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NORDAC MANUFACTURING CORPORATION 1977 - 1985


sgtmonroe
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NORDAC MANUFACTURING CORPORATION 1977 - 1985

 

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For those that have an interest in the history of nylon individual equipment this might be a story you have already heard. I usually try and learn a little of the history of the government contractors that have manufactured the items I research. By far one of the more interesting contractors is Nordac Manufacturing Corporation (often abbreviated Nordac Mfg Corp or simply NMC).

 

NMC was founded by Oklahoma native John Patton Straiton IV during the late 1970s in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It appears that initially NMC was established to seek and fulfill government individual equipment manufacturing contracts. Within a period of less than eight (8) years NMC would have delved into the commercial "army surplus" market, foreign military markets, as well as being referred to as an "international arms dealer" by the media.

 

NMC was assigned its Defense Logistics Agency CAGE (Commercial And Government Entity) Code of 2P067 on 07 August 1977 and was awarded its first two (2) government manufacturing contracts in July and August of 1977.

 

During FY1978, NMC received two (2) different government contracts one of which (DAAA09-78-C-5003) was for the black nylon SLING, SMALL ARMS (NSN 1005-00-167-4336).

 

By far, FY1979 was NMC's biggest year as it received six (6) different government contracts. The most noteworthy was DAAA09-79-C-5212 which was awarded 10 September 1979 for 36,008 M-1916 HOLSTER, PISTOL (1095-00-592-6491). This was the only contract issued to NMC for the M-1916 pistol holsters. What is ironic is that these holsters are often sold as Second World War and Vietnam War-era (by uneducated (or unscrupulous) dealers), which was a time period when NMC did not even exist.

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Pictured below are two (2) government contract items produced by NMC during FY1979; DLA100-79-C-3031 for the COVER, WATER CANTEEN, LC-2 (NSN 8465-00-860-2056) and DLA120-79-C-4948 for the CASE, MEDICAL INSTRUMENT AND SUPPLY SET, NO 8 (NSN 6545-00-180-6239):

 

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NMC only received one (1) government contract during FY1980. The contract, DLA120-80-C-4114, was for 18,850 CASE, MEDICAL INSTRUMENT AND SUPPLY SET, NO 8 (NSN 6545-00-180-6239) issued on 07 November 1979. This was one of the last contracts issued for the “short” version of the case for the IFAK:

 

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Almost from its beginning, NMC established itself as a "mail order" army surplus retailer. For those that collected (or actually used) military items prior to the advent of the internet will remember the days of receiving catalogues sent for from ads in the back of Guns & Ammo (NMC also heavily advertised in Shotgun News in the 1980s). NMC manufactured and distributed military equipment, primarily "soft" military equipment. "Soft" military equipment refers to boots, field packs, ponchos, sleeping bags, etc. From all the examples I have seen over the years, NMC’s commercially manufactured items were of equal (or better) quality to their government produced items. They did introduce a few "new" items to the commercial military market (that have since been copied by others only to be cheaply manufactured in China and South Korea) to fill voids; such as nylon shotgun shell pouches and "H"-pattern versions of the ALICE LC-1 suspenders.

 

“H”-pattern LC-1 individual equipment belt suspenders created by NMC; these are made from military components and are of better quality than USGI LC-1 individual equipment belt suspenders:

 

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Typical pages of the NMC catalogue; models are dressed out like “dogs of war.” The whole “soldier of fortune” infatuation was in full swing during this time period:

 

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Here is a link to a post on the forum concerning one of NMC’s commercially manufactured items:

 

Intermediate Map Case

 

According to NMC’s catalogue the Intermediate Map Case sold for $8.50 in 1981 and “folds compact to fit in cargo pocket of combat pants, cold weather coat, etc.”

