It should be interesting to see what ROK Drop readers think of this:

From Cantigny, France, and the Argonne Forest to North Africa, Normandy, Vietnam’s Iron Triangle and Iraq —and now hauteconcept.com?

Foreign battles aren’t new for the 1st Infantry Division, but this firefight is from another world, a clash between the New Army and Old over plans to commercialize the 1st Division’s historic “Big Red One” insignia in a sportswear line at Sears.

After days of questioning, the Army confirmed Monday the arrangement was first reached in June 2007 on the advice of an outside licensing agency, The Beanstalk Group in New York, but the full scope of the royalties to be earned has yet to be disclosed. [Politico.com]

First thought that came to mind to me when I read this was why would Sears want to sell Army gear? Well here is why:

“The U.S. Army launches an all-out fashion offensive,” reads the headline on stylelist.com. A Sears corporate press release quotes an unnamed Army spokesman extolling the new line for melding the “Army’s timeless traditions with iconic styling.” And following the Republican convention, the fashion blog Haute Concept added this note: “Now gun-toting soccer moms like Sarah Palin [can] get all their fight gear with one stop!”

This deal is beneficial for the Army as well because it believes that this deal will help promote the Army’s recruiting efforts with people wearing the Army logos on their clothing. However there are plenty of critics of this deal and this is the line of reasoning many of them are using to condemn this deal:

“That patch is to be worn by only people who served in the 1st Division,” said Horner. “What right does the Army have to sell our patch?”

This line from Argghhh! pretty much sums up what many veterans think of this deal:

Swell. Forty years ago, we were scumbag baby-burners.

Today, we’re a farking fashion statement.

I am sooooooo glad I got out when I did…

This is the way I look at it; you can already go online and buy an unsanctioned 1st Division shirt without having to go to Sears. So this deal is not that outrageous. Plus after 9/11 there was many people wearing NYFD and NYPD hats as a sign of solidarity with the New York Police and Fire Departments. What is so wrong about people wearing a 1st Division shirt to show their solidarity with the men and women of the US military?