After several deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan with Joint Base Lewis-McChord's 2nd Ranger Battalion, Matthew Griffin has seen and experienced many things he will never forget.

But there is one particular experience that had a profound impact on Griffin's life. While working for Remote Medical International supporting the Afghan National Army in 2010, Griffin met with an American who was managing an Afghan boot factory. After meeting for a cup of coffee, Griffin took a tour of the factory floor.

"From what I could see, they were doing a quality job," Griffin said.

With his family's history in apparel in mind, Griffin thought about different ways to keep Afghans employed long after the American troops pull out of Afghanistan.

"I saw an Afghan worker wearing a combat boot sole with a flip flop thong punched through it," Griffin said. "The light bulb went off and that was it."

That night, Griffin called his wife and said they were starting a company. Within hours, Combat Flip Flops was born.

Fellow former Ranger Donald Lee, Griffin's radio telegraph operator, creates the company's web designs and marketing from his home in Los Angeles. Griffin's brother-in-law Andy Sewrey, an artist and musician with a background in construction, has been helpful with design and production.

The designs for the flip-flops began to pour out in early 2011. Working with a company in Las Vegas, Griffin and his team were trained in how to design a flip-flop, inspect the product and purchase materials. Combat Flip Flops debuted to industry contacts and within minutes had several dealers, including Mission Ready Equipment, U.S. Elite Gear and Aquaterro, who believed in the product and provided Griffin with the financial ability to start production.

Through the help of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Afghan Reconstruction Task Force (ARTF), Combat Flip Flops was linked to a boot factory in Afghanistan.

"It has been a great partnership," Griffin said.

Having the factory in Afghanistan was important, although Griffin is aware of some negativity toward the idea.

"I want to make sure that when we leave Afghanistan, we leave on a positive note. We want to take negatives and turn them into positives," he said. "Our Soldiers have done a great job providing business security along with freedom and democracy. The only way it will sustain itself is through economic stability."

By basing Combat Flip Flops in Afghanistan, Griffin hopes to help create the middle class by helping to create jobs.

"By growing that middle class, it helps end the corruption," he said.  "We want to set an example that it is possible to do this with business, not bullets."

Combat Flip Flops are available online starting at $65. Styles include the AK-47, the Tuck Tuck and the Poseidon, which features a Navy SEAL logo. There will only be 100 Poseidon flip flops made, with all proceeds going directly to the Naval Special Warfare Foundation.

For more information, visit www.combatflipflops.com.