Thoughts About the Military

Issue #3 (Published March 1996)

I am enjoying reading these old newsletters that I have not seen for years.

Wiggy's 3rd Newsletter - Click to enlarge

They bring to my attention where I received some of the information that I put in the articles.

The Military

I have not heard one word for the IG at Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, Virginia. I do not expect to hear from the IG either. In a conversation with him he told me shortly he will have 17 years as a civilian working for the military (USMC as IG) and will be retiring after having given 23 years of active duty to the USMC. As he spoke, he made it sound like he did not care for his choices of occupation, pity. He actually said he had “given” the government 40 years of his life. So, after 40 years of being paid to do what he wanted to do and getting paid and will now get not one but two retirement checks from us. As for me he will most likely leave the case open for the next IG to handle. It really no longer matters since the Muk Luks were made and sent to the field; end of story!

As for the Navy or better yet DLA Troop Support in Philadelphia, PA and their solicitation for Wiggy’s MITTEN, STEAM SUIT they gave the contract to a company wolfpack supply for an unknown or tested product that supposedly has the same performance characteristics because the product was cheap. When Navy personnel on board submarines discover they do not perform as the Wiggy product does they will not go back to the civilian who placed the order, Richard Balezzi at DLA Troop Support and tell him. Pitiful situation.

Historically I was introduced to Natick US Army Testing Laboratories in 1968 when the continuous filament fiber was first brought to market. It was because of the Army that the continuous filament (CF) product exists today. They used it for field jacket liners and sleeping bags until 1980. They went with the CF because they could not be cheated when the ordered it versus ordering a chopped staple fiberfill product. So, what they change to a “CHOPPED STAPLE FIBERFILL PRODUCT”. They used the chopped staple product until 1996 when they went back to the CF product. Why the change, because they were interested in the Wiggy sleeping bags, not that they ever bought them for the big army. However, since I was selling many to the small units and all of the companies that sold “no sleep sleeping bags” moved production offshore used CF any longer.

From 1997 until about 5 years ago all of the orders for sleeping bags specified CF. In the past 5 years orders for the big army have not occurred.

Many of the small orders for the units receive “no sleep sleeping bags” that are made with chopped staple fiberfill products that have a life expectancy of one month of constant use. Why has this happened?

The answer is simple, those in charge like the people at the marine corps and dla troop support have zero knowledge of what they are doing. They may have ideas of what will work as the marine corps guy did or they have no idea or care as the dla guy does. This is rampant though out the system when it comes to textile products. It is as I say not new, as far as I am concerned with my experience since 1968 these hires have no knowledge nor are, they interested in acquiring any.

If some may recall the Natick crowd put out a sources sort notice that was supposed to become a solicitation for a multiuse hand wear product. good for plus 35 degrees all the way to a staggering minus 60 degrees. it had to be waterproof and fire resistant. If you were to speak to them about this project, they would tell you someone out there in the glove/mitten industry could make them. Of course, any one or two who said it was possible is equally devoid of knowledge as the Natick crowd is.

The problem is knowledge and when you do not have any you have to fake it. In the course of faking it there is quite a lot of money our tax dollars wasted. There is a company that received one or two million to devise a method of making it possible to use aerogel as a form of insulation. The fact that someone told a government employee who probably couldn’t spell aerogel or the company that uses it oros is meaningless, that person wanted to move up the ladder in the government so an award was made even though ultimately it will be a waste of money. But that is how things work when you work for or with the government.

I get calls all of the time wanting to know prices and delivery times and I tell them the “truth” and they have a problem with knowing the truth about pricing and availability. When they call me back and ask if I can do better, I tell them if I could do better, I would have told them the “better” in the first place. In the meantime, they called someone else who said they had a better price and a faster delivery, so I say why have you bothered to call me back again? They always have a lame excuse. The reality is that I walk from many of these potential orders. As time goes by, I become less of a factor for the military. And I do not care.

They do not understand that the Wiggy’s products are second to nothing else on the planet a position I proudly claim. As I told one general in the pentagon during the Reagan presidency; “when you have exhausted all options, I will still be around making the best sleeping bags in the world”, that statement still stands today.