CASE STUDIES
Quick Disconnect System
I have been involved in the international commercial and LE/MIL markets since 1995. Either as the LE/MIL sales director for the international side, or as the Director of Product Development, working with the end users to develop the solution they needed.
When the German Army decided to change the way that they carried their handguns, a change that would eventually affect most NATO militaries, it was my team and I that came up with the solution. The Bundeswehr didn't want to wear the handgun in the same place all the time. In the tight spaces of a vehicle, they wanted it mounted to the MOLLE vest. On dismounted patrol, they wanted it on the leg. But they only wanted one holster that they could move immediately and with no tools required. So, we worked up the Quick Disconnect System, that allowed them to do a one-handed transition between the MOLLE mount and the leg platform or back in a couple of seconds. Then, they started getting creative and putting the holster mounts inside turrets, vehicle panels and bunkbed sides, so they could keep the holstered pistol any place they needed. The young Captain who was the Project Officer on that program became a good friend and the now Lt. Colonel and I still keep in touch today.
When the US Marines and then the US Army later went to new holster systems, they adopted the exact same Quick Disconnect System that we developed for the Bundeswehr. And that type of system has been copied or duplicated in some manner by almost every major holster company.
When the French Army began their project to acquire a new pistol, I was approached by several gun companies to provide the holster package. I had to pick one, as the timeline was too short to develop more than one. While the holster model of ours the French Army selected was different than the Bundeswehr holster, they chose the exact same proven Quick Disconnect System.
I currently count LE/MIL projects I developed that are still ongoing in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Czech Republic, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Colombia.
