Battle Dress Uniform

Battle Dress Uniform
U.S. Marine Corps BDU blouse in woodland pattern, wearer's nametape removed. The ironed-on "EGA" on the breast pocket is barely visible due to wear.
TypeCombat uniform
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1981–2008 (U.S. Army)[1][2]
1981–2005 (U.S. Marine Corps)[3]
1981–2011 (U.S. Air Force)
1981–2012 (U.S. Navy)[4]
WarsCold War
Yugoslav Wars[5][6]
Global War on Terrorism
Production history
Designed1980[7]
ManufacturerPropper[8]
Unit cost$50 (MSRP in February 2001)[9]
Produced1981–2012
VariantsDesert Camouflage Uniform, Desert Battle Dress Uniform

The Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) is a camouflaged combat uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces as their standard combat uniform from the early 1980s to the mid-2000s. Since then, it has been replaced or supplanted in every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.

BDU-style uniforms and derivatives still see widespread use in other countries (some of them being former U.S. surplus stocks transferred under U.S. security assistance programs), while others are still worn by some U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement agents who may work in tactical situations, such as the DEA FAST and SWAT teams. The uniforms are also used by urban search and rescue groups such as FEMA USAR task force teams and firefighting agencies when conducting technical rescues or other special operations.

As late as 2014, BDUs were worn by officers of the U.S. Public Health Service as the prescribed uniform for deployment, but have since been replaced by a variant of the U.S. Coast Guard's Operational Dress Uniform.

  1. ^ "Army to Retire BDUs". www.army.mil.
  2. ^ "ACU changes make Velcro optional, patrol cap default headgear". www.army.mil.
  3. ^ "Mandatory Possession Dates for the Marine Corps Combat Utility; Uniforms (MCCUU) And Marine Corps Combat Boots (MCCB)". The Official United States Marine Corps Public Website. September 22, 2004. Retrieved November 7, 2017. On a Case-By-Case Basis, Commanders May Locally Extend the Mandatory Possession Date to 1 April 2005, but no Further Extensions are Authorized.
  4. ^ "DIMOC - Home Page". www.defenseimagery.mil.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Bosnia - Serbs attack returning Muslims". YouTube.
  6. ^ "Photo Gallery".
  7. ^ "Women's uniform". Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  8. ^ "Propper Authorized Supplier - Propper ACU, BDU, Multicam, Military Uniforms from BDUDirect.com". www.bdudirect.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  9. ^ "Saturday, February 10, 2001". March 4, 2001. Archived from the original on March 4, 2001.

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