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August 20, 2008 4:31:12 PM CDT

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More US Troops Outfitting Themselves for Combat

Posted Mar 6, 08 1:39 PM CST in US 

(Newser) – US troops are increasingly augmenting their military-issue gear with higher-end commercial products to gain an extra edge—and look sharp, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The military has encouraged the trend, perhaps in response to the equipment shortages that have dogged the Iraq and Afghanistan war efforts, loosening procurement rules that previously stopped troops from providing their own equipment.

"The idea now is, 'If it helps Joe do the mission, let him have it—as long as it's not hot pink,'” one manufacturer said. Critics charge that the trend is the result of government abandoning front-line troops, but much of the extra gear is purchased with units’ discretionary funds or by supply initiatives outside the traditional chain.

Source Christian Science Monitor

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Mike Noell, a former Navy SEAL, and the CEO of BlackHawk, a company that produces gear for the Military and Law enforcement officers, demonstrates the use of the built-in tourniquets, on Dec 20, 2007,...   (Associated Press)
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, center, is shown communication gear by a group of Afghanistan National Army personnel, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007, at the Kabul Military Training Center in Kabul, Afghanistan....   (Associated Press)
US soldiers from the 1-15 Infantry of 3rd Infantry Division, scan an area after finding a road-side IED (Improvised Explosion Device) in Al-Jara, on the outskirts of south Baghdad, 27 January 2008. Soldiers...   (Getty Images)
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Iraq  • Iraq war  • Afghanistan  • Iraq war spending  • privatization  • House Armed Services Committee  • supply chain  • military equipment


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