After the shoulder ripped on one of Sgt. Ethan Underwood’s camouflage blouses while he was in a martial arts course in September 2022, the Marine sergeant went looking for a replacement.
He tried the Marine Corps Exchange ― the “one-stop shopping destination” for Marines ― at his base in Yuma, Arizona: No luck. He tried the My Navy Exchange website: But no luck. He tried the thrift stores near the Arizona base: No luck.
Marines’ camouflage uniforms are designed to be hard to spot by the enemy, but nowadays, they are also hard to spot for the Marines themselves.
A lack of camouflage combat utility uniforms has forced some Marines to buy uniform items on the thriving resale market or get inventive with tailoring, while recruits train in uniforms usually reserved for deployments.
An end to the lack is far away: The Marine Corps expects the combat utility uniforms will not be fully back in stock until almost a year from now.
Chuck Lambert, the CEO of American Apparel Inc., the leading manufacturer of Marine combat utility uniforms, explained to Marine Corps Times that the shortage can be attributed to a challenging labor market, worsened by unexpectedly high inflation. He expressed optimism for the future but acknowledged that the company is currently grappling with the impact of inflation, making the present times quite demanding.
