Thursday, September 29, 2011

Raine Inc.'s Products – What “Made in the USA” really means

Did you know that 95% of Raine Inc.’s over 500 products can be compliant to the Berry Amendment and are truly ‘Made in the USA’? This means that all textile end products including all components have been grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States or one of its territories.


akeeris
 The Berry Amendment was originally passed by Congress in 1941 to promote the purchase of certain U.S. goods. The Amendment was included in subsequent defense appropriations act until it was made permanent in Fiscal Year 1994 by section 8005 of Public Law 103-139. It was subsequently codified as 10 U.S.C. 2533a in 2002 by section 832 of Public Law 107-107. On October 17, 2006, the President signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007.

Raine Inc. can be certified as USA made and will be very compliant to the Berry Agreement throughout the entire process depending upon what their dealers need.  Raine prides itself on quality, American made products.

Source:  “Berry Amendment FAQ,” http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/cpic/ic/berry_amendment_faq.html,  20 September 2011.

More information about:  What is the Berry Amendment?
The Berry Amendment was originally passed by Congress in 1941 to promote the purchase of certain U.S. goods. The Amendment was included in subsequent defense appropriations act until it was made permanent in Fiscal Year 1994 by section 8005 of Public Law 103-139. It was subsequently codified as 10 U.S.C. 2533a in 2002 by section 832 of Public Law 107-107. On October 17, 2006, the President signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007. Under section 842 of this Act, the restrictions relating to specialty metals were deleted from 10 U.S.C. 2533a and placed in 10 U.S.C. 2533b. These FAQs have been revised by deleting specialty metals from this discussion of the Berry Amendment. As of November 16, 2006, the law restricts any funding appropriated or otherwise available to DoD from being used to buy the following end items, components, or materials unless they are wholly of US origin: An article or item of food; clothing; tents, tarpaulins, or covers; cotton and other natural fiber products; woven silk or woven silk blends; spun silk yarn for cartridge cloth; synthetic fabric or coated synthetic fabric (including all textile fibers and yarns that are for use in such fabrics); canvas products, or wool (whether in the form of fiber or yarn or contained in fabrics, materials, or manufactured articles); or any item of individual equipment (Federal Supply Class 8465) manufactured from or containing such fibers, yarns, fabrics, or materials; and hand or measuring tools.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Video for Sand Belt

The 016BS Sand BDU Belt is a high-quality and durable belt designed for wear with the military ACU and ABU uniforms. See the video to view the Sand Belt Product manufactured by Raine Inc.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

September 27 – 29 in Quantico, Virginia: Come Visit Raine Inc.

The 2011 World’s Largest Military Exposition
focusing on enhanced capabilities for expeditionary forces
Next week I will be heading to Quantico Marine Base, Quantico, VA for the annual Modern Day Marine show.  Like the other military shows, it is dedicated to displaying the latest and greatest new tools of modern warfare for the troops in the field.  There will be armored vehicles, weapons of all sorts, lasers, optics, computers and software---- anything to help today’s warrior achieve his mission and protect him in the field as well.  We will also be there with our holsters, belts, pouches and other accessory items.
I really enjoy doing these shows.  I get energized talking to our soldiers.  They always have good input regarding what we are trying to do and many good new designs and improvements to existing products have come from these venues.  The main thing, however, is getting to meet these high quality men and women.  Many of them have already seen the unspeakable horrors of war, or will soon, and they are all upbeat and positive regarding their service to our country.  It is an honor and a privilege of the highest order to have this opportunity to interact with them.
If you are a Marine that will be at Quantico during the show days of 27-29 September, please come by and say hello to me.  I will be in booth 1528 looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible.
Thank you for your service,
Ron James
Business Manager

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

More Lessons Learned

I spent the week of September 12th at the Maneuver Warfighting Conference held in Columbus, GA, home to Ft. Benning.  The event was held in the Columbus Ironworks Center, which is an old Civil War foundry that made cannons for the Confederacy.  Although the building has been modernized, much of the original structure is still in place.  It is an interesting look back as to how things were done more than 150 years ago.
Ft. Benning is home to the Maneuver Center of Excellence which oversees much of what today’s infantry is charged with learning.  The base also serves as the home of most of the infantry training that takes place.  New recruits come in for basic training, and advanced infantry training.  Many go on to take the airborne and ranger schools.   Ft. Benning is also home to the 75th Ranger Regiment.  The infantry is the heart and soul of any military organization.  It is informally referred to as “The Queen of Battle” (think chess, not royalty).  The artillery is known as the “King of Battle”.  In chess, the queen is tasked with the protection of the king and thus has the greatest power to take on the opposing force.  In most cases, when the queen falls, the king follows shortly thereafter.  The same is true of modern warfare.  To be sure, there is air and naval power that are employed, but to be victorious, a strong infantry is required.  These are the best trained and equipped soldiers in the world.  As they put themselves in harm’s way for our benefit, they deserve nothing less.
The men and women of our infantry attended this event to see all the new weapons and tools they would have at their disposal to defend our nation at home and abroad.  Even though our stuff is pretty low-tech, they came by my booth and thanked me for Raine making products that held up under tough conditions.  Several of them told me our stuff held up better for them than some of the “brand name” items from other manufacturers.  This has always been our philosophy: “build a simple product and make it strong as a tank”.  It seems to work for us.
I am always amazed at the morale and attitude of these young professionals.  They know what they do is dangerous (many have been deployed more than once), yet they are always positive about their mission and their situation.  Most of those that stop in that are staff sergeant or higher in rank plan to make the military their career.  God bless them one and all.
Best regards,
Ron James
Business Manager

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Army Air Force Exchange – Where It All Began


Raine Inc. began supplying field binders and notebooks to individual military base stores in the South and Midwest states.  This relationship began with the Army Air Force Exchange Service (“AAFES”) over 24 years ago.   Raine also supplies various contract military stores in the malls of the Main Exchanges.

