SJW convergence in action. Now that women are allowed in all parts of the Army the Army will henceforth devote much of its time, energy and attention toward making conditions more comfortable for women. Hence this study on finding better boots for women. This will probably end in abject failure like the Army’s attempt to develop a one-type-fits-all issue sports bra for women. In the end the Army decided it would more cost effective to simply let the women buy and wear whatever commercial offering suited them the best. The Army’ issue combat boots are always made just good enough in order to keep costs reasonable . Combat boots are only expected to survive about six months of hard use in combat. In some exceptionally harsh environments, like the mountains of Afghanistan and the abrasive volcanic pumice in the Army’s training area on the big island of Hawaii, standard combat boots will wear out and become unserviceable at a much faster rate. If a soldier wanted better quality and a better fit than provided by the issue boots he/she could always buy a pair of commercially made combat boots of which there are dozens of different brands and models available nowadays. This is something service members have been doing for the past 43 years, especially since the Army went all-volunteer and service members wages, and thus their disposable income, were increased considerably.
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POSTED BY: HOPE HODGE SECK APRIL 21, 2016
Soldier, how do your boots fit? Congress wants to know.
An draft of the defense budget bill for Fiscal 2017 contains language ordering a survey of the Army’s combat footwear to ensure that soldiers entering the force have boots that fit right.
The readiness subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, which released its markup of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act today, expressed concern that women entering the Army in growing numbers may not have appropriate footwear.
The committee cited a report from last year’s defense budget bill that directed the office of the Secretary of Defense to study whether the military services were equipping their female members with appropriate and comfortable combat boots.
“Upon review of the study report, the committee notes, with concern, that the Army, the largest service in terms of force structure, is the only service not to design combat footwear using lasts designed specifically for women,” the bill reads. “The study report also noted that the Army’s most recent survey questioning whether service members were satisfied with the fit and sizing of combat boots was in 1992.”
The committee called for the secretary of the Army to survey at least 2,000 active-duty and reserve female soldiers from a range of “relevant” military occupational specialties about whether they are happy with the “fit, size and performance” of the combat footwear they have been issued. The data, the committee said, should be compared alongside footwear satisfaction rates among male soldiers and among female and male troops from the other U.S. services.
The Army has been in the hunt for better-feeling footwear for awhile. In 2013, complaints of sore feet led the Army’s Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Mass. to conduct tests and research to find a better boot.
While the bill has not yet been passed, the deadline to complete the survey is tight. The bill called for a briefing on the results of the footwear study to the House Armed Services Committee no later than Sept. 1 of this year.
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