Marine Raiders have been ordered to stop wearing the same multicam uniform as other elite special operators in the military as Marine Forces Special Operations Command looks to acquire a replacement, according to a commander’s memo.
The special operations Marines will abandon the pattern worn by units such as Army Special Forces on Jan. 1, a spokesman said. They will instead wear the Corps’ flame-resistant uniforms, also known as FROGs, during deployment and training until the command can acquire and issue a uniform in the Marine pattern, Maj. Gen. Peter Huntley, the MARSOC commander, wrote in the Sept. 20 memo.
MARSOC confirmed to Military.com on Wednesday that the memorandum — which was posted online — was authentic. Maj. Johnny Henderson, a spokesman, said the decision to issue the memorandum originated from MARSOC leadership, not the broader Marine Corps or U.S. Special Operations Command, also known as SOCOM.
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“The commander wanted to start the change of the uniform this fiscal year,” which began about a week after the memorandum was issued, Henderson said. He also said that it was an effort to align the elite Marine Raiders more closely with the Marine Corps.
The memo also said that MARSOC would be publishing a list of authorized boots for its personnel to purchase in an effort to standardize the “wide variation in model and color” of non-standard footwear that special operators often wore during the Global War on Terrorism.
Leaders within MARSOC and the Corps’ combat development and integration arm were present for a meeting on Sept. 19, where they discussed the changes to Marine Raiders’ uniforms and boots. Finance and logistics representatives were not present for the meeting, according to the memo.
“Multicam pattern uniforms and the wide variation in model and color of non-standard boots worn detracts from MARSOC’s framework, mission, and initiatives while also creating issues with our perceived discipline and professional appearance,” the memo said. “The use of non-USMC uniform patterns during training and deployment unnecessarily creates distinction between members of our formation and the Marine Corps.”
Military.com asked what those “perceived discipline and professional” issues for Marine Raiders were specifically. Other special operations units, such as the Navy SEALs, have recently come under fire for discipline issues, such as the use of illicit performance-enhancing drugs.
“Marines pride themselves on ‘high standards’ of appearance and the perception that uniformity is a characteristic of unit discipline,” Henderson said. Also, he said the uniform changes were not “punitive in any way.”
The new uniform will take “several years” to roll out to all Marine Raiders, and “initially,” there will be no additional costs to develop the new gear, according to Henderson. He said that the updated uniform will be in the three-season Marine pattern, or MARPAT. Future purchases of MARSOC-issued gear will be made in the olive drab color, instead of the multicam pattern widely used by special operators, the memo said.
Since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, the military has had a revolving door of uniforms that have distinguished the services from each other. Before that, the entire military generally had two uniforms: the Battle Dress Uniform, or BDU, and the Desert Camouflage Uniform.
Those post-9/11 uniform changes in which each service — and many of the components within the different branches — had a unique uniform were costly to U.S. taxpayers and often received intense criticism from service members for their utility and appearance.
Given that history, Military.com asked MARSOC how it intended to justify the cost of the new uniform program.
Henderson said the money for new MARSOC-specific uniforms has already been budgeted and will be reallocated from other programs, or as he put it, “procurement through sustainment.”
Military.com asked how much money would be reallocated for the new uniform several times, but did not receive a direct answer.
A SOCOM official with direct knowledge of the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Military.com that while money will be moved around to develop the uniform, the manpower and effort to make it — even if it’s just a color change — will still be significant.
Generally, new uniforms go through a research and development process that can take years and cost millions of dollars, as well as necessary manpower to integrate things as simple as assigning new stock numbers to equipment. The new uniform, Henderson said, will be similar to the multicam in terms of fabric and technology, but will be in the standard Marine-pattern color scheme.
The FROGs, which are already issued to Marines and on shelves in warehouses, are being used as an interim solution until the new uniforms can be developed, the SOCOM official said, but MARSOC will need to manage the wear and tear as Raiders use those uniforms during missions while they wait.
Henderson said there would be no downstream costs to Marine Raiders to purchase FROGs or the new uniform when it comes out, as the former is already in stock.
When deployed, special operators of all services have worn non-standard uniforms to blend in or conform to various environments. For years, MARSOC was no different, a former senior enlisted Marine Raider told Military.com in an interview this week, and the ability to essentially hand-select certain gear for specific missions was a benefit to innovation and protecting operators abroad.
Military.com asked Henderson, the MARSOC spokesperson, whether the memo meant that Marine Raiders would be prohibited from wearing non-standard gear such as civilian “roughs” while deployed, for example.
“The mission will dictate that,” Henderson said. “If the mission would require that, then that’s what they would wear.”
Marine operators have worn a variety of uniforms in combat and training during the Global War on Terrorism, including civilian clothes, flight suits and “gray gear,” for example. In Afghanistan, MARSOC personnel wore uniforms to match their Afghan National Army partners.
“The desire to have uniformity is valid in many ways, as long as it applies to the job and the accomplishment of the mission,” said the Raider veteran, who requested anonymity to speak openly about the uniform issues. “Whether the cammies are one color or not doesn’t really matter. But in the cultural sense, it’s a huge knock to the MARSOC guys, in that you’re constantly having these things that are good and useful and productive — multicam is a pretty good camouflage pattern, and it fits in with everybody else, and it helps you not stand out. … but they don’t want you to use it, or there’s restrictions on it, because somebody else on main side might give you a hard time.”
Founded in 2006, MARSOC is the youngest elite unit within Special Operations Command. Since its inception, it has existed under that command, but — as a Marine Corps unit — has consistently been pulled into its parent branch’s strong cultural orbit, one that prides itself on uniformity and putting the “title of Marine” first and foremost.
“I think there’s always been a nervousness and a difficulty for a lot of Marine Corps people to realize that you’re — overall — working for a non-Marine command, you’re not outside of it, … but it’s the price to play in that game,” the former Raider said.
On ranges or in garrison, Marine Raiders with non-standard uniforms were often criticized by other Marines outside of the organization for not wearing regular uniforms, the former Raider said.
SOCOM components have been wearing the multicam pattern to various degrees for years, but when “Marines would suddenly wear multicam instead of the Marine Corps uniform,” the former senior enlisted Raider said, “it’s just like heresy to some people, and even to the senior enlisted and officers inside the organization sometimes.”
“The rank and file are like, ‘Yeah, these things are great, but we will shut up and do what we’re told,'” they said.
When asked whether MARSOC had concerns that the memo will negatively affect MARSOC morale or retention, Henderson said that “Marine Raiders are Marines first, and they build on their Corps legacy. MARSOC equips personnel with the most capable and best uniforms, while staying tied in with the service.”