When you are in line greeting the troops, occasionally you see one of the troops come by in different type of camoflage uniform. This is typically a Marine. The Army wears a 3-color desert camo pattern for their battle dress uniform (shown below). The Marines wear a new type of camo with a digital pattern. The desert version consists of a pattern of many small squares of scattered grey, tan and brown colors. This Marine pattern design, called MARPAT, gives the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform a unique and distinctive appearance that makes them easy to spot in a group of Army soldiers. Digital camo is said to be much better at blending into the surroundings. The Army is expected to switch to a digital pattern in the future.

You can read more about the digital camo at the links below:

http://www.hyperstealth.com/fracture/ (MARPAT and other digital patterns)

http://militarymorons.com/misc/misc.html (New Army Combat Uniform design)  

Marine Desert Camo (MARPAT)

Army Desert Camo

 

Marine Desert Camo (MARPAT)

Army Desert Camo (3-color desert)