Remember the body armor controversy of a few years ago? We had heard troops were spending their own money on vests and/or their families were shipping over kevlar vests for the guys. I don’t know how much of that was true or not. I do know not one US troop, regardless of the branch of service, should never, ever be put in harm’s way unless he/she has the best equipment possible to insure mission survival.
All I know is the best troops in the world deserve the best equipment in the world.
Ah, don’t believe everything you hear. We all had IBA issued. When the SF guys showed up with their new high speed IBA many of us got jealous and spent our own money to look high speed too. The craze caught on with some guys excusing their spending by saying they “had to”. Then the chain of command tried to prevent the use of personal equipment and the “had to” crowd got media attention in order to keep using the own high speed gear. Funny ol’world. Ain’t it?
Thanks for the input, Damon! Great answer from someone who was there, it’s appreciated … your service and comments.