On 14 June 2004 -- the 229th birthday of the United States Army -- the Army today officially unveiled its new combat uniform designed with major input by the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Corps and enlisted Soldiers, and tested by Stryker Brigade Soldiers in Iraq since October 2003. Army senior leadership introduced the Army Combat Uniform (ACU) during a 10 a.m. Army Birthday Pentagon courtyard cake-cutting ceremony. Soldiers displayed and also suited-up in the wrinkle-free uniform with a digitized camouflage pattern.
Three different versions of the ACU have been developed, and more than 10,000 uniforms have been produced and battle-tested in the sands of Iraq and at Army training centers. Even more are on American production lines to be issued by April 2005 to Soldiers in deploying units. Current fielding plans call for fielding to the total Army by December 2007.

In addition to the overall pattern and color changes, the ACU changes include:

1. Mandarin collar that can be worn up or down
2. Rank insignia affixed above right chest pocket
3. Velcro for wearing unit patch, skill tabs and recognition devices
4. Zippered front closure
5. Elbow pouch for internal elbow pad inserts
6. Knee pouch for internal knee pad inserts
7. Elastic leg cuff
8. Tilted chest pockets with Velcro closure
9. Three-slot pen pocket on bottom of sleeve
10. Velcro sleeve cuff closure
11. Shoulder pockets with Velcro
12. Forward tilted cargo pockets
13. Integrated blouse bellows for increased upper body mobility
14. Integrated Friend or Foe Identification Square on both left and right shoulder pocket flap
15. Bellowed calf storage pocket on left and right leg
16. Moisture-wicking desert tan t-shirt
17. Patrol Cap with double thick bill and internal pocket
18. Improved hot-weather desert boot or temperate-weather desert boot.

The life of the ACU began in January 2003. The team looked at a number of uniforms and took the best part of each uniform and combined it into one. They built their first prototype and delivered 25 uniforms to Stryker squads at the National Training Center. After listening to their comments, the team went back to the lab and created prototype two. Twenty-one uniforms were then delivered to Stryker Soldiers at the Joint Training and Readiness Center, Fort Polk, La. Two issues of the third version were given to the Stryker Soldiers deploying to Iraq. Three months ago, Myhre was among a team who visited Iraq to get more feedback from Soldiers