April 15,
2008: SOCOM (Special Operations Command)
has bought 10,000 pair of boots designed to survive use in Afghanistan. The Afghan
rocks there tear boots up. The U.S. Army desert boots, used without problem
since their first major workout in the 1991 Gulf War, rapidly fell apart in
Afghanistan. By early 2002, soldiers were complaining that the boots were
useless after a few months. The problem appeared to be that the boot soles and
heals were built to deal with soft sand. Afghanistan has lots of sand, but also
lots of sharp rocks, which tear the boot bottoms up. Apparently, the boot did
not get extensive testing in rocky desert areas (which are not as common as
mainly sand deserts.) Deserts have long been a major problem for developers of
military equipment. Over the last 20 years, it has been discovered (the hard
way) that the varying size of the sand grains in different deserts requires
different filters for vehicle engines and power generators. It's difficult to
make one filter that will deal with different kinds of sand. With boots, it may
be a different situation. The U.S. Marine Corps recently developed a new
desert/jungle boot (with the help of U.S. Army clothing developers) and is about
to equip all marines with it. The army has not decided whether to adopt the new
boot, and still issues either desert or jungle boots. The new "combo"
boot apparently stands up to rocky deserts better than the desert boot.
The troops sought their own solutions, quickly
buying every brand of hiking and "assault boots" (for police and SWAT) out
there. These cost $100-$150 a pair. Bates was one of the more popular brands
being bought by the troops, and the U.S. Marine Corps turned to Bates for a new
desert boot. SOCOM had Bates create the "Tora Bora Alpine Boot." SOCOM wanted a
boot that could handle the rocks, as well as the temperature extremes in
Afghanistan.
