kamouflage.net camouflage data

U.S. Military Advisor from the 1st Special Forces Group working with ARVN soldiers in Buôn Ma Thuột (Đắk Lắk Province), in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, March 1962. Many of these military advisors purchased camouflage sets from commercial producers such as Sears Roebuck, Black Sheep, or Red Head. [Image: Olive-Drab: Military Information Home Page.]

'Beo Gam' camouflage pattern
United States of America

After the Geneva Accords divided Viet Nam into north and south at the 17^th parallel, President Dwight D. Eisenhower promised South Vietnamese Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm that the United States would support the Bảo Đại government, to ensure a non-Communist Viet Nam. In earnest of this promise, direct aid to South Vietnam began in January 1955, and American military advisors began to arrive in February.

By early 1955, Diệm had consolidated his control by suppressing the religious sects in the Mekong Delta and brutally suppressing unrest in Saigon. He also launched a campaign against Communists in South Vietnam. In August 1955, Diệm issued a statement, in which he formally refused to participate with the North Vietnamese in preparations for national elections, which had been required by the Geneva Accords. In October, he easily defeated Bảo Đại in a referendum and became President of the new Republic of Viet Nam.

By 1957, with the reunification elections sorely overdue, the Vietnamese Communist leadership determined that the time had come to resort to violent struggle.

By 1961, the steady progress of the insurgency had approached crisis levels, and the new Kennedy administration increased American support for the Diệm regime, in order to prevent a collapse. Military assistance was reorganized as the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), under the command of General Paul D. Harkins. MACV was intended to support the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) in its defence of the country, and included Army Special Forces (Green Beret) instructors and CIA personnel.

The U.S. military advisors soon found that their issue OD green fatigues were not suitable for the waging of a guerrilla war. As a result, some ordered indigenous 'tigerstripe' camouflage uniforms from in-country tailors, while others utilised the last World War 2 stocks of USMC-issue jungle camouflage. Still others contacted friends and family, and asked them to ship commercially-produced hunting camouflage to them.

The five-colour 'duck hunter spot' camouflage one-piece set, shown here, is an example of one such commercially-produced 'Beo Gam' {'leopard') camouflage pattern. It was produced by Black Sheep, in Texas, at some time during the early 1960s.

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