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Desert Battle Dress Uniform
Closeup of Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU)
Type	Military camouflage pattern
Service history
In service	1981–1995 (U.S. military)
Used by	SeeUsers for other foreign military/law enforcement users
Wars	Persian Gulf War Somali Civil War Iraq War Libyan civil war (2011)
Production history
Designer	Mobility Equipment Research and Development Command (MERADCOM)[1][2]
Designed	1960[3]

TheDesert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU)^[4] is a U.S. arid-environmentcamouflage battle uniform that was used by theUnited States Armed Forces from the early 1980s to the early to mid 1990s, most notably during thePersian 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.

The Desert Battle Dress Uniform was designed in 1970^[5] and uses a camouflage pattern known as theSix-Color Desert Pattern or colloquially asChocolate-Chip Camouflage andCookie Dough Camouflage. The camouflage received its nickname because it resembleschocolate-chipcookie 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. The cut of the DBDU is virtually identical to that of the Temperate BDU, retaining the ‘Elvis Collar’, and it was initially made with 50% ripstop nylon cotton. An improved version, the Enhanced Desert BDU or EDBDU, was adopted in the early 1990s, in 100% ripstop. DBDUs were used alongside PASGT helmet covers, ALICE rucksack covers, caps and boonie hats also made in the 6-color pattern. Most early DBDUs have an orange tint, with later versions, especially those issued before and during the Gulf War having a more reddish one.

Although the chocolate-chip camouflage became well known during thePersian Gulf War, it was originally designed decades prior, in 1960.^[6] The U.S. Army, believing that it might one day become necessary to intervene in theArab–Israeli conflicts, developed a test pattern using the deserts of the southwesternUnited States as a model. When the hostilities in theMiddle East wound down, the test pattern was mothballed. Renewed interest in desert camouflage due to the US increasing its military presence in the Middle East in the late 1970s led to the project being revived. The formation of theU.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. In 1981, issue of the new Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU) began, limited to elements of the new Rapid Deployment Force (RDF), formed to act as the US contingency response force for the Middle East. Units that took part in the annual Bright Star exercises with Egypt and theMultinational Force and Observers (MFO) responsible for monitoring theSinai Peninsula were also issued the uniform. The six-color desert pattern entered service in 1981 at the same time as thewoodlandBDUs and would be worn in limited numbers by U.S. troops taking part in the biennialBright Star exercises in Egypt during the 1980s, and byFORSCOM peacekeepers assigned to theMultinational Force and Observers in the EgyptianSinai Desert, but was not issued in large numbers prior to thePersian 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 inOperation Eagle Claw in April 1980 using this camouflage pattern in the failed attempt to rescue U.S. embassy staff being held hostage inIran.

The pattern was unpopular with American soldiers during the Gulf War.^[7] Feedback from these users indicated that the design contrasted too much with the terrain, preventing the camouflage from blending in effectively. Anecdotal evidence suggested that the dark areas of the pattern warmed up more than the paler parts under desert sunlight, and retained the heat longer. The six colors were also more expensive to manufacture than three or four colors, and the need for a camouflage that would be suitable for use in any desert resulted in a requirement for a new desert camouflage uniform. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center began the search for a substitute. Samples of sand and earth from the Middle East were measured for optical and infrared reflectance, and seven trial patterns were created using these statistics. The patterns were evaluated in fourteen different desert locations and narrowed down to one favorite. The resulting "Desert Camouflage Pattern: Combat" was standardized in 1990, but was not ready before troops deployed toSaudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War. Consequently, U.S. forces wore the six-color BDUs during the campaign. During that war, after initiatives by GeneralNorman 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.^[8]

With limited issuing dating back tothe 1980 mission to the rescue American hostages in Iran, the DBDU was unique, in that when it was officially issued in 1981, the 6-color desert pattern was only issued in limited numbers to division personnel like the U.S.82nd Airborne or101st Airborne who deployed to Egypt and the Sinai desert to participate in the "Bright Star" exercise in December 1980. The DBDU was the U.S. Army's first fully functional desert combat pattern from 1981 to 1992.

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.

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.

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.

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

An initial batch of desert BDUs in the new camouflage scheme was en route to the Middle East when hostilities ceased.^[9] The pattern, officially issued with the newerDesert 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 duringOperation Restore Hope andOperation Gothic Serpent (someU.S. Army Rangers during the latter occasionally wore the newer three-color DCU's along withkevlar helmet covers retaining the old six-color pattern. The same dress was also worn by soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division during theBattle of Qala-i-Jangi in 2001).^[10] 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 the2003 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, theMARPAT camouflage pattern.

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 theIraqi National Guard before it was dissolved in 2004 and to the Iraqi security forces.

South Korean forces have used, in limited numbers since 1993, a variant with brown replacing the black in the original U.S. design; this South Korean design has also been tested in theUnited Arab Emirates.

TheOman National Guard use a pattern mixing chocolate-chip with 'amoeba', while the National Guards of bothSaudi Arabia andKuwait use a grey variation on the chocolate-chip design. The Saudis also use a grey, black, and white 'urban' variation and the police wear a blue version of the same design;Palestinian police also use a blue chocolate-chip patterned uniform.

TheSouth African "Soldier 2000" pattern is similar to the U.S. design. A copy of the pattern, using tan, medium brown,bottle-green andgreyish green, in addition to the black-on-white pebbles, is used inKazakhstan.

This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Desert Battle Dress Uniform" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• 
  DBDU-clad Spanish soldiers disembark from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan, September 2008
• 
  U.S. PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush and Brigadier GeneralThomas Mikolajcik wearing DBDUs as they visitMogadishu Airport in January 1993
• 
  PakistanFrontier CorpsBalochistan soldier (left) and theAfghan Border Police soldier (right), wearing the Saudi blue DBDUs, guard theDurand Line'sFriendship Gate, seven km southeast ofSpin Boldak, Afghanistan
• 
  A DBDU-wearingPakistani Ranger (Sindh) on duty

• Desert Night Camouflage
• Army Combat Uniform
• Battle Dress Uniform

• Dougherty, Martin (2017).Camouflage at War: An Illustrated Guide from 1914 to the Present Day. London, UK: Amber Books.ISBN 978-1782744986.
• Larson, Eric H. (2021).Camouflage: International Ground Force Patterns, 1946–2017. Barnsley: Pen & Sword.ISBN 9781526739537.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDesert Battle Dress Uniform.

• Army Regulation 670-1 "Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia"

• Camouflage patterns
• Military equipment introduced in the 1980s
• Desert warfare

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