The Army Combat Shirt (ACS) is a flame-resistant shirt developed and used by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

as a supplementary addition to the

Army Combat Uniform The Army Combat Uniform (ACU) is the current combat uniform worn by the United States Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Space Force. Within U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, it is referred to as the OCP (Operational Camouflage Pattern) Uniform ...

. The ACS is a stand-alone shirt designed specifically for use with Improved Outer Tactical Vest armor in warm and hot weather instead of the blouse. It is intended to greatly increase user comfort through the use of lightweight, moisture-wicking, and breathable fabrics. The ACS was created in conjunction with the

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

Flame Resistant Organizational Gear Flame Resistant Organizational Gear (FROG) is clothing used by the United States Marine Corps to reduce the number of injuries resulting from fire and flash (especially burns), due to the increased use of improvised explosive devices in the wars i ...

(FROG). The ACS, in conjunction with the Fire Resistant ACU (FRACU) trousers, provides head-to-toe protection against burns.

Background

Traditionally, flame-resistant uniforms have been reserved for military personnel such as aviators, fuel handlers and combat vehicle crew who were most likely to encounter fuel-related fires. However, the increasing frequency of

improvised explosive devices An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

during the 2000s greatly increased the number of troops in need of flame-resistant clothing and uniforms.

History

2000s

2002–2006: Development

Early prototype versions of the Army Combat Shirt were unveiled by the Army in May 2002 as part of the Objective Force Warrior program. Updated prototypes in the MultiCam camouflage pattern were displayed in July 2004 at a military technology convention held at the U.S. Capitol as a part of the

Future Force Warrior Future Force Warrior was a United States military advanced technology demonstration project that was part of the Future Combat Systems project. The FFW project sought to create a lightweight, fully integrated infantryman combat system. It was one ...

program. A year later in June 2005, prototypes were again displayed during a Future Force Warrior convention at the U.S. Capitol.

2007: Introduction

In January 2007, the Army began shipping 160,000 flame-resistant

Nomex Nomex is a flame-resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967. Properties Nomex and related aramid polymers are related to nylon, but have aromatic backbones, and hence are more rigid and mo ...

uniforms for soldiers assigned to at-risk convoy operations. However, the

uniforms restricted air movement more than the traditional Cotton/Nylon ACU and were hotter for soldiers to wear. Army equipment officials developed the ACS to provide soldiers with a lightweight, breathable alternative to the

ACU.

2010s

2016–2019: Ballistic Combat Shirt

Currently the U.S. Army is working on an armored variant of the Army Combat Shirt known as the "Ballistic Combat Shirt", which adds ballistic protection to the upper thorax, lower neck, and upper sleeve areas while sacrificing as little arm mobility as possible. This has been desirable due to the increasing prevalence of low-profile body armor which does not support the additional extremity protection the IBA system does, as well as ergonomic issues with the extremity protection that causes soldiers to choose not to use them even when wearing compatible armor. It will begin fielding in 2019.

Overview

Initially, the torso of the shirt was foliage green with the

Army Strong An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

logo centered on the chest (removed in later versions); the arms are in the

Universal Camouflage Pattern The Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) is a multi-scale camouflage, digital military camouflage pattern formerly used by the United States Army in their Army Combat Uniform. Technicians at Natick Soldier Systems Center attempted to devise a u ...

similar to the

, with integrated anti-abrasion

elbow pad Elbow pads are protective padded gear worn on the elbows to protect them against injury during a fall or a strike. Elbow pads are worn by many athletes, especially hockey players, cyclists, roller skaters, skateboarders, volleyball players, sk ...

s. No-seam shoulders minimize rubbing or chafing against armor. With the adoption of the MultiCam uniform for wear in Afghanistan, there is now a version made with a coyote brown body (Tan 498) and MultiCam sleeves. When the US Army adopted the

Operational Camouflage Pattern Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP), originally codenamed Scorpion W2, is a military camouflage pattern adopted in 2015 by the United States Army for use as the U.S. Army's main camouflage pattern on the Army Combat Uniform (ACU). This pattern ...

starting in 2015, a third variant became available which complies to the US Army uniform regulations code AR 670-1 (Wear and Appearance of Army Uniform and Insignia) with a tan/green body (Tan 499) and sleeves in the OCP pattern. Other features include a double pen pocket on the lower arm, zippered storage pockets on the upper arm, concealable

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

identification tabs, and a place to attach name, rank, and flag on the upper arm. There are two styles of the ACS available for soldiers. The Type I has a mock turtle neck and the Type II has a Mandarin style collar with a 3/4 zipper on the chest/neck. The features of all three shirts, besides the collar differences from the two types, are all the same. The ACS is constructed of three flame-resistant performance fabrics proprietary to TenCate Protective Fabrics or Massif Mountain Gear Company. The shirt’s torso is constructed of two highly breathable flame-resistant fabrics with advanced moisture management capabilities. Both fabrics wick moisture away from the skin and dry rapidly, preventing the fabrics from sticking to the user’s skin and greatly increasing comfort under body armor. The sleeves and side panels of the shirt are constructed of a lightweight, but durable and abrasion-resistant fabric designed to provide extra protection for areas not protected by body armor. All three fabrics feature 4-way stretch for enhanced performance and user comfort.

References

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External links

Army Combat Shirt FactsheetMassifProgram Executive Office Soldier
Shirts, Army Combat Shirt

Army Combat Shirt The Army Combat Shirt (ACS) is a flame-resistant shirt developed and used by the United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services ...

2007 clothing Military equipment introduced in the 2000s