And they were wrong and I told them so at the time. I actually had some idiot at Natick Labs insist that their new uniform had no black in its pattern "because black doesn't exist in nature"!
You have to know that most government labs are run by civilians who have never been in the armed forces. That's why we still have the 5.56mm even after all of the many tries by the leaders in the field to get a better/more effective caliber.
Sounds like you’re intimately close to this issue. Obviously my, or other naysayer’s, opinion doesn’t matter so I’m sure we’ll see the new uniform around Ft Lee before long.