The Crye Combat Shirt is a combat shirt of American origin.
Overview[]
Crye Precision Combat Shirt is a shirt intended to substitute the soldier's BDU blouse/field shirt. It is a product of Crye Precision (and predecessor Crye Associates)'s prior development of a new close combat uniform for the Objective Force Warrior program in the early 2000s, which also spawned many of Crye Precision's current catalogue such as their combat pants, their modular armor chassis systems, and the Airframe helmet [1].
The combat shirt is intended to provide the soldier with a lighter and more breathable garment than the standard BDU blouse while having roughly equivalent durability in the field. This is achieved by using a T-shirt like, moisture-wicking fabric around the torso area while utilizing higher durability BDU-spec fabric around the sleeves. As the sleeves are more susceptible to coming in contact with brush and debris, the torso being made of less durable material is not a significant loss due to also being worn under body armor.
As it is intended to be worn under body armor, the pockets are moved to the upper arm area on the sleeves. The pockets are also adorned with Velcro loop material to facilitate the attachment of unit patches or similar identification features.
Unlike other combat uniforms that existed at the time of its inception, the Crye combat uniforms were designed for use with proprietary joint impact protection (i.e. knee and elbow pads) that integrated directly into the uniforms, instead of being affixed externally to the wearer. The primary advantages of integral joint protection are improved mobility and wearer comfort over external joint protection, but are often susceptible to getting snagged on brush and debris and are generally less secure than external pads.
History[]
Variants[]
Gen 1[]
The first iteration of Crye's combat shirt. Made of a 50/50 nylon-cotton twill for the sleeves and 100% polyester for the main body material. The elbow pad pockets were made with Cordura for abrasion resistance. Features side-loading "flight suit"-style cargo pockets on the upper arms that are closed by zippers, complimented with a velcro loop field.
The side-loading cargo pocket with uncamouflaged velcro loop field is generally the key identifying feature of the Gen 1 combat shirt. The first generation of garments generally feature much lower quality stitching than its successors.
The Gen 1 shirt is not fire resistant and was not made in an FR-rated variant, although the original specifications for Objective Force Warrior called for flame retardant garments.
Commercially, the Gen 1 combat shirt was only produced in Multicam. Some prototypes in other colorways existed but were never mass produced. The combat shirt was produced in the All Over Brush, Track, Shadow Line, and Scorpion (early Multicam) patterns when it was trialed in the US Army's universal camouflage trials.[2]
The Gen 1 combat shirt was designed to be used with the "combat" elbow pads. When mounted to the combat shirt, the outer cap of the elbow pad remains exposed outside of the shirt. These elbow pads are not actually fully contained within the shirt; the wearer's elbow rests directly on the elbow pad, and a strap that attaches to the elbow pad goes around the wearer's arm to prevent the elbow pad and the wearer's elbow from moving out of place.
The actual elbow pad is constructed of a grey semi-rigid plastic with a foam backing, with the back wrapped in a black (nylon?) fabric. The outer cap is most likely made of some sort of rubber. Although the elbow pad is semi-rigid, it does not deform very well.
Gen 2[]
The second iteration of the combat shirt was produced in two different marks, under two different contracts for US Army Special Forces and US Navy Special Warfare units. These garments were denoted as "Army Custom" (AC) and "Navy Custom" (NC) respectively. Only the Army Custom variant was available for commercial sale and are thus the more common of the two.
The key identifying trait of the Gen 2 combat shirts is the cargo pocket, which was changed to a top-loading ACU-style pocket sealed by velcro hook and loop material, with full velcro fields on the pocket and enclosure. Other changes include a redesigned cuff adjuster and the elimination of Cordura reinforcements in favor of NYCO ripstop.
Due to significant interservice use within the US military and production in a large number of camouflage patterns as a result, the shirt's camouflage pattern may not be a 100 percent reliable identifying factor of which variation it may be. For instance, AC combat shirts were also made in the NWU patterns, therefore not every Gen 2 Crye shirt in the NWU patterns is an NC combat shirt, and vice versa. [3]
Material for the sleeves was switched to 50/50 nylon-cotton ripstop. The body material appears to have differed between the two main variants early in production, but both shirts were made with Drifire's fire resistant drirelease fabric for the majority of their production runs.[4] This, along with the no melt/no drip nature of the NYCO ripstop allows the combat shirt to offer some level of flame retardance even in its non-FR rated variant.
Army Custom[]
The Army Custom combat shirt is the most similar to the Gen 1 combat shirt, between the two designs. Like the Gen 1 shirt, the AC combat shirt uses the "combat" elbow pads with exposed impact caps, principally the revised Gen 2 combat elbow pads. The only difference over Gen 1 is the construction of the actual pad, which ditches the semi-rigid plastic for an all foam construction. When mounted in a combat shirt, it is impossible to tell the difference between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 combat elbow pads.
The ACU-style cargo pockets are secured with two squares of velcro hook & loop.
Multicam AC shirts can be easily identified as such due to the torso material being white in color, as opposed to ranger green like on the Gen 1 shirt or the G3 shirt.
Fire resistant AC combat shirts are made with Tencate's Defender-M fabric instead of NYCO ripstop, similar to the related FROG combat shirt used by the US Marine Corps [5]
[]
The Navy Custom combat shirt is similar to the Army Custom cut but features a few differences. The most major difference is the different elbow pads used, which are the "field" elbow pads used in Crye's field shirts; they are concealed within the sleeve of the shirt and lack the plastic impact cap of the "combat" elbow pads used on the Gen 1 and AC combat shirts. The Gen 2 field elbow pads are made of foam like the combat elbow pads.
