I sat last night and watched a 30-second news item from ARD (Channel One) here in Germany. It's a curious piece.
Around 2016, the German military (the Bundeswehr) had a committee come up and agree that the combat boot that is issued out to the Army....wasn't meeting the needs of the troops. So they came to new technology, some tests, and rationalized that there ought to be a 'heavy' boot, and a 'light' boot. It's not really explained how they differ, but I would assume one is for summer periods, and the other for harsh winter climates.
These boots were to be manufactured and issued out by now.
Well....they are behind. In fact, the Army is admitting it might be 2021 before everyone gets one boot of each.
Why not just buy boots off the shelf? That's not really explained. They are also careful not to suggest where they are manufactured....so it might not be in Germany.
For the first eight years of my Air Force period.....I had these 'issue' boots (all-leather, cheaply made, and replaced about every 18-to-24 months). At some point, they authorized 'jungle-boots', and I just went out on my own and bought a pair.
I will admit, they were the most relaxed boot that I've ever owned. Yes, it dd cost in the $45 range and you were really lucky if you got 18 months of use out of it.
Toward year twenty of my time, I was still buying my own boots, and had reached the level where I paid $95 for the last pair. The Germans aren't talking about the cost factor for their two boots, but I'd take a guess that combined....they probably run over 200 Euro.
No comments:
Post a Comment