Several test orders were made for the Walking Wallet, and the Alamo Region of AAFES awarded Raine a contract for Raine’s stationary product line to all the Army and Air bases in Texas and nearby states.  After that, the stationary line expanded globally.

Then in 1992, Raine started to supply AAFES pouches, sheaths, bags, holsters and other outdoor gear. Raines’ entire product line was eventually combined under the Tactical category where it can be found today on the Tactical Planogram in every United States Army and Air base worldwide.

Friday, September 9, 2011


Retirement Ceremonies

Over the last few weeks, I’ve attended two retirement ceremonies.  In July, I rode my motorcycle down to Ft. Campbell in Tennessee for the celebration for Debbie Henson.  I just returned this week from a trip to Ft. Hood TX by way of Houston, TX to attend a party for Susan Brooks.  Both of these women were great managers with a strong passion for getting things done in the retail world.  They will be sorely missed by us here at Raine and by other vendors as well I’m sure. 

Both of these bases are too far away to travel for just a party, so I try to accomplish other tasks as well.  At Campbell, I met up with one of our advisers, Cliff Vaughan and his wife Sherry.  We jointly met with SFC Tom Kerr of the 5th Special Forces Group to discuss product ideas.  That meeting was very productive and we came away with some good ideas.  I also stopped by one of our civilian stores to meet with Albert Goulet at his store, Eagles of War.  He does great business in patches and WWll items.  He has more stuff in his warehouse than could be sold in two lifetimes.

I took some extra time on my trip to Hood and Houston to visit with my children who live in the Houston area.  My daughter lives on the Northeast side of the city and my son on the far west side.  As luck would have it, my son’s 40th birthday fell a couple of days before I needed to be at Hood.  This was the first time in many years I had been able to be with him on his special day.  We had a nice time with him, and his wife threw a surprise party for him on the Saturday afternoon that I had to take off for Hood.  He was very surprised and appreciative for all his friends that showed up to be with him.   I also visited some of our dealer friends in the Houston area.  I was especially pleased to see the new store that was opened by the Rousey’s of Top Brass Military.  I told Bill Rousey that his store was probably the nicest I was ever in.  He said they had about 11,000 sq. ft. of space and it was all laid out neat as a pin.  It’s nothing like a traditional army/navy store.  No musty canvas smell and no piles of surplus.  Just neat racks and fixtures full of new merchandise.  I had expected to see his son Lance at the store, but he has moved to San Antonio to open a new store.  I’m sure it will do as well as this one and I look forward to shipping a large order of our products there very soon.

I started this by talking about retirements.  It seems like my old friends are leaving for greener pastures. Susan put in thirty seven years and Debbie had worked with AAFES for thirty four.  I hate to see these great people move on, but we wish them well.  I know there are more to come.  Maria Bustamonte at Ft. Bliss is leaving in November.  Watching these old friends move on makes me nostalgic for the old days of doing business with AAFES.  The days before Retek and SBR and EDI ordering.  I miss calling a manager and reviewing sales and having them place an order over the phone.  The difference between those times and current practices reminds me of the old Steely Dan song “Hey Nineteen”.  In that song an older guy is talking to a young girl about old times and realizes she isn’t getting it, they sing “she thinks I’m crazy but I’m just growing old”.  I can identify with that; my time is coming.  I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I just hope it’s not a train.

Best regards,

Ron

Thank You to those who serve in the U.S.!

Thank You to all the men and women in Service to the United States in keeping us safe!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Maneuver Warfighting Conference

Maneuver Warfighting Conference



Starting September 13th and ending September 15th, Raine will be exhibiting at the Manuever Warfighting Conference to be held close to Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA.  From our perspective, this is probably the most important show directly addressing the infantry marketplace.  It will be our second time to attend this show.  Last year, we had a very successful event.  We met several people directly involved with purchasing our types of product.  Just as important, we had the opportunity to meet with soldiers involved directly in infantry pursuits.  The value of the information we get from these soldiers is enormous.

If your circumstances find you with the opportunity to come to the show, please stop by and see us in booth 404.



Best regards,

Thursday, September 1, 2011

What is Labor Day?


Chuck Felix

It falls on the first Monday in September—this year September 5th.  It’s a chance to celebrate the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of America.  Thank you to all of our Armed Forces!

Founder of Labor Day    
Over 100 years after the first Labor Day celebration, there is still speculation as to who first started the holiday for workers.

Some research shows that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”

However, Peter McGuire’s spot in Labor Day history has been questioned.  Many think that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, founded the holiday.  Recent research supports Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., who proposed Labor Day in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. The Union adopted the Labor Day suggestion and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.