 Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Myhre,
the Program Executive Office NCOIC, sports the Army Combat Uniform,
the recently approved wear for Soldiers. It contains 20 new
improvements.
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Army gets new combat uniform
By Sgt. 1st Class Marcia Triggs
June 14, 2004
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 14, 2004) - The Army will be fielding
a new combat uniform designed by NCOs and tested by Stryker Brigade
Soldiers in Iraq since October.
On the Army's 229th birthday, senior leadership introduced the Army Combat
Uniform during a Pentagon cake-cutting ceremony. Soldiers were on display,
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 dragged through the sand in Iraq
and at Army training centers. Even more are on American production lines
to be issued by April 2005 to Soldiers in deploying units. Fielding to the
total Army should be complete by December 2007, said officials from the
Program Executive Office, known as PEO Soldier.
There were 20 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, said Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Myhre, the Clothing and
Individual Equipment noncommissioned officer in charge.
Black is no longer useful on the uniform because it is not a color
commonly found in nature. The drawback to black is that its color
immediately catches the eye, he added.
"The color scheme in the ACU capitalizes on the environments that we
operate in," Myhre said. "The current colors on the ACU are
green-woodland, grey-urban environments and sand brown-desert. The pattern
is not a 100-percent solution in every environment, but a good solution
across the board."
"This isn't about a cosmetic redesign of the uniform," said Col. John
Norwood, the project manager for Clothing and Individual Equipment. "It's
a functionality change of the uniform that will improve the ability of
Soldiers to execute their combat 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 comfort while wearing armor.
Patches and tabs are affixed to the uniform with Velcro to give the wearer
more flexibility and to save the Soldier money, Myhre said. 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 combat boots. It will replace both versions of the BDU and the
desert camouflage uniform. The black beret will be the normal headgear for
the ACU, but there is a matching patrol cap to be worn at the commander's
discretion.
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 when PEO Soldier teamed with
Myhre, Master Sgt. Alex Samoba and Staff Sgt. Matt Goodine - from the 1st
Stryker Brigade, Fort Lewis, Wash.
The team looked at a number of uniforms and took the best part of each
uniform and combined it into one. They built their first prototype and
delivered 25 uniforms to Stryker squads at the National Training Center.
After listening to their comments, 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.
"We watched them as they entered and cleared rooms, as they carried their
rucksack and all of the things they had to be able to do in the uniform,
and then we came up with prototype three," Myhre said.
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.
"We would talk to Soldiers right after they had completed a mission while
the benefits of the uniform were still fresh in their minds. We wanted to
know how did the uniform help the mission."
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth Preston is one of the ACU's biggest
supporters. He said major command sergeants major had a chance to see the
uniform and give advice toward the final version.
"We have not made a major change to our uniforms since the BDUs (battle
dress uniforms) were introduced in the early 1980s," Preston said. "This
new uniform performs well in multiple environments. Its new pockets and
color designs are a result of feedback from Soldiers in combat. Every
modification made on the uniform was designed with a specific purpose and
not just for the sake of change."
Uniform changes include:
1. Mandarin collar that can be worn up or down
2. Rank insignia centered on the front of the blouse
3. Velcro for wearing unit patch, skill tabs and recognition devices
4. Zippered front closure
5. Elbow pouch for internal elbow pad inserts
6. Knee pouch for internal knee pad inserts
7. Draw string leg cuff
8. Tilted chest pockets with Velcro closure
9. Three-slot pen pocket on bottom of sleeve
10. Velcro sleeve cuff closure
11. Shoulder pockets with Velcro
12. Forward tilted cargo pockets
13. Integrated blouse bellows for increased upper body mobility
14. Integrated Friend or Foe Identification Square on both left and right
shoulder pocket flap.
15. Bellowed calf storage pocket on left and right leg
16. Moisture-wicking desert tan t-shirt
17. Patrol Cap with double thick bill and internal pocket
18. Improved hot-weather desert boot or temperate-weather desert boot
19. Two-inch, black nylon web belt
20. Moisture-wicking socks
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New US Military Uniform
Discussion Board on this Photo
June 16, 2004: After years of complaints from the troops, and 18 months
of effort, the U.S. Army has a new combat uniform. There will be only one
color scheme (light green, tan and gray) for this uniform (instead of the
current two, one for deserts and the other for temperate climate zones).
The new uniform also includes tan combat boots (that cannot be shined, you
just brush the crud off them). There is no black in the uniform, because
it was pointed out that black is not a color you encounter much in nature.
The new uniform costs $88, replacing the $56 BDU, which was introduced in
1981.
