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There is no doubt that the army/navy industry is now a full-fledged participant in the global marketplace. There is now a preponderance of merchandise now being manufactured overseas (notably China) that formerly required a Made in USA label to satisfy the army/navy store customer.

Exports, too, have risen as American military style goods have once again found fashionable favor in Japan, Korea and in Europe.

In recent years, the waning availability of suitable quantities of genuine, first quality, saleable U.S. government military surplus apparel and hard goods have forced army/navy retailers to fill in their inventories with private label, U.S. government spec goods made by industry suppliers and marketed as neo-military surplus. In this case, neo can also mean near, since the quality of the "replithentic" apparel usually meets, and sometimes even exceeds the high standards set for the real thing from Uncle Sam.

In order to offer an equivalent price and margin value to the retailer, though, many of these suppliers have had to go to manufacturers beyond these shores to obtain merchandise that is competitive on price with both genuine surplus and with mass market copies.

The other alternative is to seek out genuine government military surplus from other people's governments - notably western and eastern European nations, Russia, Israel and other nations that have cachet as a source of accessible military apparel and equipment.

The appeal of foreign military surplus to American army/navy stores and their customers is many faceted, not just restricted to being a stand-in for American military surplus.

In many cases, military goods made by other nations offer a degree of functionality or fashion appeal that cannot be found in the U.S. inventory. These goods are sought out for their superiority or suitability to task that an equivalent American-made item does not offer.

On the fashion side, many foreign surplus items offer colors, camo patterns (such as German Flectar and materials (such as moleskin) that the casual wearer cannot find in the American military catalog.

As they say, it's a look.

Only game in town?

In recent years, items such as camouflage netting were in great demand but in short supply as U.S. surplus items. Swiss and other European-sourced camo netting more than adequately filled the void.

European cold & extreme weather outerwear, overalls, tanker jackets, rucksacks, map bags, backpacks, blankets, and field gear and Israeli gas masks serve as examples of products that offer a point of difference against their American counterparts, and as such sell particularly well in army/navy stores.

Gifty and nifty

Beyond the functional, there is a growing demand for foreign surplus apparel and hard goods that appeal to historians, re-enactors, military collectible enthusiasts and to museums and gift shops.