Clinton Cutbacks.
Can't keep up with demand.
When I went to Basic and AIT in 96, we didn't "need" 20 companies providing boots to the military, so they were cut.
Now we need production ramped up to keep up with the demand, and it just isn't there.
But the civilian market for the mil-spec gear CAN keep up, so sometimes it's better and cheaper to hunt down a civilian market catalogue and do some shopping.
My old unit got told several times that they "just couldn't get that boot size" when some of our troops needed to DX (direct exchange/turn in and replace) boots.
Even with the increase in funding for our military that Dubya did, it'll take some time to build supply back up to being adequate.
Well, lord love a duck...but they can readily supply black berets made in China to our soldiers.
So, these personal purchases must still be up to military specs?
And what is this about flak jackets? Is it a military issue item?