Officially called the ACU (Army Combat Uniform), the major changes are all
responses to numerous requests from the troops. These changes include;
Mandarin (high) collar that can be worn up or down. When worn up, this
keep crud from getting down inside the shirt, and eliminates chafing from
the protective vest.
Rank insignia can be attached above the right chest pocket with Velcro.
Velcro is also used for attaching the unit patch, skill tabs and
recognition devices. This spares troops the hassle of sewing on, and later
removing, patches. The Velcro also allows all the patches and such to be
removed before the uniforms are sent to the laundry.
Zippered front on the shirt, which is easier to close than buttons.
Elbow pouch for internal elbow and knee pad inserts. The introduction of
knee and elbow pads in the 1990s saved thousands of infantry troops from
painful, and sometimes permanent, injuries. Infantry spend a lot of time
getting down on elbows and knees, especially in combat. The inserts are
cheaper and easier to use than the more traditional elbow and knee
protectors similar to those you see in sporting goods stores.
Elastic leg cuff, a useful item for keeping the crud out when you are in
the field.
Tilted chest pockets with Velcro closure. Makes the pockets easier to use
when wearing your webbing gear.
Three-slot pen pocket on bottom of sleeve. Again, convenience.
Velcro sleeve cuff closure. Keeping the crud at bay once more.
Shoulder pockets with Velcro. When troops are wearing their webbing gear
and packs, shoulder pockets are the only ones you can get at easily.
Forward tilted cargo pockets. Again, convenience.
Integrated blouse bellows for increased upper body mobility. Again,
convenience.
Integrated Friend or Foe Identification Square on both left and right
shoulder pocket flap. This is a current method for making it easier to
avoid friendly fire incidents. The Velcro makes it easy to take these
patches off at night, when they tend to make the troops more visible.
Bellowed calf storage pocket on left and right leg. Again, convenience.
Moisture-wicking desert tan t-shirt. Troops have been buying these with
their own money for years.
Patrol Cap with double thick bill and internal pocket. Complaints about
the fragile bill, and troops sewing pockets into the cap led to this.
Improved hot-weather desert boot or temperate-weather desert boot. Many
complaints and recent experience in Afghanistan and Iraq.
During development, three different versions of the ACU were created and
over 10,000 uniforms were manufactured and tested in Iraq and at Army
training centers. Hundreds of changes were made in response to soldier
comments. While the new uniform looks ugly to many civilians, its very
comfortable. This is partly do to the bagginess. But in combat, the troops
prefer loose and comfortable to tight and fashionable. Troops will begin
getting the new uniform in 2005, and all will have it by 2007.
Army reveals new uniform
Monday, June 14, 2004 Posted: 9:12 PM EDT (0112 GMT)
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The design
is the first major change in the Army uniform since 1981.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army revealed on Monday
a redesigned combat uniform with a digital camouflage pattern that
looks strikingly different from soldiers' current battle dress
uniforms.
It marks the first major change in the Army
uniform since 1981, said Brig. Gen. James R. Moran, who modeled the
uniform for reporters at the Pentagon. He said recruits will be
issued the redesigned uniform starting October 2005, and the entire
Army will be outfitted by December 2007.
The uniform is being produced in a single,
universal pattern to replace the two camouflage versions in current
use: tan-brown for desert use and green-brown-black for woodland
settings.
The pattern for the new camouflage coat and
trousers is a mix of light green, tan and gray. Moran said it was
designed to allow soldiers to blend into urban, desert and forest
environments; it is similar to the Marines' digital camouflage
uniform except that it has no black in the pattern.
Soldiers also will get a new, no-shine, tan combat
boot, and the current black boots will be discontinued.
The new uniform makes more use of Velcro, and the
coat fastens in front with a zipper instead of buttons. Cuffs and
pockets are fastened with Velcro, and the coat collar can be turned
up and fastened Mandarin-style. The uniform is roomier and made with
a no-wrinkle fabric.
The coat-trousers combination costs $88, compared
with $56 for the current battle dress uniform.
The new uniform was designed in part to
accommodate the new Interceptor body armor that soldiers are getting
in Iraq and Afghanistan for partial protection from bullets as large
as 7.62mm. The Mandarin-style collar, for example, shields the neck
from the Interceptor vest collar.
Moran said the Army will offer soldiers extra
protection with add-on armor for the underarm area, which is not
covered with protective plates in Interceptor vests. The deltoid
protection will increase the weight of the armor vests from 16
pounds to 22 pounds.
About 50,000 sets of deltoid protection are to be
available by the end of September.
Moran said the Army is looking for ways to protect
soldiers better who risk death or injury from homemade bombs in
Iraq, the weapons of choice for anti-U.S. insurgents.
"We have a clever enemy, an adaptable enemy," he
said.
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