Keeping the Navy's Peacoat Is Not a Matter of National Security

Last August the Navy announced that it's phasing out the classic, navy blue peacoat, a button-up woolen garment that has changed little for centuries, and will switch to a synthetic parka, color black, made in Puerto Rico. The move makes sense. The new parka is light, modern, protects against the elements, and will be cheaper to make once volume production begins, Lieutenant Jessica Anderson, a spokesperson for the chief of naval personnel, told the Providence Journal this year.

Somebody in Congress isn't happy, though. The House Armed Services Committee's Readiness Subcommittee wants the Navy to explain itself and issued a formal question. "The committee is concerned this decision was made without considering upgrades or alternatives to the traditional peacoat or the impact to the nation's domestic textile industrial base," says proposed language, which the readiness subcommittee approved on June 22 and sent to the entire committee.