New Logo Identifies Army Equipment

[unhappycamper]

New Logo Identifies Army Equipment
December 30, 2008
Army News Service|by Kathi Ghannam

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - Program Executive Office Soldier has developed a “certification process” to help Soldiers identify off-the-shelf clothing and equipment that meet the Army’s highest standards for safety, performance and durability.

PEO-Soldier, the agency responsible for developing, acquiring and fielding Army equipment, recognizes there is no one-solution fit that is universal to all Soldiers, so many look to the commercial market to augment Army-issued gear.

However, not all off-the-shelf equipment and clothing labeled “mil-spec” has been actually certified for military use. Under the PEO-Soldier Certification Program, Approved Product Lists, or APLs, have been developed and are being adapted to incorporate various types of equipment as requirements are identified.

Items presently on the APLs include eyewear, combat gloves and the family of flashlights.

“The Army will always prioritize the internal design, creation, testing and fielding of the best Army issue equipment available,” said Lt. Col. Michael Sloane, PEO-Soldier product manager for clothing and individual equipment. However, Sloane acknowledged there are suitable and reasonable alternatives outside the Army.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/army-news/new-logo-identifies-army-equipment.html?col=1186032369115

[tomreedtoon]

1. Did this all come about because of armored vests?

Because civilian families had to buy decent flak jackets and bulletproof vests for their family's soldiers, because the Pentagon wouldn't buy them? So the families will now know what armor will (hopefully) be permitted on their family members?

And coincidentally, does that mean that some soldiers get mil-spec equipment and all the rest of them get Chinese-made stuff from Wal-Mart?

A teener would call this Epic Fail.

[derby378]

2. Are you rerferring to DragonSkin body armor?

It's not just that the Pentagon won't buy it - they've actually issued orders that any soldier caught wearing DragonSkin armor in Iraq or Afghanistan is subject to military discipline, including court-martial. The reason? DragonSkin is manufactured by a company that generally supports Democratic legislators. Armor suppliers for the military under Bush? Republicans. And their armor is generally considered inferior to DragonSkin.