“How many American workers are unemployed because military clothing is being produced in foreign countries?” This is the question posed by Master Sgt. Steve Adachi to the Air Force Times.

Adachi also noted:

I’m troubled that the military continues to downsize because of the budget deficits — budget deficits which are in part a result of millions of unemployed American workers.

Jeff Schogol, reporting for the paper, gives context. Prior to being deployed to Afghanistan, Adachi’s unit, the 624th Regional Support Group in Hawaii, gave him a pair of green boots (part of the battle uniform). Adachi was disappointed when he learned the boots were made in China. The base’s clothing store thwarted Adachi’s solution – to exchange them for American-made boots. Store personnel told him the boots were not compliant with the Berry Amendment, and thus could not be exchanged.

On the Alliance for American Manufacturing's (AAM) blog, Manufacture This, we've previously discussed the proud military tradition of:

providing soldiers with high quality American-made uniforms. As outlined in the Berry Amendment of 1941, the 'Department of Defense [must] give preference in procurement to domestically produced, manufactured, or home grown products, most notably food, clothing, fabrics, and specialty metals.'

Adachi eventually succeeded in getting his American-made boots because the unit issued him a pair of American-made boots in a smaller size (which he then exchanged for American-made boots in his actual size).  However, he ended up with the same problem after arriving in Afghanistan.  He received a new uniform, with another pair of boots made in China. This time, the problem was harder for Adachi to rectify.

Read more here.