Use your own body armor, lose your life insurance

Remember when the military couldn't provide up-to-date body armor for the troops, so their moms had bake sales to buy 'em some? From Soldiers for the Truth:

Two deploying soldiers and a concerned mother reported Friday afternoon that the U.S. Army appears to be singling out soldiers who have purchased Pinnacle's Dragon Skin Body Armor for special treatment. The soldiers, who are currently staging for combat operations from a secret location, reported that their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies. The soldiers were ordered to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action.

According to the article, the troops have been ordered to quit using "all" non-issue gear, but Dragon Skin is the only thing mentioned by brand name.

One of the soldiers who lost his coveted Dragon Skin is a veteran operator. He reported that his commander expressed deep regret upon issuing his orders directing him to leave his Dragon Skin body armor behind. The commander reportedly told his subordinates that he "had no choice because the orders came from very high up" and had to be enforced, the soldier said.

I guess Cheney and Rumsfeld have a lot of Point Blank stock. That's Pinnacle's competitor who manufactures the issue gear. Maybe the SEC should look into this.