Airman Battle Uniform
The Airman Battle Uniform , ABU for short , is the current combat suit of the US Air Force . From 2007, the suit replaced the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) that had been used until then . The introduction phase lasted four years until November 1, 2011 and has been completed since then. The ABU was developed as part of the military-wide further development of combat suits.
history
The first prototype of the ABU was presented in summer 2003. This first prototype consisted of pants, embroidered undershirts and a blouse. The camouflage pattern was blue, not digital, tiger stripes.
After a test phase in which the uniform was worn by Air Force personnel, the camouflage pattern and the color palette were revised. The new digital tiger stripe pattern now used a less blue-prominent color palette. In October 2007 the US Air Force began issuing the ABU to airmen in basic training , and since June 2008 the uniform has been available for the rest of the force. The suit has been the standard suit since 2011.
The ABU is available in 236 different sizes, male and female. The cost per uniform amount to about 81 US dollars .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Uniform phase-out date set for Nov. 1 ( Memento from May 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Air Force personnel test new uniform ( Memento of July 7, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) ( Columbus Federal Voice of October 8, 2003; English)
- ↑ Air Force Changes Color for Proposed Utility Uniform (About.com US Military; English)
Web links
- ABU information on the US Air Force website ( Memento from October 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
