Well, this is something surprising. Our people in the Arctic are having major issues with a piece of their standard gear, and it’s not pretty. The item is damn near impossible to work without in the Arctic environment. It’s strange and not exactly embarrassing to our troops, but it is for the manufacturer.
Their boots are literally falling apart. It’s not everyone, but it’s enough to be concerning. They can’t do exercises outside without boots. Even the thought of it should make us cringe. What happened to this item that they are falling apart? No idea, and that’s not good. It now requires inspecting every pair to weed out the bad ones and make sure the good ones get to where they need to go. Too bad we can’t blame Hegseth for it.
Does our military need to check out *everything* they use to make sure everything else is ok? Or can we consider this a one-off and assume everything else is okay? Boots are bad enough. We hope that the rest of their gear is fine. It may be doomsaying, but. But…..
Appreciation for Raw Story:
Holes opened in the leather, soles separated from the boots, and freezing water seeped inside while Marines crossed snow and ice carrying heavy packs. “Enormous sets of issues started coming up,” an unnamed Pentagon official told Newsweek. Some Marines were pulled from the field after their soles peeled away or plastic in the heels dug into their tendons, the official said. Norwegian-made replacements were eventually obtained locally, including pairs purchased from nearby stores.
But it was wider than that:
But the problem extended beyond the exercise. Inspectors later examined 4,423 boots at Camp Lejeune and found 538 defective pairs. A military presentation reviewed by Newsweek called the April results “an alarming rate of defective pairs.” “It said the follow-up inspection in July ‘revealed a substantially higher incidence of defects, indicating a notable deterioration in product quality between the two inspection periods.”’
How about dem apples? That’s not just a problem. It’s a *major* problem. Every base should inspect their boots. How about the people getting scorched in the Middle East? Sand and dirt can be a problem, too. But, of course, it shouldn’t have happened at all. The vendor is replacing the boots one for one. Let’s hope they go down their assembly line and figure out what happened to correct it. Replacing the boots is great, but it doesn’t address the cause.
It’s something to consider. That’s all. Just extrapolating (guessing) about concerns for other places and other people. When you wear or use something, you have to NOT be concerned about a problem. And yes, extremely likely Denis would be able to explain this better. But I’m trying.
Friends, I know everybody begs you for money. I promise you that, of all the outlets bugging you for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a bunch of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. But the rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the ability to continue our quest to tell the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
