DPDU armoured vest : Warrant Officer Class 2 L Cunningham, 4RAR (Commando)

Armoured vest in 2003 type Disruptive Pattern Desert Uniform (DPDU) fabric as used in Iraq. The vest has a strap over each shoulder, that on the right having a brass press stud covering a Velcro quick release tab. The front section of the vest has a sewn-in nylon webbing waist belt with Fastex clips at either end, which attach to elasticised receivers on the rear section. Each section has a 30 x 25 cm central pocket, with a Velcro closure, designed to hold Kevlar panels protecting the vital organs. The Kevlar ballistic panels have been removed from the pockets and replaced with pieces of grey foam cut to size. There are narrow nylon webbing reinforcement strips sewn vertically over the shoulders, and wider strips horizontally across both central pockets, and around the hips, stitched at regular intervals to form suspension loops. The inner face of both front and rear panels has a full-width Velcro strip permitting access to the interior, and allowing further ballistic or weather protective material to be inserted. A white fabric panel sewn inside the left rear panel is printed in black with manufacturer's and care details.

Issued to 239707 WO II Laurie Cunningham, of 4 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando), for service in Kuwait and Iraq, February - May 2003. Cunningham, who had previously seen service with 6 RAR in East Timor, enlisted in the Australian Army in July 1990.