Battle Dress Uniform

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Battle Dress Uniform" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Battle Dress Uniform
U.S. Marine Corps BDU blouse in woodland pattern, wearer's nametape removed. The ironed-on "EGA" on the breast pocket is barely visible due to wear.
Type	Combat uniform
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1981–2008 (U.S. Army)[1][2] 1981–2005 (U.S. Marine Corps)[3] 1981–2011 (U.S. Air Force) 1981–2012 (U.S. Navy)[4]
Wars	Cold War Yugoslav Wars[5][6] Global War on Terrorism
Production history
Designed	1980[7]
Manufacturer	Propper[8]
Unit cost	$50 (MSRP in February 2001)[9]
Produced	1981–2012
Variants	Desert Camouflage Uniform, Desert Battle Dress Uniform

The Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) is a camouflaged combat uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces as their standard combat uniform from the early 1980s to the mid-2000s. Since then, it has been replaced or supplanted in every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.

BDU-style uniforms and derivatives still see widespread use in other countries (some of them being former U.S. surplus stocks transferred under U.S. security assistance programs), while others are still worn by some U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement agents who may work in tactical situations, such as the DEA FAST and SWAT teams. The uniforms are also used by urban search and rescue groups such as FEMA USAR task force teams and firefighting agencies when conducting technical rescues or other special operations.

As late as 2014, BDUs were worn by officers of the U.S. Public Health Service as the prescribed uniform for deployment, but have since been replaced by a variant of the U.S. Coast Guard's Operational Dress Uniform.