FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
In response to persistent supply chain challenges, the Defense Logistics Agency is advancing new strategies to enhance the effectiveness and resilience of military uniform procurement.
The Campaign of Learning white paper, “Uniform Design Standardization,” authored by Andrew Strohmetz of DLA Troop Support, examines how streamlining uniform designs across all military services can reinforce the U.S. defense supply chain. A DLA common access card is required to read the full paper.
The U.S. military relies on a domestic textile base that has declined sharply over the past several decades. Strohmetz explains that the United States textile industry sustaining this supply chain has experienced a dramatic decline since the 1980s with an 81% drop in sector employment from 1979–2019. Traditional approaches in sourcing and production are struggling to keep pace with current and potential future demands, especially in large-scale operations.
He writes that this trend directly undermines DLA’s supply chain security, making the consistent supply of critical items more difficult.
To address these challenges, Strohmetz suggests uniform standardization. This would reduce production complexity, allowing manufacturers to respond faster and more efficiently in a crisis.
“Standardizing components and designs of uniforms would stabilize demand fluctuations throughout the entire supply chain and reduce the frequency of production line modifications required to meet different requirements from different services,” he writes.
A recent wargame revealed that, without standardization, the uniform supply chain could take up to 1.5 years to ramp up production to meet increased demand in a major contingency. In response, DLA collaborated with industry partners to develop a new hybrid combat uniform prototype.
“The first iteration of the HCU has a production time of nearly half the average utility uniform coat and trouser,” Strohmetz writes, noting that it helps to reduce industry ramp-up time to about three months during a major surge — far faster than the 1.5 years seen in current models.
This approach could cut production times nearly in half and shrink industry ramp-up time to just three months.
“Working to standardize uniform designs must remain a top priority to maximize warfighter readiness with industry’s current capabilities,” Strohmetz writes. “Continued collaboration … represents a clear and necessary step toward a more secure and resilient future for the warfighter.”