Getting the Right Boots for Soldiers
Bob Hall, footwear project engineer, at the US Army Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center. (Photo: Marco Werman)
When you think of military technology, you think of stealth Blackhawk helicopters, night vision goggles, state of the art sniper rifles and machine guns.
That is the kind of military technology that gets a lot of attention.
But for soldiers serving in mountainous regions like Afghanistan, it is the simple things that can make all the difference, like boots.
Sore feet have plagued the military for generations. So the army has set out to build a better boot.
A couple of years ago, it asked the footwear industry to create a boot that would be effective and comfortable for soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
And now the three best designs are being tested at the US Army Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, MA.
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