Desert Battle Dress Uniform

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Desert Camouflage Uniform.
Desert Battle Dress Uniform
Closeup of Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU)
TypeMilitary camouflage pattern
Service history
In service1981–1995 (U.S. military)
Used bySee Users for other foreign military/law enforcement users
WarsPersian Gulf War
Somali Civil War
Iraq War
Libyan civil war (2011)
Production history
DesignerU.S. Army Soldier Systems Center
Designed1970

The Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU)[1] is a U.S. arid-environment camouflage battle uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces from the early 1980s to the early to mid 1990s, most notably during the Persian Gulf War. Although the U.S. military has long since abandoned the pattern, it is still in widespread use by militaries across the world as of the early 2020s.

Appearance

A man modelling an early version of the DBDU on December 6, 1976.
DBDU trousers, featuring the chocolate-chip camouflage pattern

The Desert Battle Dress Uniform was designed in 1970[2] and uses a camouflage pattern known as the Six-Color Desert Pattern or colloquially as Chocolate-Chip Camouflage and Cookie Dough Camouflage. The camouflage received its nickname because it resembles chocolate-chip cookie dough. It is made up of a base pattern of light tan overlaid with broad swathes of pale green and wide two-tone bands of brown. Clusters of black and white spots are scattered over, to mimic the appearance of pebbles and their shadows.

History

A drawing of U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf War with the DBDU

Although the chocolate-chip camouflage became well known during the

U.S. Rapid Deployment Force
(RDF) in 1979, with its remit to operate in the Middle East, and protect U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf region, saw the need for desert camouflage clothing to emerge again.

U.S. Army

Robert C. Kingston
, commanding general, US Central Command, fires a German built 7.62 mm G3 Heckler and Koch rifle during BRIGHT STAR '82, an exercise involving troops from the US, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia and Oman

With limited issuing dating back to

Bright Star
" exercise in December 1980. The DBDU was the U.S. Army's first fully functional desert combat pattern from 1981 to 1992.

U.S. Marine Corps

Like the Army, the DBDU was seldom issued whenever Marines were deployed to participate in the "Bright Star" exercises, but became their standard arid combat uniform by 1985. The 6-color desert pattern was used by the U.S. Marine Corps from 1982 to 1995.

U.S. Air Force

First issued in 1982 for their participation and deployments to arid regions, the DBDU became the United States Air Forces primary desert uniform from 1982 to 1993.

U.S. Navy

Like its sister branches, The Navy began limited issue of the DBDU in the early 80s and became standard wide by 1985. It would remain the Navy's main desert combat uniform from the early '80s to the mid '90s.

U.S. Coast Guard

The Coast Guard was the last branch to see remaining issue of the DBDU in the mid to late 1980s.

Operational use

The six-color desert pattern entered service in 1981 at the same time as the

Persian Gulf War. However, there is evidence that the six-color desert pattern camouflage was in use before 1981 with photographs of American military personnel involved in Operation Eagle Claw in April 1980 using this camouflage pattern in the failed attempt to rescue U.S. embassy staff being held hostage in Iran
.

The pattern was unpopular with American soldiers during the Gulf War.

Norman Schwarzkopf, the six-color Desert BDU was produced in 100% cotton poplin without reinforcement panels in order to improve comfort in hot desert conditions. A total of 500,000 improved cotton BDUs were ordered. However, cost concerns caused the cotton six-color Desert BDU to be discontinued shortly after the Persian Gulf War.[4]

Replacement

An initial batch of desert BDUs in the new camouflage scheme was en route to the Middle East when hostilities ceased.[5] The pattern, officially issued with the newer Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU) in the early 1990s, consisted of a subtle blend of large pastel green and light tan shapes, with sparsely placed, narrow, reddish brown patches, leading the design to be unofficially nicknamed the “Coffee Stain” pattern.

Both patterns were briefly used together during the transition period, most notably during

Operation Restore Hope and Operation Gothic Serpent (some U.S. Army Rangers during the latter occasionally wore the newer three-color DCU's along with kevlar helmet covers retaining the old six-color pattern. The same dress was also worn by soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division during the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi in 2001).[6] During Operation Bright Star 1995, Third Army personnel wore the three-color uniform while troops from Fort Bragg (330th MCC) wore the six-color uniform for the 75-day exercise. In the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the U.S. military did not use the DBDU, and instead mostly used the DCU's tri-color pattern and to a lesser extent, the MARPAT
camouflage pattern.

Legacy

Iraqi soldiers in 2006 wearing DBDUs
David H. Petraeus
meets with the Afghan Border Police Commander, General Abdul Khalil Bakhten, wearing the Saudi grey version

As of the early 2010s, the chocolate-chip pattern is still in widespread use across the world, long after the United States abandoned it. A uniform similar to the Desert Battle Dress Uniform was issued to the

greyish green, in addition to the black-on-white pebbles, is used in Kazakhstan
.

Users

  • DBDU-clad Spanish soldiers disembark from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan, September 2008
    DBDU-clad Spanish soldiers disembark from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan, September 2008
  • U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Brigadier General Thomas Mikolajcik wearing DBDUs as they visit Mogadishu Airport in January 1993
    U.S. President
    Mogadishu Airport
    in January 1993
  • Pakistan Frontier Corps Balochistan soldier (left) and the Afghan Border Police soldier (right), wearing the Saudi blue DBDUs, guard the Durand Line's Friendship Gate, seven km southeast of Spin Boldak, Afghanistan
    Pakistan
    Afghan Border Police soldier (right), wearing the Saudi blue DBDUs, guard the Durand Line's Friendship Gate, seven km southeast of Spin Boldak
    , Afghanistan
  • A DBDU-wearing Pakistani Ranger (Sindh) on duty
    A DBDU-wearing Pakistani Ranger (Sindh) on duty

See also

References

  1. ^ United States Army (February 3, 2005). "Army Regulation 670-1: Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 28, 2005. Retrieved April 28, 2005.
  2. ^ "Uniform, desert".
  3. ^ "Show whips off the camouflage net". BBC News. 2007-03-23. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  4. ^ Kearny, Cresson H. (Maj), Jungle Snafus...And Remedies, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (1996), pp. 212–213
  5. ISBN 0-9543404-0-X
    .
  6. ^ "DBDU Helmet".
  7. ^ a b c d e "Little Known Facts and History about Camouflage of the Western World". 2 March 2016.
  8. ^ "The Son of Al-Qassam". Al-Qassam Brigades Information Office.
  9. ^ a b c d Dougherty (2017), p. 82.
  10. ^ "Jacket, Desert 'Chocolate Chip' camouflage (US DBDU): Iraqi".
  11. ^ "Immediate Post Saddam Iraqi Chocolate Chip Camo Uniform - Middle East Militaria". www.middleeastmilitaria.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-10.
  12. ^ Larson (2021), p. 396.
  13. ^ Larson (2021), p. 255.
  14. ^ "Saudi King Fahd Grey Chocolate Chip Camo".
  15. ^ "Saudi Grey Chocolate Chip Uniforms; an Analysis".
  16. ^ "Saudi Border Guard Chocolate Chip Camo".
  17. ^ "Saudi Security Forces 6 Color Uniforms".
  18. ^ "EU Naval Force Supports EUCAP Nestor Led Training Course for Somali Coastguard and Port Police in Djibouti | Eunavfor". eunavfor.eu. Archived from the original on 2014-12-09.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Desert Battle Dress Uniform.
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