 

NMC received a total of eleven (11) United States government contracts between FY1977 and FY1980. During the same time period they received numerous Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contracts to supply everything from uniforms and headgear to individual equipment to mostly South American countries. NMC used a “subsidiary” name of Defense International Supply Corporation (DISC) for its FMS contracts. Items manufactured by NMC, with the DISC name, are often encountered on the market as excess quantities were sold through their mail order catalogues.

 

In 1983 NMC, through backroom negotiations (assisted by an in-law of the El Salvadorian government’s defense treasurer), was awarded a 4.8 million dollar FMS contract to supply 18 million rounds of 5.56mm ammunition to the El Salvadorian government. The contract stipulated that the ammunition meet not only NATO standards but also be manufactured in the US. NMC imported the ammunition from Yugoslavia (as it was cheaper than manufacturing it in the US). The ammunition was alleged to have been manufactured at Unis Associated Metal Industries and headstamped AAC 83 (which stood for the fictional NMC subsidiary American Armaments Corporation). NMC repackaged the ammunition (going as far as putting it on stripper clips and in M3 bandoleers) and shipped it to El Salvador. Once in use it was believed that the ammunition was faulty (some US supplied M16A1 rifles jammed while using the ammunition) which prompted a federal investigation. According to Straiton the ammunition was touted as being comparable to Winchester manufactured ammunition (allegedly 2 million rounds were obtained from Winchester while filling the contract - but this is unverified). According to some sources only 1 million rounds reached the Salvadorians before the investigation began.

 

While under federal investigation NMC closed its doors in the summer of 1985. NMC's remaining inventory and manufacturing equipment was auctioned off by the “Small Business Administration later that year, raising $130,000 toward $280,000 in company debt.” Doug McDougal purchased the inventory and equipment. He, in turn, using NMC's inventory began his own business...London Bridge Trading. For the most part he sold off the remaining NMC manufactured items (after letting Craig and others pick through the "prime" stuff), relabeled some NMC items with LBT tags, and copied some of NMC's unique designs and continued to manufacture them (much like American Body Armor did with Elevated Urban Operations).

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Pictured below are NMC's "rampant lion" logo (from a shipping label owned by Craig as well as from the inside of their mail order catalogue) compared to McDougal's London Bridge Trading logo (I’ll let others make their own judgment)...

 

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Pictured below is one of NMC's series of "Defense Support Vest" (they were made for 9mm SMG, 7.62mm, and 5.56mm cartridge magazines). This specific vest (owned by Craig) for 5.56mm cartridge magazines was manufactured under a FMS contract for Nicaragua. Also pictured is the vest from NMC’s catalogue. Below the NMC vest is the LBT produced version which was given LBT's proprietary stock number of LBT 1196. Some of the early LBT vests were actually NMC manufactured (from left over stock) and simply relabeled with LBT's tags. The vests, as one can tell, were based on the Natick Laboratories trial "rifleman vest" and the USGI "grenadier" vest:

 

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In May of 1986 Straiton was indicted (for falsifying the source of the Yugoslav ammunition) and in July of 1986 plead guilty to the charges and was sentenced to two years in federal prison.

 

Some archived news articles about the “ammunition controversy”:

 

22 May 1986: Grand Jury Charges Conspiracy to Defraud U.S. In Ammunition Sale

 

23 May 1986: 3 Charged With Fraud In Ammunition Sale

 

23 May 1986: City Man Indicted In Arms Fraud

 

20 September 1986: Two Sentenced for Selling Defective Ammunition to El Salvador

 

Probably the greatest unintentional scam Straiton pulled off was one he did not even know he was perpetrating, nor did he get a dime from it. NMC produced "copies" of USGI items to sell to the civilian market. Straiton liked the items "marked up" to appear more like USGI. Of course, the US government does not allow manufacturers to use real contract numbers on items for civilian consumption. So, NMC produced a canvas shotgun shell pouch (NMC’s stock number 3384) marked with a fictitious contract number and with a contract date ten years old = DSA 100-69-C-1766. So if you did not follow - the FY1969 contract dated canvas shotgun shell pouches are not authentic USGI. They were made for the civilian market. NMC did not exist in 1969 and the contract number of “1766” is "made up" and was not used for individual equipment. The item was advertised in NMC's catalogue for $6.00 but they now fetch upwards of $50.00 as collectors seem to think they are actual Vietnam War-era. Straiton would have probably been proud.

