Decision on Army's purchase
of
black berets from China is delayed By Pauline Jelinek, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON
— The Pentagon delayed announcing a decision Wednesday about whether to buy Army
berets from China as a standoff continued over a downed U.S. surveillance plane and its
crew.
Officials
canceled a news briefing that had been scheduled to release the results of a review of the
awarding of contracts for the berets.
The plane,
with 24 crew members, made an emergency landing on a Chinese island earlier this week
after a collision with a Chinese fighter jet.
Army Chief
of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki decided last year that all soldiers, except paratroopers and
Special Forces soldiers, would wear black berets, beginning June 14, the Army’s
birthday.
With that
deadline set for acquiring 2.6 million berets, the Defense Logistics Agency said it had to
use foreign manufacturers along with American suppliers. When word got out that China was
among the suppliers, it created a problem among lawmakers who want the Army to buy
American; the review began in March.
Though
production of the berets continued while the review was under way, the Army could have
stopped the purchase if the review found fault with the way the contracts were awarded,
officials said.
They said
Wednesday’s announcement was intended to state that the process was proper. But
officials did not want to announce that while China continued to hold the 24 Americans,
and before congressional hearing on the berets that was scheduled for Thursday.
Shinseki,
businessmen and others were to testify on the purchasing process before the House Small
Business Committee.
For years,
only members of elite Ranger commando units have had the right to wear black berets and
they objected that widespread use of the headgear would cheapen something they had won
through special training.
Shinseki
later accepted a Ranger offer to switch from black to tan berets, enabling Rangers to keep
an exclusive color.
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