The Alpha Story: 50 Years of an American Military Clothing Company

The Alpha Story traces the 50 year history of Alpha Industries, the authentic manufacturer of many famous American flight jackets, field coats and other military clothing. The book is heavily illustrated with more than 200 photographs of the military clothing Alpha made for the U.S. Defense Department during the past 50 years. Many of these garments have become valuable collector's items and vintage Americana. The Alpha story opens a window into the relatively unknown world of military contracting. It explains how the United States Defense Department designs and purchases military clothing and illustrated with numerous photographs the extreme variety of military clothing, purchased by the Defense Department in an era of almost inlimited defense budgets. It reveals the surprising facts that the world's most powerful military organization relied small family-owned companies to supply it with clothing.