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Description
The Close Combat Uniform (CCU) was a short-lived combat uniform that existed between the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) and the current Army Combat Uniform (ACU). The CCU came as a result modernization efforts to the equipment of U.S. Army soldiers started in the 1990s after realizing that the BDU was becoming inadequate in the face of newer combat hardware being developed, and the Army was looking for a new combat uniform that was durable, streamlined and easy to wear regardless if it was alone or with full combat gear. In January 2003, research teams at Fort Lewis, Washington came with various experimental cuts that were field tested by Stryker Teams across the country and upgraded three times to the iteration that would come to be known as the CCU, which were made in considerable numbers and printed in four camouflage patterns: U.S. Woodland, 3-Color Desert, and two patterns known as Scorpion and Urban Track, and these two served as the foundations for the creation of the famous MultiCam and the infamous UCP patterns respectively. The CCU would eventually see frontline service when issued to elements of the Stryker Brigades of the 2nd Infantry Division and the 25th Infantry Division that were deployed to Iraq in November 2003. The CCU's usage would be short-lived however, as by 2004 when the 1st Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division ended its deployment in Iraq, the CCU was no longer seen in U.S. Army soldiers, with sightings afterwards being of individuals that got them by second-hand means or high-ranking officers that managed to acquired them. The CCU is considered a very rare uniform today, especially in the U.S. Woodland and Scorpion patterns, with only the 3-Color Desert pattern being the most common iteration of the CCU, but even this one is still rare to find given that it was an experimental uniform and not an standard-issue one.

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Credits:

TheRanger1302 for all the components used to make this chart as well as his help.

Description
The Close Combat Uniform (CCU) was a short-lived combat uniform that existed between the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) and the current Army Combat Uniform (ACU). The CCU came as a result modernization efforts to the equipment of U.S. Army soldiers started in the 1990s after realizing that the BDU was becoming inadequate in the face of newer combat hardware being developed, and the Army was looking for a new combat uniform that was durable, streamlined and easy to wear regardless if it was alone or with full combat gear. In January 2003, research teams at Fort Lewis, Washington came with various experimental cuts that were field tested by Stryker Teams across the country and upgraded three times to the iteration that would come to be known as the CCU, which were made in considerable numbers and printed in four camouflage patterns: U.S. Woodland, 3-Color Desert, and two patterns known as Scorpion and Urban Track, and these two served as the foundations for the creation of the famous MultiCam and the infamous UCP patterns respectively. The CCU would eventually see frontline service when issued to elements of the Stryker Brigades of the 2nd Infantry Division and the 25th Infantry Division that were deployed to Iraq in November 2003. The CCU's usage would be short-lived however, as by 2004 when the 1st Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division ended its deployment in Iraq, the CCU was no longer seen in U.S. Army soldiers, with sightings afterwards being of individuals that got them by second-hand means or high-ranking officers that managed to acquired them. The CCU is considered a very rare uniform today, especially in the U.S. Woodland and Scorpion patterns, with only the 3-Color Desert pattern being the most common iteration of the CCU, but even this one is still rare to find given that it was an experimental uniform and not an standard-issue one.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Credits:

TheRanger1302 for all the components used to make this chart as well as his help.