All Purpose Environmental Clothing System (APECS)For the Marine Corps and Air Force, the All Purpose Environmental Clothing System (APECS) is the successor to Layer 4 of Generation II of the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS). APECS is a 3rd generation outer garment set (parka &smp; trousers) that reduces noise and weight, increases IR and environmental protection, and incorporates the MARPAT (Marine Pattern) camouflage or the USAF ABU "Tiger Stripe" pattern.
All Purpose Environmental Clothing System (APECS)The USMC identified the need for the All Purpose Environmental Clothing System (APECS) in the Operational Requirement document for the Cold Weather and Equipment Program (CWCEP), No. Log 42.2 dated 2 June 1994. This program transitioned from the Marine Enhancement Program (MEP) during a MEP review of 2000. The first contract to produce the All Purpose Environmental Clothing System (APECS) was let to Propper International (Saint Charles, MO) in July 2003. APECS was "force fed" throughout the Active and Reserve Marine Corps, starting in October 2003. Additional contracts went to Tennessee Apparel (Tullahoma, TN) and Tennier Industries (Huntsville, TN). APECS was also adopted by the U.S. Air Force in the same time frame. All Purpose Environmental Clothing System (APECS) FeaturesAPECS consists of two outer shell garments, the parka and trousers, a product improvement of the Layer 4 Generation II ECWCS. Other layers and components are adopted unchanged from Generation II or Generation III of the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS). The APECS parka and trousers are made of Gore-tex material with Gore-seam tape sealed seams. APECS is lighter in weight, lower in bulk, has lower noise generation, is moisture vapor permeable and has an improved water repellency when compared to the ECWCS parka and trousers. NIR technology resists detection by night vision equipment. APECS displays MARPAT camouflage (Woodland or Desert) for the Marine Corps and the "tiger stripe" ABU pattern for the USAF. APECS Parka features:
APECS Trousers features:
APECS Nomenclature and NSNs
The NSN ranges depend on size and camouflage pattern. For the parka:
For the trousers:
Other NSNs have been assigned during the development and pre-fielding periods. During the change-over from ECWCS Gen II to APECS, it was authorized to mix and match the Woodland or Desert camouflage with ACU/ABU uniforms. Once APECS was fully distributed, such mixing was no longer tolerated. Find More Information on the InternetThere are many fine websites that have additional information on this topic, too many to list here and too many to keep up with as they come and go. Use this Google web search form to get an up to date report of what's out there. For good results, try entering this: apecs parka. Then click the Search button. |