The Navy started looking at a new working uniform because; 1- They hadn't settled on a decent working uniform since getting rid of the original dungarees, which frankly needed updating but they couldn't get that right and 2- Everyone else was getting on the multicam bandwagon wince the Marines went their own way with their digis, so why not go with some sort of blue pattern since Navy=blue?
The hiding stains BS was an excuse some came up with later in the process, a legend along the lines of the Marine one about how they developed their digis all on their own when they got the basic design from the Canadians.
They did....but then they also didn't. A lot of thought went into the pattern but it seems like they didn't go beyond that, like making it fire-resistant or otherwise more wearable for shipboard use. A lot like the first iteration of PT shirts that no one apparently bothered to work out in since it turned out they were see-through when they got wet. So now we have ended up with a green version of digis that says 'Navy' to no one at all. All of this courtesy of the Navy Uniform Board/TFU, a seemingly useless entity that hasn't decided hardly anything useful in the last 20+ years.
Hear, hear! I always thought the USCG fatigues were a great design we should adopt but since it wasn't invented here....
