a very cinematic way… although not the first time it was ever played, (in my mind again) “BHD” was my personal initiation into a fullon “scenario-style” game… I loved it then, and I still do now!

THE CAMO THOUGH?

Although I can pin my personal usage of DCU to those wonderful early “FilmSim” games, of course by the time we all jumped on the DCU for airsoft it was already heading towards its finale as a service uniform for US troops. Developed in the late 1980s and first issued in very limited quantity in 1990 in “experimental form”, the Desert Camouflage Uniform was an arid-environment pattern that was used by the United States Armed Forces from the mid-1990s to around 2010 when it was phased out in favour of the UCP (Universal Camouflage Pattern) used on the DCU’s replacement, the Army Combat Uniform (ACU).

In terms of cut, the original DCU was pretty much exactly the same as the woodland BDU uniform, but was created with a three-colour pattern of dark brown, pale olive green, and beige, replacing the previous Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU) which featured the six-colour “choc chip” pattern, interestingly the pattern worn as helmet covers by the Rangers in “BHD”… or is that just the “camo nerd” in me coming out?

The DCU was worn across all US-service arms including USMC, but it was the pattern where many of us first started recognising “alterations” in the standard uniform pieces, especially shirts, and you could say that it was with the BDU and DCU especially that we first saw things like “RAID Mods” where base pockets were moved up onto the upper sleeve of the shirt, so that they could be accessed more easily, and the shirt tucked in, while wearing body armour and load vests… although uniform modifications had been made by WWII paratroopers, and most certainly by members of MACV-SOG in Vietnam the reason for the “RAID Mods” came from adapting to new technologies in the battlespace, and it could be “MANY argued that these early shirts were the direct forerunner of what we now know as UBACS or combat shirts!

“Tri Colour” at a later date also became the unintended progenitor of more relaxed uniform usage by “special units”, again USSF and DELTA in Afghansitan, where we saw a more “relaxed” attitude towards in-theatre dress… I can remember seeing the images of guys with big beards, DCUs and cut-down T-shirts, shemaghs, ballcaps and tricked out SOPMOD ARs hitting the news to this day! Take this forward to the “TASK FORCE BLACK” days of the Joint Special Operations Command Task Force in Iraq and what we saw was what I now refer to as “mixy-matchy” with DCU being mixed with DPM and block colours to cloud the fact that these “Hunter Teams” were made up with the very best operators from numerous countries of the coalition.

Suffice to say that the DCU was an effective pattern in its intended environment, but to me it is also one that “set the tone” for what was to come in the future, and it’s a pattern that I still have in my personal CAGE not for themed games so much these days, but more for the fact that it’s an old and very trusted friend that’s seen me through many scenarios both historical and thoroughly up-to-the-moment. Although it’s fallen out of favour a bit right now, in my mind it still works very well in the right setting, and in a sea of Multicam these days it’s both a nod to the past and something quite unique, and some of the AA crew it would seem tend to agree with me…

Team Talk

Dan: While being in service with the US forces for nearly two decades, this pattern didn’t ever seem to take off in popularity with airsofters like M81 or Multicam did. I think the last time I saw it used was during a Blackhawk Down event many years ago, where one of our local teams did a bang-up job at replicating the loadouts used in the film. Unlike the tactical couch covers (ACU), which are a functionally dead product at many surplus stores, I rarely see TriColor on the rack, which makes me sort of wonder where all the surplus uniforms went. Used and new stuff still seems to be priced pretty cheap on the internet-side though.

As patterns go, I’ve always felt it was a little subtle and understated compared to some of the more overt uniforms out there. It’d be a little too light and tan for even our driest fields up here, but I could see using it in the deserts of the southwest. For the airsofter on a budget, this would be a good choice in lieu of selling a kidney for Multicam Arid. I would of course pair it with my favorite load-bearing gear colour, Ranger Green, which pairs well with everything!

Boycie: I remember using Tri Colour a couple of times waaay back when and this was only really used for the Blackhawk Down games which were all the rage back then. These days I am much a fan of less is more but I would certainly entertain using Tri Colour trousers for something different from the mass of Multicam and MTP which is about on sites now.

Ben: It’s not a pattern I have in my collection, however I wouldn’t say no... if I was to add this in

“IN TERMS OF CUT, THE ORIGINAL DCU WAS PRETTY MUCH EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE WOODLAND BDU UNIFORM, BUT WAS CREATED WITH A THREE-COLOUR PATTERN OF DARK BROWN, PALE OLIVE GREEN, AND BEIGE, REPLACING THE PREVIOUS DESERT BATTLE DRESS UNIFORM (DBDU)” then I’d be very tempted to do the most common go to look “Black Hawk Down Delta team”,.. but I would also do the mix and match camos UKSF look just to add another loadout look in there!

Stewbacca: Back in the mid-2010s my team Honey Badgers back in the UK were getting into US Desert Tri Colour as a standard team uniform as the BDUs are quite comfortable and hard wearing, as well as being something a bit different to the sea of DPM, Multicam or UCP of the era that other teams seemed to favour.

I got a full set in chonker size from Flecktarn.co.uk for around 50 quid back then and we ran them as our standard trousers along with either the tricolour smock, or lighter weight OD/tan/khaki t-shirts for hotter weather, giving us a range of options, and they paired well with OD or Khaki load bearing equipment we favoured around that time. I always found them to be a really comfortable option even in hotter weather and particularly good for heavy undergrowth and brambles.

Bill: This month as you’ll see we have a mix of images from the movie and from real units which were all sourced in the public domain. You may also see some airsoft images that I was kindly allowed to use from the ongoing OP IRENE series of games run by my good friend and airsoft mentor John Lu and his outstanding team at Operation Lion Claws Military Simulations in the United States. Combining exciting venues, both military urban combat training facilities and “real world” facilities, with the leadership of VIPs such as US Army Ranger Col Danny McKnight (yes, THAT Col McKnight!), they produce the most amazing airsoft games while paying tribute to those who have served in the real military.

If this interests you and you’d like to know more then please check out www.oplionclaws.com... and if you don’t know why it’s called “OP IRENE” then shame on you, go look it up NOW! AA

Eagle Optical ETU inside!