In the years following 9-11, the U.S. became engulfed in wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
“They (the U.S. military) had pretty much all the budgets that they wanted,” said Rod Reum, CEO of Vancouver’s Mission Ready Services Inc. (MRSI) (TSX-V:MRS).
“You would literally have some (body armour) vests that would come in that would have maybe a small item that would need repair and it would just be replaced. And the same thing with some of the gear (that) just seemed to be too dirty to clean.”
While the military has withdrawn from Iraq and U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan are scheduled to drop below 10,000 by the year’s end, the Americans have also clamped down on military expenses.
But these budget cuts opened the door for one of MRSI’s subsidiaries, 10-20 Services, to secure an $8.3-million deal with the U.S. Marines earlier this month.
MRSI employees — 75% of which are either retired military personnel or spouses of active military officers, according to Reum — began inspecting some of the protective equipment worn by soldiers.
The company soon realized it could restore 80-90% of the gear instead of replacing it, as was the previous practice.
Reum estimated MRSI will be able to save the U.S. Marines more than $60 million if 100,000 outer tactical vests, worth between $700 and $850 dollars each, are restored instead of replaced.
“They don’t have the money to replace gear and so now our motto is ‘Restore, don’t replace,’” he said.
The company started out last year with a contract to clean gear from the U.S. Special Operations Forces.
Since expanding into the U.S. Marines, Reum said he’s hopeful the West Coast company will soon be moving into other branches of the U.S. military.
The Canadian Forces are another matter, though.
Reum said military procurement is more decentralized in Canada and the branches are smaller, making the U.S. market more appealing.
