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Army Surplus

by | 16th, September 2004

‘TIMES are hard and no longer can the British Army depend on the taxpayer to keep them in bully beef and ammo.

Running into battle near you

These days, the Army is expected to pay its own way as armies did of old – except, instead of plundering, looting and ravaging, our boys have gone into the trainer market.

The Telegraph reports that from the weekend the PT-03 trainer will be competing with the likes of Nike, adidas and New Balance on the shelves of sports stores.

It will become the first commercial product endorsed by the service – but, if successful, you can be sure it won’t be the last.

The Guardian reports that “the Army’s contribution to the trainer canon looks decidedly out of fashion for the moment” – a long-winded way of saying the shoe sucks.

And at £79 it is not cheap – too expensive, for instance, for the Ministry Of Defence, which has not ordered the PT-03 for its own men and women.

Colonel Robin Clifford, head of the Army’s commercial branch, said: “On the face of it, you will probably think it’s not the sort of thing you would expect the Army to get involved in.

“However, it became apparent that a number of people were using and exploiting the Army image for commercial gain, such as selling regimental badges.”

So, where will the Army go from here?

Perhaps, they should look at the replica gun market. After all, if there’s one thing the Army has in abundance, it’s guns that don’t work…’



Posted: 16th, September 2004 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink