Camouflage Pattern Painting [Training Circular TC 5-200]

This circular describes an improved method of camouflaging military equipment and how to apply it to existing equipment.

This improved method is simple, and field tests have proved that it works well in confusing the enemy observer and enhancing battlefield survivability.

It consists of painting only four colors. The patterns (different for each model of vehicle or item of equipment) have been carefully worked out by a team of camouflage experts and scientists.

Unlike older camouflage patterns this is a general all-purpose pattern. By changing only one of the four colors, or at the most, two, the same basic pattern can be made to work equally well in different seasons of the year or on different types of terrain.

This circular describes the patterns and where they can be obtained, what colors and kinds of paint are to be used for various conditions, and how the patterns are to be painted on the equipment. It also shows a sample pattern (on the M113 APC) and how a few common items of equipment look when they have been pattern painted.

This publication was superceded by FM 20-3 in November 1990. Modelers and others interested in U.S. Army military vehicles and equipment will find this publication useful in determining the camouflage pattern painting used during the 1970s and 1980s.