National Defence rethinks its boots on the ground
Despite new contract in 2013, CAF will change footwear after range of complaints
In the wake of a striking new review of Canada’s military, and promises of a 20-year vision for the Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defence has confirmed a new, high-tech, painstakingly engineered form of transportation for soldiers in the field.
After years of niggling displeasure, CAF members can anticipate a sigh of relief.
The department is buying new boots.
“We’re aiming to get the solicitation on the streets by the end of August,” Lt.-Col. Gordon Edwards, director of soldier systems program management for the CAF, confirmed to the Star. It’s been just three years since the government approved $11.7 million in contracts for their current footwear.
“The Land Operation Temperate Boot doesn’t seem to have met the needs of the soldiers the way we hoped that it would,” Edwards admitted. The new boots have elicited a range of complaints, from material breaking down to zippers breaking apart in harsh weather.
While the army conducted a user trial prior to purchase, the then-positive results haven’t held up.
“There’s no test that can be as good as wearing those boots in operation for one year, or nine months,” Maj. Patrick Lottinville, director of land requirements, noted.
The boots haven’t presented an issue so severe that an immediate switch was required, but Edwards confirmed there have been “lots of emails and discussions” dedicated to the topic.
Boots, as it happens, have a complex history in the Forces.
Prior to the new contract in 2013, the DND sought to remedy boot-related issues that emerged primarily in Afghanistan. Edwards said it’s tricky to cover the needs of every individual unit.
“Some users might say, ‘I want the lightest possible boots I can have, which is good for my job,’ ” Lottinville said.
“But when you put those boots on a soldier in Afghanistan, with 20 pounds of backpack and ammo and everything? It hurts their feet.” The new contract gave CAF members a choice between two pairs of brown boots, which had favourable results in camouflage testing.
The lightweight material was intended to improve breathability, compared to the previous full-leather black boots.
However, when the new deliveries arrived, issues arose with manufacturing quality — to the extent that swaths of boots needed to be replaced in 2015.
The older General Purpose Boot is fully leather, black and laced-up, rather than zipped.
The department is aiming to deliver 40,000 pairs by August 2018. DND was unable to comment on how much the new boot deal will cost.