Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership – Priorities for 21st Century Defense, January 2012 doesn’t include the U.S. textile industry as critical enough to sustain. The DoD Strategy concept called “reversibility” is described as “a key part of the decision calculus.” The meaning of calculus here is explained as an “industrial strategy” that defines what industries should survive, can survive and must survive. Apparently textiles are not part of the calculus.
Continued development in the areas of personal protection for the DoD could be sacrificed if the opinion in the article “The defense industry’s new favorite buzzword” By Philip Ewing at DoDBuzz.com are right. Mr. Ewing highlights the Pentagon’s love and fascination with big ticket technology at the expense of small business. The article references the textiles industry specifically as “If the Army stops buying socks, it can probably start buying them again in big quantities without too much inconvenience.” While I am unsure of the source of this quote, I think it is reflective of beltway thinking (both government and industry) that textile based products are both low tech and easy to turn on and off – both statements are incorrect.
I guess the same logic applies to Flame Resistant (FR) uniforms, protective gloves, soft body armor, helmets and boots which fall into the textiles category would be seen as low technology and not an important enough part of the industrial base to maintain.
Find the complete article at http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/01/05/the-defense-industrys-new-favorite-buzzword/#ixzz1jEzUXSEw
Tags: Department of Defense (DoD), DoD Acquisition, Flame Resistant (FR) uniforms, Philip Ewing, reversibility
