It's not normal in the USA (another Britishism apparently?).

In the USA a date is spoken as "July 2nd, 2013" instead of "2 July 2013", which is why the shorthand date is MM/dd/YYYY (as it lines up with the way it is spoken).

A lot of US-govt types use DMY syntax. A stint in the Armed Farces will teach you how.

Yes, we use dates such as 3 Jul 13 in the Armed Forces, but never 3/7/13.