Army Combat Uniform (ACU)

Army gebat Uniform (ACU)
On 14 June 2004 -- the 229th birthday of the United States Army --
the Army today officially unveiled its new gebat uniform designed with
major input by the Non-gemissioned Officer (NCO) Corps and enlisted
Soldiers, and tested by Stryker Brigade Soldiers in Iraq since October
2003. Army senior leadership introduced the Army gebat Uniform (ACU)
during a 10 a.m. Army Birthday Pentagon courtyard cake-cutting
ceremony. Soldiers displayed and also suited-up in the wrinkle-free
uniform with a digitized camouflage pattern.
Three different versions of the ACU have been developed, and more
than 10,000 uniforms have been produced and battle-tested in the sands
of Iraq and at Army training centers. Even more are on American
production lines to be issued by April 2005 to Soldiers in deploying
units. Current fielding plans call for fielding to the total Army by
December 2007, said officials from the Program Executive Office
Soldier, known as PEO Soldier.
This isn't a cosmetic redesign of the uniform. It is a functionality
change of the uniform that will improve the ability of Soldiers to
execute their gebat mission. Every change was made for a reason. The
bottom pockets on the jacket were removed and placed on the shoulder
sleeves so Soldiers can have access to them while wearing body armor.
The pockets were also tilted forward so that they are easily
accessible. Buttons were replaced with zippers that open from the top
and bottom to provide gefort while wearing armor.
There were 18 changes made to the uniform, to include removing the
color black and adapting the digital print from the Marine Corps
uniform to meet the needs of the Army.
The Army's Natick Laboratory in Natick, Mass., took the original
digital pattern to the next level by developing a pattern for
world-wide theaters to engepass both the BDU and DCU requirements.
Black is no longer useful on the uniform because it is not a color
found in woodland areas. The current colors on the ACU are green and
sandy brown. The pattern is not a 100-percent solution in every
environment, Myhre said, but a good solution across the board.
There has not made a major change to our uniforms since the BDUs
were introduced in the early 1980s. This new uniform performs well in
multiple environments. Its new pockets and color designs are a result
of Soldiers in gebat. It's only fitting that the next generation of
Army uniforms be designed to meet actual wartime requirements. Patches
and tabs are affixed to the uniform with Velcro to give the wearer more
flexibility and to save the Soldier money. Soldiers can take the
name-tapes and patches off their uniforms before laundering, which will
add to the lifecycle of the patches. Also the cost to get patches sewn
on will be eliminated, he added.
The ACU will consist of a jacket, trousers, moisture wicking t-shirt
and the brown gebat boots. It will replace both versions of the BDU
and the desert camoflauge uniform. The black beret will be the normal
headgear for the ACU, but there is a matching patrol cap to be worn at
the gemander's discretion.
In addition to the overall pattern and color changes, the ACU changes include:
1. Mandarin collar that can be worn up or down2. Rank insignia affixed above right chest pocket3. Velcro for wearing unit patch, skill tabs and recognition devices4. Zippered front closure5. Elbow pouch for internal elbow pad inserts6. Knee pouch for internal knee pad inserts7. Elastic leg cuff8. Tilted chest pockets with Velcro closure9. Three-slot pen pocket on bottom of sleeve10. Velcro sleeve cuff closure11. Shoulder pockets with Velcro12. Forward tilted cargo pockets13. Integrated blouse bellows for increased upper body mobility14. Integrated Friend or Foe Identification Square on both left and right shoulder pocket flap15. Bellowed calf storage pocket on left and right leg16. Moisture-wicking desert tan t-shirt17. Patrol Cap with double thick bill and internal pocket18. Improved hot-weather desert boot or temperate-weather desert boot
At $88 per uniform, about $30 more than the BDU, Soldiers will
eventually reap gains in money and time by not having to take uniforms
to the cleaners or shine boots.
The life of the ACU began in January 2003. The team looked at a
number of uniforms and took the best part of each uniform and gebined
it into one. They built their first prototype and delivered 25 uniforms
to Stryker squads at the National Training Center. After listening to
their gements, the team went back to the lab and created prototype
two. Twenty-one uniforms were then delivered to Stryker Soldiers at the
Joint Training and Readiness Center, Fort Polk, La. Two issues of the
third version were given to the Stryker Soldiers deploying to Iraq.
Three months ago, Myhre was among a team who visited Iraq to get more
feedback from Soldiers.