Last week’s Warrior Expo – West in San Diego was excellent. Naturally, I had a good time. The weather and food are both fantastic in San Diego, but the venue was the best. I had an opportunity to speak with vendors about new products, catch up with old friends, and make new ones.
ADS sponsors mini-shows almost weekly, bringing a tailored vendor list directly to bases preparing to deploy. That’s right, they bring it directly to you. On the other hand, the larger East and West coast Warrior Expos provide one stop access to a larger field of vendors as well as seminars by experts on capabilities such as Fire Resistance, Tentage and Shelters, and Escalation of Force. One of the things that really strikes me about both of these programs is that the vendors all have a proven track record and the gear on display is the best these companies have to offer. Almost all of it has already seen hard use by units engaged in the war, anything that hasn’t has been vetted and is in use with early adopters. It isn’t like heading to some of the major shows and wading through lots of “good ideas’ or outright junk on display to catch someone’s eye. Additionally, most of the equipment at the ADS shows is American made. And, unlike regular trade shows, ADS has a number of procurement options available to the organization that has a requirement to fulfill.
I have already started to share some of the products I ran across at Warrior-West but keep checking back for even more in the coming weeks. If you missed Warrior-West, you absolutely need to make it to Warrior-East!