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Army reinforcing 1 million sets of ACUs

The Army is restitching 1 million pairs of Army Combat Uniform trousers in an attempt to fix a problem that surfaced two years ago when soldiers in Iraq complained of crotch seams ripping open on the battlefield.

This spring, uniform officials began “retrofitting” the crotch area of uniforms pulled from supply stocks, said Lt. Col. John Lemondes, product manager for Clothing and Individual Equipment.

“We’re taking the bad ones we know to be bad ... and we are reinforcing” the crotch with extra fabric and stronger stitching, he said. “It was the right thing to do.”

The retrofit effort will likely cost $3 million to $5 million and take about 18 months to complete, Lemondes said.

The move followed a redesign effort last year to ensure the service didn’t make any more new ACU trousers with stitching too weak for the rigors of combat duty. The ACUs currently being issued have been redesigned to strengthen the crotch area.

Afghanistan’s rugged terrain is also taking its toll on the Army’s digitized uniform. Uniform officials began receiving reports in August that the steep hills and rocky landscape is inflicting “excessive wear” on the uniform.

When the service adopted the new ACU in 2004, it was a radical change from the battle dress and desert combat uniforms it is replacing. the ACU’s universal camouflage pattern of tiny pixels was designed to blend in urban, woodland and desert terrain. The multiple pockets and light, wrinkle-resistant fabric also got high marks in the ranks.

But its debut in combat proved less than impressive when soldiers from the Georgia National Guard’s 48th Brigade complained that the ACU wasn’t sturdy enough for the harsh conditions of the battlefield. Crotches ripped open along the seam that runs between the bottom of the fly and the seam that runs down the leg. There were other problems, such as cargo pockets coming unstitched along the seam, but the crotch wear problems seemed to get the most complaints.

Army uniform experts first heard about the crotch-ripping problems in July 2005 and sent an ACU expert to Iraq for a closer inspection. As an immediate fix, uniform officials ensured that plenty of ACUs were in theater so soldiers could exchange their damaged uniforms for new ones.

To fix the durability problem, ACU manufacturers switched to a heavier thread for the seam, increased the amount of folded-under fabric before sewing and added reinforced stitching.

In March 2006, the improved ACUs were ready for the field.

But that addressed only part of the problem. In April, the Army began fixing the huge stocks of ACUs sitting at supply depots.

Uniform officials began working on the retrofit effort back in June 2006, said Maj. Kathy Brown, assistant product manager for Clothing and Individual Equipment. From that August until February of this year, the Army finalized the retrofit design with a process that included soldier testing to ensure the fixes were going to work. The retrofit includes sewing twill tape to the seam of the crotch and stronger stitching.

“It took us a while to find out exactly what was wrong and how to reinforce it,” Lemondes said. “We had to confirm the problem first in order to address it.”

The reinforced crotch design has also been incorporated into the new Fire Resistant ACUs, Lemondes said. Beginning in January, soldiers deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan will receive four sets of FR ACUs.

Weak stitching isn’t the only problem uniform officials are facing with the ACU.

Soldiers operating in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan have been complaining that their uniforms need to be tougher.

This same terrain chewed up the the Operation Desert Storm-style boots soldiers first wore in Afghanistan in early 2002. Combat troops complained of split soles and shredded treads after a just a few months of operating in the country. As a result, the Army was forced to redesign its desert boots to feature a hardier tread and sole.

“That is an extreme environment,” Lemondes said. “Nothing you put there is going to last very long.”

The Army is currently investigating a solution for the ACU, he said.

“We are looking at a number of different things,” including tougher fabric to reinforce areas of the uniform, Lemondes said, adding that a prototype could be ready by late next year.

“The most important thing is that we have to ensure that we thoroughly test them. ... Our focus is on the soldier at all times. Whether it’s boots, MOLLE rucksacks — whatever it is — we are continually improving.”

In a Nov. 27 article, USA Today described one of possible solutions as “a protective garment to be worn over the current uniform.”

However, Lemondes, said that he has never heard of such an option.

As uniforms go, the ACU is still relatively new. Soldiers first started wearing the woodland-patterned BDU in the early 1980s and will continue to until it’s officially retired in 2008.

As with the ACU, there were plenty of problems with the early designs of the BDU. The first models were made with a fabric that was too hot for summer wear. Seams unraveled and buttons fell off. It was also prone to shrink drastically in the wash.