Styling & Performance - June 2008 - (Page 21)

“ It’s very gratifying to get the feedback from soldiers that we helped save their lives.” —Robbie Pierce, CEO, MasterCraft END-USER REVIEW U.S. Navy SEAL, Senior Chief Petty Ofﬁcer A.W. is the Director of Naval Special Warfare’s Tactical Ground Mobility Division. Within his training program, SCPO A.W. has ﬁrst-hand experience with many products and equipment supplied by manufacturers in the off-road industry. Here, he describes why off-road products are important and how they’re used. B Michael DeHaas of KC HiLiTES is proud that three of four of his lights survived an attack on a Humvee (above). He’s even prouder that the soldiers weren’t hurt. Vince DeJong says the small runs of heat sinks he has sold to the military “keep the machines at work running,” but adds, “it has lead to other military business opportunities.” DeJong was mum on the details but said he did get a quote to build “fastattack vehicles” for overseas deployment. HPC’s Burton says the length of a military project is a plus. “The pricing is subject to what you have to offer that is signiﬁcantly different from anyone else in the market,” he says. Speaking of pricing, everyone knows offroad suppliers can charge the government a mint for their products. If an ashtray sells for $100, what about a seat? “There’s a reason you need to charge more,” Pierce says. “It costs us a lot more because of all the extra research, testing and paperwork. They can’t just go to Joe’s Off-Road Shop to buy the products they need. It costs me 25 percent more to make seats for the military.” rieﬂy explain exactly what your training program does, what it serves and the types of (civilian) products/services you use. Our training program develops on- and off-road driver skills for use by Navy SEALS in all types of environments, such as desert, mud and woodland. The commercial items that we purchase, many directly off the shelf, range from off-road lights to recovery gear and helmets. What types of off-road-speciﬁc products do you buy for your training? How do you use them in your program? Our purchases range from helmets, navigation systems, lights, tires and suspension. Much of the equipment is used in the same manner as professional off-road racers or recreational four-wheeler enthusiasts. Sometimes we modify equipment to ﬁt our trucks, gear or ﬁll a speciﬁc need. Why are civilian products helpful to the military and your training program? We’re leveraging the considerable investment by the private sector in this area. It’s a better use of the taxpayer dollar to utilize tested-andproven equipment rather than create something from scratch at a great cost that doesn’t necessarily have all the years and lessons learned from the private sector. We are using the products almost daily in preparing our forces for combat and other activities. It is a growing area within the Special Warfare community. Ultimately, we want equipment that can meet our needs while also being cost efﬁcient to the taxpayer. Are off-road companies easy to deal with? We have great relationships with several companies who understand we will take their equipment to the limits of its operational parameters. Many are intrigued to see how they hold up and welcome our feedback. Can you give any tips to off-road companies who might want to sell their products for the military? Make your product rugged. If you think that a Class 1 truck or even a Class 11 car is hard on equipment, you’ll be surprised at the wear and stress our people have to put on that equipment to get the job done. We look for a product that is high in quality, durable and reasonable in cost. It’s important to remember that we perform most of our duties in the dark, and accomplish many tasks in the vehicles by feel or with assistance of night-vision devices. Things that come in a heavyduty bag that is easy to close and store is one example. Not everything that we purchase is camouﬂage either; we look for items that are subdued (tans, blacks, drabs) in color. BATTLE OF THE BULGING PAPERWORK Pierce says the numbers are good working with the military – he is looking to supply seats and restraints for 5,000 armored June/July 2008 I stylingperformance.com 21 http://stylingperformance.com

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Styling & Performance - June 2008 Contents Soapbox Buzz Making Money with 1967-72 Chevrolet/GMC Trucks, Part II Red, White, Blue... & Green Limiting Installation Liability The House That Jack Built MAP vs. MVP Pricing Supply Line Distributor Directory

Styling & Performance - June 2008

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