MINOT (AP) - Sgt. Richard Blumler and Sgt. Chance Schaffner, North Dakota Army National Guard recruiters, say their new uniforms are "eye catching" and they get a lot of questions about them.

State National Guard recruiters began wearing the new digitized camouflage patterned combat uniforms, known as ACUs, this past fall. As of Jan. 1, others in the Guard were also authorized to wear them, said Guard spokesman Rob Keller.

"They were designed by soldiers and are very functional. We're kind of field testing them," Keller said.

Soldiers serving in Iraq and other countries are wearing the new uniforms, he said, and they will be issued to soldiers being mobilized.

A Minot company, Dakota Outerwear, is the only distributor in the state for the new ACUs. Army officials have said it is the first major change in Army uniforms since the early 1980s.

Blumler and Schaffner said they like the new uniforms better than the old ones. They said the new ones require less maintenance and cost for upkeep.

The new uniform doesn't have to be dry-cleaned as the old one did; soldiers can just wash it.

The new uniform also has a digitized camouflage pattern. Minot recruiters described the colors as foliage green, urban gray and desert sand.

They said the colors reflect the environments in which the Army operates, and the change will improve the ability of soldiers to handle their mission.

The ACU consists of a jacket, pants, moisture wicking T-shirt and desert boots. A black beret is the normal headgear.

The uniforms have Velcro for closures and for attaching patches and tabs that can easily be removed for laundering. Recruiters said the soldiers no longer need to have the patches sewn on, which was more costly.

Capt. Tony Mutzenberger, the officer in charge of the 164th Battalion in Minot, recently gave members of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce's Military Affairs Committee a look at his new uniform. He said it also has places for elbow and knee pads.

The uniforms have been designed to wear better with body armor. Buttons were replaced with zippers that open from top to bottom, so the garments are more comfortable.

Instead of the black combat boots, which had to be polished, the soldiers now wear camel-colored desert boots that do not need polishing.

Keller said the old uniforms will continue to be worn for two or three years. He said the new ones are being issued to soldiers as they become available, but some soldiers are buying them so they can wear them now.