 

The FY1969 shotgun shell pouch (from Craig’s collection):

 

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But, the story does not end here. Straiton later established L.B. Technologies under the name “John Clarke.” He again sought out government contracts using the fictitious name (he claimed to be a former member of the “spec ops” community). By 2009 he had received sixteen (16) government individual equipment contracts for manufacturing MOLLE and AITES equipment. A routine building inspection of his manufacturing warehouse ended up leading to Straiton’s second downfall.

 

The building inspector cited Straiton for various code violations and also contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) due to the Straiton’s apparent use of undocumented workers. This, in turn, led the feds to discover that “John Clarke” was actually Straiton. He was later indicted in 2009 for “presenting false claims to the Defense Finance Accounting Service (DFAS) and theft of government property.”

 

Straiton plead guilty to the charges but, before sentencing could be imposed, Straiton died of a heart attack in September of 2010.

 

Throughout the almost “hollywoodish” history of Straiton, Nordac, and L.B. Technologies one thing seems to remain constant. Every item made by Straiton’s company appears to have been made with the end-user in mind. No corners were cut and the items were of the highest quality available at the time. Something can be said of Straiton’s dedication to quality in this current age of “made in Vietnam” tactical gear!

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I hope collectors will find some of this information of help. If you guys have any items manufactured by NMC or DISC please feel free to post them to this thread as both Craig and I would probably love to see them!

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Well presented sgtmonroe. You did a great job on this.

 

Thanks Craig!

 

Here are some more NMC items I figured I would throw in:

 

Below is one of NMC's American Armaments Corporation "AAC 83" headstamped Yugoslavian 5.56mm cartridges (from Cartrology.com):

 

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Below is the cardboard insert that was included in a 5.56mm "repack kit" that allegedly came from NMC (their catalogue number for their "repack kits" was #3779):

 

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Sgt. Monroe:

 

Nice work on illuminating the murky history behind Nordac/NMC.

 

We have discussed the Nordac made Jet Pilot Knives at this link: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/134069-the-jet-pilots-survival-knife/page-3?hl=nordac&do=findComment&comment=1012327 See post number 49 and the following.

 

Does the Catalog you show include the JPK?

 

Regards,

Charlie

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We have discussed the Nordac made Jet Pilot Knives at this link: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/134069-the-jet-pilots-survival-knife/page-3?hl=nordac&do=findComment&comment=1012327 See post number 49 and the following.

 

Does the Catalog you show include the JPK?

 

Charlie, here is the description of the knife from the catalogue (no images of it though).

 

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I saw your original post as well as on Knife Notes. I cannot find where NMC had a contract for the knife or scabbard. The markings on the scabbard are wrong as far as the contract goes. The scabbard is marked with a DLA100 contract when it should be a DAAA09 contract (which is normally the contracting entity for knives and knife accessories) - which leads me to believe it is one of Straiton's fictitious contract numbers. As far as the knife being marked NMC, I personally believe it was made by another contractor and marked up for NMC (but that is just my opinion) for retail sales.

 

I remember reading somewhere that someone claimed to have actually been issued a NMC knife. The explanation for this might have been it was privately purchased and later turned in (and subsequently reissued). Back when I was in I bought many items through mail-order and local surplus stores - most of which were turned back in at some point (did not have much reason to keep some of the stuff at the time - once I got out I was just glad to be out - never thought 25 years later I would be writing books about the stuff).

 

BTW the knife with scabbard retailed for $18.50 and the scabbard alone was $5.00!

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