SMA Chandler Clarifies What Boots Soldiers Can Wear
 

http://kitup.military.com/2014/07/ch...=todayinmil.sm

BMT

ROFL, I have three of the "unauthorized" pairs pictured, all of which were issued to me in various pre-deployment RFI's

Good thing we have people out there focused on the important stuff!

I can remember being assigned to 7th Group in the early '90s and CSM Henry Bone on a diligent hunt for unauthorized belts and Hi-Tech Boots. he also had a passion for looking on the inside of soldiers berets to make sure the lining was not cut out. It warms my heart that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Glad that CSA Chandler is focused on the really important things.

TF...my favorite gig was 'nose hairs'....can't tell you how many times I'd inspect a guy in ranks who knew he was looking good and told him to ...'trim your nose hairs'....damn it was a hoot to be a CSM.
The look on their faces was priceless.

Bone was trying to 'teach' attention to detail but did not understand what message he was actually sending.
To all of you future SGM's/CSM's pay attn.
When you are an E8 (tm Sgt/1SG) your guys are around you all of the time...they know you so you can say/do whatever you want and they'll understand because they see you daily.
When you go to E9 you now have the 'cameo effect' on troops. They do not see you daily, they do not 'know you' they only know you thru your few minutes of interaction.
The higher you go the less that interaction is.
If I saw a guy that needed a haircut or was raged I WOULD NOT call him on it, I'd call his SGM/CSM/1SG and tell them....to that soldier I'd ask him a warfighting question ...when was the last time you shot your weapon...whatever...fighting skills.
Then they tell folks that is your focus...it is probably the focus of most senior NCO's but if you only see Joe for a few minutes in a year and ask him about his 'boot choice' he's going to think you are a martinet.
Have a series of questions or subjects that are really important to the units mission...when you get an opportunity to yack that's what you talk about...that's it.
Other issues you cover in your CSM meeting and bust the senior NCO's chops.

Chandler is a mega pogue. His stated proudest accomplishment in the Army is being the first enlisted commandant of the SMA. He has spent a career jumping from one TRADOC assignment to another with the barest minimum time as a tanker.

x/S

Obviously too far ahead of himself with his focus on instilling his version of standards and discipline in a post draw-down, garrison Army. After all - with reduction quotas and no budget for training, he has to do his part to trim the force. He's forgotten that some of us will be at war long after he's retired and it's fashionable to openly ridicule his current initiatives. Identifying all you undisciplined, irreverent, non-conformist individuals and instituting policies designed to piss you off so bad that you self-eliminate makes his job easier. Never mind that it's only the conventional forces returning to barracks; SF is still out on the bleeding edge (and is projected to remain there for the foreseeable future). Of course we're also the ones with the highest percentages of "independent thinkers"; guys with an unfortunate proclivity to tell the various emperors that not only don't they have any clothes on, but how stupid they look parading around with their shit hanging out.

Life used to be so simple, when I enlisted we had two choices for boots, army issue or Corcoran's.

I had a nice pair of Corcoran's when I got to Korea I also had small feet size 8 which was about the size of a standard Korean's feet. One day I could not find my Corcoran's and was informed by the houseboy that he had shined them and put them back, in reality they had been stolen while in his care, he confessed to this fact then asked me "whatcha gonna do GI whatcha gonna do? I told dhim he would either replace my boots or I would divest myself of his services, I could shine boots and make a bunk and really did not need him. As I had 8 months left of my tour he stood to lose what for a Korean at that time would be a sizeable chunk of income, he paid for my boots and I never lost another pair. Corcoran's were only available in one width back then and I had small wide feet, breaking in a new pair was a real pain.

Sometimes uniform policy changes serve as distractions for the herd while fundamental and contentious things are quietly pushed through.

The redesign of the USAF service dress is a classic example...while the structure of the USAF was changed from 3 predominant commands to 2 (SAC, TAC, and MAC converted into ACC and AMC) the bulk of the AF was barking about uniform changes which mattered far less.

i would like to ask him what boots HE thinks are better in a combat zone.

oh that's right he wouldn't know.

Voting starts in another couple of months...

Exactly.

WTF does a tanker know about tactical footwear.

He probably wears tanker boots with all of the straps wrapped around them.

Maybe he should be telling us what kind of chair is best.

TR

I like how all of the boots that are being sold in Clothing and Sales may now be "illegal"...... and there is no recourse for our Soldiers to be compensated for the "now illegal" footware they were previously issued and have to now replace to conform to the new standards..

And the "new" Jungle Boots mentioned in in conjunction with the article don't meet the new standards... Typisch!!!

I am going to have to go back and reread the most current 670-1...
...the published regulation always trumps facebook posts

PLus, there are still a lot of miles left in my Nike's...



Well, DA PAM 670-1 says...

(3) Optional boots.
(a) As an option, Soldiers may wear commercial boots of a design similar to that of the Army combat boot (tan), as authorized by the commander. The boots must be between 8 to 10 inches in height and made of tan flesh-side out cattlehide leather, with a plain toe and a soling system matching the color of the tan upper materials. Rubber and polyether polyurethane are the only outsole materials that are authorized. The soling materials will not exceed 2 inches in height, when measured from the bottom of the outsole, and will not extend up the back of the heel or boot or over the top of the toe. The exterior of the boot upper will not contain mesh but will be constructed of either all leather or a combination of leather and nonmesh fabric. Soldiers may wear optional boots in lieu of the Army combat boot (tan), as authorized by the commander; however, they do not replace issue boots as a mandatory possession item.
(b) Optional boots are not authorized for wear when the commander issues and prescribes standard organizational footwear for safety or environmental reasons (such as insulated boots or safety shoes). Personnel may wear specialty
boots authorized for wear by specific groups of Soldiers, such as the tanker boot, only if the commander authorizes such wear. Soldiers may not wear optional boots in formation when uniformity in appearance is required.
(4) Organizational boots. When prescribed and issued by the commander according to CTA 50–900, personnel may wear, instead of the combat boot, such organizational boots or safety boots with field and utility uniforms.


...and there it is. So I reckon I am in fact, a dirty rogue boot wearer. My ISSUED Mountain hikers, and my ISSUED Oakley's, and my ISSUED Bates...
...apparently are ALL not-authorized by the 2014 edition of DA-PAM 670-1.

So how many millions of dollars did the Army spend buying unauthorized boots for distribution to soldiers as part of an RFI draw?


I'm glad we can afford to pay someone to keep us straight.

Stupid illegal Nike boots !!