If certain snow areas are all white with absolutely no shadows, then use is made of defiles, snow drifts,
and natural folds in the ground. It must be remembered that camouflage clothing and camouflage
equipment will not conceal you alone. The tonedown, the camouflaged helmet, the painted suit and the
covered shiny objects are just the beginning of the concealment job. At times, soldiers have relied with
complete faith on a camouflaged helmet and a camouflaged suit. They then thought themselves
invisible. They completely disregarded all the basic elements of camouflage. This always leads to poor
results.
One of the best and simplest ways to distort the giveaway outline of your weapon is by wrapping it with
discarded cloth such as burlap or strips of old clothing dyed to match the background. Pattern painting
the weapon is another excellent method of distorting the weapon outline. All shiny parts should be
covered by cloth, paint, or mud. You must take care when camouflaging a weapon not to cause
interference in the sighting and firing of it. Suggestions for camouflaging an individual weapon can be
seen in Figure 7-5.
Canvas Equipment
All canvas equipment will fade from repeated washing. When this occurs, it must be darkened with
paint, mud, charcoal, or even crushed grass. It must be colored to blend with the surrounding terrain.
Remember that it should be painted in bold, irregular patterns (see Figure 7-6).
Shiny Objects
All shiny objects must be concealed. One of the common breaches of camouflage discipline is
reflection from brightly shining objects. This includes such items as rings, watches, belt buckles, and
mess kit items. Another common breach of camouflage discipline is the wearing of goggles on the
helmet. This should be avoided.
Camouflaging of Equipment (Vehicles/Artillery)
A vehicle that is not camouflaged in the proper manner may lead to much more than a lost vehicle. It
could mean the discovery of your unit, disclosure of an important tactical plan, or complete destruction
of your unit or an installation. The camouflaging of a vehicle is not enough; you also must camouflage
the vehicle tracks.
Tracks are especially revealing to an aerial observer (see Figure 7-7). They can indicate type, location,
strength, and even intentions of a unit. The gradual turns of wheeled vehicles are distinguishable from
the skidding turns of a track-laying vehicle. Often a single track across an area of low vegetation is
clearly visible. The last is especially true in the early morning hours when there is a heavy dew. Tracks
should follow closely. They should be parallel to hedges, fences, cultivated fields, and other natural
terrain lines in order to remain inconspicuous from the air. Tracks should always continue past the
position to a logical termination.
MP2010
7-6
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