World War II The US Army began experiments with camouflage in 1940–1941. The frog skin pattern was designed by
Norvell Gillespie, a civilian horticulturist and the gardening editor for
Better Homes & Gardens magazine, at the request of the US military. The uniform was also worn by the Marines in other campaigns, notably the
Battle of Tarawa. In the
European Theater, during the summer of 1944, certain Army infantry units were issued the uniform, like the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Armored Division, but the uniform was withdrawn for resembling German camouflaged uniforms. By January 1944, production of the pattern was stopped. The uniforms were later sold as military surplus. Surplus uniforms became popular among hunters,
Later use The United States Marine Corps revived the pattern during the
Korean War for limited use as helmet covers. In 1961, the
Cuban exiles
Brigade 2506 were issued the frog skin pattern by the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the
Bay of Pigs Invasion. During the
Vietnam War,
United States Special Forces issued frog skin to the
Montagnard for their
guerrilla warfare activities. Navy SEALs and Rangers resorted to using the camo due to a lack of a standard camouflage. Army Special Forces advisers, sailors and marines attached to the Military Assistance Command Vietnam — Naval Advisory Group and the CIDG also used it before
tiger stripe camouflage uniforms were issued. File:Marine-raiders.jpg|Marine Raiders in frog skin pattern uniforms File:SAF adviser briefing Montagnard strike force before moving out against nearby Viet Cong guerrillas.png|SAF adviser briefing a Montagnard strike force wearing frog skin File:Vietnam....Staff Sergeant Howard Stevens, a Special Forces advisor to a Montagnard strike force, gets a chance to... - NARA - 531440.tif|SF advisor to Montagnards relaxing ==Users==