My "duty section" as an MM3 in Groton before transferring to Texas for NROTC was as a prisoner escort for the base brig. One of the requirements to check into the brig was a complete sea bag. I would often find myself escorting these guys to the base NEX (in cuffs) so they could purchase the missing items before they checked in. Then, a few weeks or months later, I would escort them to the front gate with their BCD paperwork in hand and directions to the bus station and a quarter to get on the pay phone and call a cab. No money? Well, I'll buy that pea-coat from you for $50. Good deal for them, usually enough for a bus ticket home.
Then I would take the coat to the Army/Navy store in Mystic, sell it to them for $75 and they would turn around and sell it for $100. Same deal with bell-bottom dungarees, but I would have to drive up to Hartford or Storrs to unload those (hippie college students love bell-bottoms).
Other than telling a funny story, the only point is that you can probably get a good deal on a lightly used coat at a thrift store.