Many airmen are resorting to “authorized online sources” to purchase the Air Force’s new Airman Battle Uniform, reports Holly Birchfield. The service doesn’t expect all airmen to have or wear the new ABU before November 2011, but some are anxious to get them, in some cases because their current Battle Dress Uniforms are wearing out. The new ABU is wash and wear, making it a hot item around the force. Maj. Brian Schooley, program manager for Air Force Military Clothing at the Army-Air Force Exchange Service, told SSgt. Monique Randolph earlier this summer when USAF issued a precautionary note to warn airmen against buying from unauthorized sources that those sources may offer ABUs without the an “inherent non-infrared quality that makes them undetectable by night-vision equipment.”
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.