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Officials to decide regs for running suits

The new running suit is on its way, but it’s still up in the air whether Marines will be allowed to wear it on leave and liberty, according to the commandant’s spokesman.

“In reality, what is being considered is whether to authorize Marines to wear the jacket portion of the new [physical training] uniform as they would wear a windbreaker. But the regulations for wear have not been finalized,” said Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson, spokesman for Commandant Gen. James Conway.

Johnson was responding to a story that appeared in Sept. 24 edition of Marine Corps Times, in which Mary Boyt, project manager for the Marine Corps Uniform Board, was quoted as telling senior enlisted leaders that Marines will be allowed to wear the running suit on liberty. Johnson said the issue was “pre-decisional.”

After months of testing and evaluation, the Defense Department announced Sept. 24 that InSport, a subsidiary of Vital Performance in Huntington Station, N.Y., was awarded a $14 million contract to manufacture the running suit. The firm was chosen from among 50 companies involved in the selection process.

InSport also holds the $2 million contract based on a congressional earmark to supply 200,000 “base layer T-shirts” with anti-microbial and moisture-removing properties to Marines operating in cold weather environments, according to a press release on the company’s Web site.

Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., also mandated anti-microbial and sweat-wicking properties for the running suit in the requirements submitted to industry at the start of the solicitation process.

SysCom officials based the suit’s requirements on two Corps-wide surveys conducted earlier this year. The jacket and pant combo will be added to the green shirt and shorts already issued.

Those surveys showed that Marines wanted the running suit to be black on green with the Corps’ emblem on the front and the word “Marines” written on the back.

Though a contract has already been awarded, it is unclear whether the design is set in stone.

“We are still working on some details and are not ready to make an announcement yet,” InSport spokesman Peter Soorenko wrote in an e-mail response to questions.

SysCom is also reserving comment on the contract award and the running suit’s final design.

“We’re going to wait until the commandant makes his intent clear before we elaborate on the specifics,” said SysCom spokeswoman 1st Lt. Geraldine Carey.

The commandant’s stated intent so far has been that he wants Marines to look more “squared away” in their physical training gear, which, if everything goes according to plan, could have a positive impact on recruiting when seen by civilians.

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The new PT running suit