Initial Fielding
The process of replacing the U.S. Army's M81 Woodland (in use since the early 1980s) and Three Color Desert pattern BDU and DCU with the ACU was to begin in April 2005. However, the fielding process began two months earlier through the Rapid Fielding Initiative. Soldiers from the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were the first U.S. Army unit, active or reserve, to receive the ACU, subsequently deploying the entire Brigade into OIF combat in May 2005. Initial reception of the ACU was mixed, with complaints of insufficient durability and excessive maintenance. As of the early 2010s, the use of multiple camouflage patterns within a U.S. Army unit is now seldom seen, as the ACU in UCP is now standard issue.
Read more about this topic: Army Combat Uniform
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