After Manufacturer Failures, Marine Corps to Field-Test New Boot Designs

The Marine Corps is developing new footwear after it found that a significant percentage of boots Marines were buying had quality issues, resulting in Marine Corps Exchange stores having to return nearly one-quarter of its boot stocks to the manufacturer in at least one case.

The Optional Boot Program, which was publicized in a service news release last week, is meant to quickly get high-quality boots to Marines through inspections, fleet feedback, real-world testing and industry competition after COVID-era supply chain issues began rattling quality and inflating prices starting years ago.

Over the summer, Marines will test boots that feature lighter materials, better drainage functions and improved designs meant to reduce injury. Officials said that the testing will include fielding boots across every environment Marines might find themselves in, from the High North of Norway to lowland rainforests in the Philippines.

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The central idea behind the program is to leverage industry competition and testing to give Marines better options based on their various military occupational specialties, or MOSs, Col. Paul Gillikin, the program manager for the Corps' Combat Support Systems, or CSS, told Military.com in an interview Wednesday.

Essentially, the Marine Corps is soliciting feedback from its troops to tell industry what they need to best perform an ever-evolving number of missions and, in turn, is asking manufacturers to deliver on those needs in a way that won't break banks or backs.

"It's improving the lives of Marines through better performance, availability in the MCX and on cost," Gillikin said of the certification process. The competition between multiple vendors is critical for giving Marines "greater selection and increased buying power, access, shopping for fit and shopping for fit based on their MOS task, which I think is very important."

In the grand scheme of a defense acquisition process that contends with billion-dollar aircraft and complex new technology, boots might appear to be a drop in the bucket. But for troops, high-quality footwear could be the difference between long-lasting injury, low mission performance and empty wallets.

In recent years, boots weren't the only uniform item affected by disrupted supply chains. Military.com reported last year that Marine cammies were hitting the shelves once again after a two-year shortage that officials and industry leaders attributed to COVID pandemic hiring and material delays.

Gillikin said that he works closely with industry, which has been receptive to feedback on uniform items -- both U.S.-based vendors and countries beholden to the Trade Agreements Act, a law that allows some foreign manufacturers to sell products to the U.S. government.

Having served as program manager for the CSS for two years, Gillikin said that he has received plenty of feedback from Marines about boot quality and cost, and that fit and durability are often top feedback points for footwear. The release from last Friday said that service-approved boots can range between $189 and $399 and, while enlisted Marines receive a uniform allowance, it often doesn't cover the cost of top-rated footwear.

"I definitely understand too, from going to different bases and stations and talking with Marines, there's Marine families out there struggling financially," Gillikin said. "They don't need additional bills or swings in their uniform cost and items."

The release did not mention specific manufacturers, and Gillikin declined to name vendors who had sent subpar boots to exchange stores, but recent inspections that looked at eyelet quality, sole-leather connection, color, durability and a variety of other attributes found that 17% of one product and 25% of another had quality issues, resulting in them being pulled from exchanges.

"We clearly don't want them to start off on day one with their new boot behind a performance power curve that should have been caught in the QC process," said Gillikin, referring to quality control. "We rejected it, sent it back to the vendor, and then they're going to update their manufacturing processes, their quality control. And then the goal after that is to make sure that 100% [of] the boots that make it into the MCX meet the Marine Corps specification."

Testing new products means fielding the gear to units across the fleet, with boots that have better moisture-wicking material, lightweight soles, the ability to dry quickly or improved warmth for Marines -- to "put it on the track, make it do burpees and pullups till it throws up," Gillikin said, with various feedback points along the way for troops to tell CSS what works and what doesn't.

The entire process is meant to take about six months, according to the release, before the items hit MXC shelves. The certification process varies by uniform item, but by design is ongoing, meaning that CSS and MCX teams will frequently inspect boots to ensure they're up to standard.

Gillikin also said that Marines had been experimenting with different options on their own, for example purchasing boots Norwegian soldiers were wearing on joint rotations that, through the certification and competition process, are now available for Marines to purchase stateside.

The release also said that 25 instructors with the School of Infantry-West will spend the summer testing new boots, using their experience in the Corps to help provide feedback as part of the certification process.

Gillikin said that cross-service coordination also will help the effort, with different branches able to share data they won't have to replicate themselves, resulting in what he described as increased purchasing power for the Pentagon and ultimately cheaper, possibly joint options for troops.

"I want Marines to know we test this stuff and honor their feedback," Gillikin said. "I couldn't think of another, better way to do this thing. If we left them out of the equation, we would not be turning out a great product. The fact that they are able to give us that feedback means that what they've got is the best that's out there."

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