U.S. troops buy own gear for safety, style

[flashl]

Source: Yahoo

FORT BENNING, Ga. - Commando Military Supply on Victory Drive here is about as different from a musty Army surplus store as you can imagine.

...

The traditional Army credo is that it's guts that win the glory — not fancy long-johns or Oakley sunglasses. But that old-school thinking is wicking away like perspiration through Gore-Tex as US soldiers today go beyond military-issue battle dress uniforms in favor of top-of-the-line gear to help them get home in one piece — and look sharp, too.

One reason, critics say, is that military procurement, especially of life-saving equipment, is still too slow. Quietly, however, the Pentagon — with the Army leading the charge — has begun bypassing rigid procurement rules, loosening uniformity requirements, and even spearheading technical innovations in gear, ranging from flame-retardant shirts to low-infrared signature zippers.

"The idea now is, 'If it helps Joe do the mission, let him have it — as long as it's not hot pink,' " says Army veteran Logan Coffey, founder of Tactical Tailor, a custom-maker of packs and pouches in Lakewood, Wash. "It's a giant change" in the military mind-set, he says in a phone interview.

Yahoo

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20080306/ts_csm/abattleshop

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Throughout most of this 'war' the extra purchases were for safety i.e. vests.

[RamboLiberal]

1. There's a number of industries that have sprung up to supply

military, the Blackwater types, SWAT, SWAT-wannabes, police, etc. And they are doing very well with new products coming out quite rapidly.

[maddezmom]

2. locking

not Latest Breaking News, article date 3/6