Army Combat Uniform

The Army Combat Uniform (ACU) and its flame-retardant variant, the Flame-Resistant Army Combat Uniform (FRACU), are the current battle uniforms worn by the United States Army. First unveiled in June 2004, it is the successor to the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) and Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU) worn from the 1980s through the early 2000s, respectively. It features a number of design changes, as well as a different camouflage pattern from its predecessor. The ACU and its component materials are manufactured by the existing industrial infrastructure which produced the now-obsolete BDU. Official military-grade ACUs are made of 50% nylon and 50% cotton. All other blends are not official issue.

The U.S. Army uses the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP), which blends tan, gray and green (Desert Sand 500, Urban Gray 501 and Foliage Green 502) to work equally in desert, woodland, and urban environments. It is similar to the United States Marine Corps MARPAT and Canadian CADPAT camouflage scheme on which it was based. The color scheme of the Army Combat Uniform is composed of a slate gray, desert sand and foliage green pixel pattern. The shade black was omitted from the uniform since it is highly visible both to the naked eye and to modern optics. However, it does utilize several shades of grey ranging from very light to extremely dark. Pure black, when viewed through night vision devices, appears excessively dark and creates an undesirable high-contrast image. This pattern is scheduled for

retirement on 30 September 2019.

U.S. Army soldiers deployed to Afghanistan (starting with the 173rd Airborne Brigade) are issued an Army-developed variant of the Crye Precision "MultiCam" pattern. Since late 2010, all U.S. Army soldiers deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom were issued flame-resistant ACUs in the Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern (OEFCP). These uniforms are designed to prevent third-degree burns, along with up to thirty percent of second degree burns. Additionally, the uniforms are treated with the chemical permethrin to help protect soldiers from insect-borne diseases like malaria. Some U.S. Army soldiers during the latter stages of the Iraq War also wore the ACU in OCP; some were seen wearing them as late as December 2011, when the United States withdrew its military forces from the country at the end of the war. This particular version has been replaced by the newer ACU in the Operational Camouflage Pattern, as described below.

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