The second difference is the cargo pocket, which is primarily secured with two buttons with a single square of velcro hook & loop. The reason for this is that the NC combat shirt, unlike the AC combat shirt, is intended for maritime operations where there is the expectation for the end user to get wet often. Velcro will fail to secure when immersed in water; for pockets, this will fail to secure the contents of the pockets.
Fire resistant NC combat shirts were made by Drifire with their Fortrex material (not to be confused with the Fortrex combat shirts made by Drifire, made with identical materials, which share a similar cut to the NC combat shirt) instead of NYCO ripstop.
Naturally, as a Navy contract garment, it is primarily found in the AOR1 and AOR2 (NWU Type 2 and 3) patterns, although very rarely can also be found in Multicam.
Of note is that many people within online discourse will often refer to a "Block 1" or "Block 2" variant Navy Custom uniform. The actual differences across these variants aren't made particularly clear, if they exist at all, and the usage of this terminology to describe these uniforms within SOCOM or the Department of Defense at large is highly dubious.
Other[]
Colloquially-named "UKSF Custom" variant features NC-style cargo pockets and AC-style elbow pad pockets. Most likely made for European SF contracts (likely the UK primarily based on the name)
"FBI HRT Custom" made for FBI Hostage Rescue Teams. Features AC-style cargo pockets with an additional button for security (1 button, versus 2 buttons on the NC), NC-style elbow pad pockets, and pen pockets on both sleeves. Some Multicam examples have green torso versus white on standard AC shirts.
The FROG combat shirt is based on the Navy Custom cut.
Gen 3[]
The Gen 3 (officially referred to as G3) combat shirt features relatively minor iterative changes over Gen 2. The most obviously visible being the velcro loop fields on the cargo pockets; instead of full fields, 2 vertical stripes are used instead. This was allegedly to reduce the bulk and stiffness of the velcro when used as a full 4" x 4" (?) square, although the actual severity and necessity of this change is debatable. ]
The cargo pocket itself now has two storage compartments instead of just the one with Gen 2, and features a pen holder.
Like the NC combat shirt, the G3 combat shirt acommodates the "field" elbow pads used with the Crye field shirts. The Gen 3 elbow pads, dubbed the "Airflex" elbow pads, were introduced alongside the G3 uniforms. The Airflex elbow pads are shared with both the G3 combat shirt and field shirts, thereby replacing the combat elbow pads.
The info tags from Gen 2 were replaced with a printed label on the bottom-left (bottom-right when worn) of the torso. G3 also replaces the silicone Crye Precision tag with a black and white tag sewn diagonally on bottom-right corner of the left cargo pocket.
Fabrics have not changed from the AC combat shirt, but the labels have been updated to correctly identify the torso material. Fire resistant G3 shirts made by Drifire (referred to as G3 Combat Shirt FR-S) are once again made with Drifire Fortrex material instead of NYCO ripstop.
Other[]
Navy Custom 2.0 based on the Gen 3 uniform cut.
Gen 4[]
The G4 combat shirt is the latest revision to the combat shirt. Gen 4 reintroduces the side-loading cargo pockets from the Gen 1 combat shirt, replacing the ACU-style cargo pockets introduced in Gen 2.
The most drastic change is in the fabrics. Gen 4 introduces "VTX" ripstop, replacing 50/50 NYCO ripstop from previous generations, developed by Crye Precision specifically for the Gen 4 uniforms. VTX ripstop features 2-way stretch (less relevant for shirts and upperbody wear but becomes immediately apparent when used in pants). The torso material appears to be a lighter version of the drirelease fabric used on the G3 shirt (55% modacrylic, 30% tencel, 15% nylon).
The Multicam G4 combat shirt features camouflaged velcro loop fields on the cargo pockets. The shirt is also available in "full" Multicam, similar to the Patagonia Level 9 combat shirt, which colors the torso material in Multicam instead of the usual solid color. These options appear to be exclusive to the standard Multicam coloration and none of the other environment-specific patterns like Tropic or Arid.
The Airflex Impact elbow pads were introduced alongside the G4 uniforms.
Other[]
G4 "Aviation" combat shirt featuring ACU-style cargo pockets with additional zipper access.
In popular culture[]
Media |
Notes |
Date |
---|---|---|
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter | Gen 1 combat shirt in Multicam worn by the Ghosts. | 2006 |
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 | Gen 1 combat shirt in UCP worn by the Ghosts. | 2007 |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | Gen 1 combat shirt in Multicam worn by Delta Force. | 2011 |
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 | Fictionalized Gen 1 combat shirt in Multicam worn by Navy SEALs in 2025. | 2012 |
Ghost Recon: Breakpoint | Army Custom and G4 combat shirts in Multicam available as a player customization option. | 2012 |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III | G4 combat shirt in fictional digital arid camouflage worn BBQ.[Citation needed] | 2022 |
References & Notes[]
- ↑ Purely speculation based on the profile of the Airframe compared to original/most well known Artisent OFW helmet concept
- ↑ https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cenrHlvah5-JaLTQVN8EtBRiuWYOn7eb/edit#slide=id.p27
- ↑ These shirts are usually uncommon. In any case, the cut of the uniform takes precedent over the visible camouflage pattern. If the cut cannot be clearly assessed, one may assume it is an AC combat shirt.
- ↑ The Drirelease brand appears to belong to Optimer, but Drifire was contracted to produce fabric under the same name for FROG combat shirts and Crye Precision names Drifire as a provider for this fabric so it can be reasonably assumed that it is Drifire and not Optimer.
- ↑ based on tags from FROG combat shirt and AC FR combat shirt. Note on punisher.ua source: CS4 is not indicative of a different type of shirt, CS4 is part of the part number used internally by Crye. For instance "CSE" is used for the G3 combat shirt. "CS4" is used for the AC combat shirt.