Military camouflage

Military camouflage is the use of camouflage by a military force to protect personnel and equipment from observation by enemy forces. In practice, this means applying colour and materials to military equipment of all kinds, including vehicles, ships, aircraft, gun positions and battledress, either to conceal it from observation (crypsis), or to make it appear as something else (mimicry). The French slang word camouflage came into common English usage during World War I when the concept of visual deception developed into an essential part of modern military tactics. In that war, long-range artillery and observation from the air combined to expand the field of fire, and camouflage was widely used to decrease the danger of being targeted or to enable surprise. As such, military camouflage is a form of military deception.

Camouflage was first practiced in simple form in the mid 18th century by jäger- or rifle units. Their tasks required them to be inconspicuous, and they were issued green and later other drab colour uniforms. With the advent of longer range and more accurate weapons, especially the repeating rifle, camouflage was adopted for the uniforms of all armies, spreading to most forms of military equipment including ships and aircraft. Many modern camouflage textiles address visibility not only to visible light but also near infrared, for concealment from night vision devices. Camouflage is not only visual; heat, sound, magnetism and even smell can be used to target weapons, and may be intentionally concealed. Digital camouflage applies patterns made of pixels, often designed to disrupt outlines at different distances, providing a degree of scale invariance.

French Army

The French Army (French: Armée de terre [aʀme də tɛʀ], "land army") is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. Along with the French Air Force, the French Navy and the National Gendarmerie, it is placed under the responsibility of the French government. The current Chief of Staff of the French Army (CEMAT) is general Jean-Pierre Bosser. All soldiers are considered professionals following the suspension of conscription, voted in parliament in 1997 and made effective in 2001.

As of 2014, the French Army employed 111,628 personnel (including the French Foreign Legion and the Paris Fire Brigade). In addition, the reserve element of the French Army consisted of 15,453 personnel of the Operational Reserve.

In 1999 the Army issued the Code of the French Soldier, which includes the injunctions:

History

Early history

The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII in the 1420-30s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the Hundred Years' War. These units of troops were raised by issuing ordonnances to govern their length of service, composition and payment. These Compagnies d'ordonnance formed the core of the Gendarme Cavalry into the sixteenth century. Stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There was also provision made for "Francs-archers" units of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes but these units were disbanded once war ended.

.30-40 Krag

The .30-40 Krag (also called .30 U.S., or .30 Army) was a cartridge developed in the early 1890s to provide the U.S. armed forces with a smokeless powder cartridge suited for use with modern small-bore repeating rifles to be selected in the 1892 small arm trials. Since the cartridge it was replacing was the .45-70 Government, the round was considered small-bore at the time. The design selected was ultimately the Krag–Jørgensen, formally adopted as the M1892 Springfield. It was also used in M1893 and later Gatling guns.

History and development

Though the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps had adopted limited numbers of smokeless powder, bolt-action rifles, the .30-40 was the first cartridge adopted by the US Army that was designed from the outset for smokeless powder. After a brief experiment with a 230-grain bullet loading, the .30 Army loading was standardized in 1894 using a 220-grain metal-jacketed round-nose bullet with 40 grains of nitrocellulose powder. This loading developed a maximum velocity of 2,000 ft/s (610 m/s) in the 30-inch (760 mm) barrel of the Krag rifle, and 1,960 ft/s (600 m/s) in the 22-inch (560 mm) barrel of the Krag carbine.

Camouflage

Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see (crypsis), or by disguising them as something else (mimesis). Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier, and the leaf-mimic katydid's wings. A third approach, motion dazzle, confuses the observer with a conspicuous pattern, making the object visible but momentarily harder to locate. The majority of camouflage methods aim for crypsis, often through a general resemblance to the background, high contrast disruptive coloration, eliminating shadow, and countershading. In the open ocean, where there is no background, the principal methods of camouflage are transparency, silvering, and countershading, while the ability to produce light is among other things used for counter-illumination on the undersides of cephalopods such as squid. Some animals, such as chameleons and octopuses, are capable of actively changing their skin pattern and colours, whether for camouflage or for signalling.

Camouflage (game show)

Camouflage is a United States television game show originally produced in 1961–62 and revived in 1980.

1961–62

The original game show was created and produced by Jerry Hammer of Jerry Hammer Productions, directed by Gilbert Cates with Don Morrow as host, and Johnny Gilbert as the announcer (as well as a substitute host for Morrow), with Chet Gould as the show's alternate announcer. Paul Taubman provided the show's live music. Contestants tried to find objects hidden on an electronic board by tracing the outline of the object using a wand.

The game began with Morrow telling the contestants what object to look for. He then asked them a true-false question; a countdown clock began at 10 and stopped when a contestant buzzed in. There's a penalty for buzzing in after the clock reach zero for the third time. A correct answer was worth points determined by time left on the clock, and removed a piece of the camouflage; the contestant had ten seconds to find and trace the object. If s/he tried and failed, the opponent got 10 points and a chance to trace it. An incorrect answer also gave the opponent the points and control of the board. (Each contestant had a separate board which his or her opponent could not see.) To help, once a player scored 30 points in the quiz, s/he got to see what the object looked like. The first player to spot and trace the object won the game and a prize. When it was obvious that the contestant had spotted and begun to trace the object, Morrow would say, "You say it's there...it is there!"

Camouflage (Sonny Condell album)

Camouflage is the debut solo album by Irish musician Sonny Condell. It was released in 1977 in Ireland by Mulligan Music.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Sonny Condell. All arrangements by Condell, Jolyon Jackson and Greg Boland. 

Personnel

Release history

References

Terrain

Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used.

Terrain is used as a general term in physical geography, referring to the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientation of terrain features. Terrain affects surface water flow and distribution. Over a large area, it can affect weather and climate patterns.

Importance

The understanding of terrain is critical for many reasons: