Trend has soldiers going to war in style

FORT BENNING, Ga., March 6 (UPI) -- Today's soldier might go into combat dressed for style as well as safety as U.S. rules soften to allow G.I.'s to buy their own war gear, a report says.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the market for tactical military gear has expanded from nearly nonexistent to nearly $150 million in sales a year, industry sources told the Christian Science Monitor.

Equipment includes such items as $200 flashlights, $150 Oakley protective sunglasses, $180 Thinsulate boots and $20 thermal socks.

"When you're comfortable and you know where all your gear is, it makes you a better fighter," Lt. Tucker Knie, an Army Ranger, told the Monitor.

The old way of thinking about military garb is slipping away and the Pentagon quietly has begun loosening uniformity requirements, within reason, of course.

"The idea now is," says U.S. Army vet Logan Coffey, founder of Tactical Tailor, "If it helps Joe do the mission, let him have it -- as long as it's not hot pink."

Frustrating delays in getting needed combat materials through normal military channels have hastened the trend. The Army has joined in on the outside shopping, reportedly filling an order for special mountain boots for units in Afghanistan in only a month's time.