Germans Lacking Boots

From the DW:

“German troops wait 8 years for new combat boots”

Since 2016 the German military — the Bundeswehr — has planned to provide troops with new combat boots. Now soldiers must wait longer to be properly equipped, something one member of parliament described as "grotesque." German troops will have to wait until 2022 to receive new combat boots due to "limited production capacity in industry," media reported. The inability of the Bundeswehr to equip soldiers with basic footwear adds to a series of scandals over lack of equipment and questions over combat readiness in the NATO member.  Since 2016, the Bundeswehr has planned to provide soldiers with two pairs of "heavy combat boots" and one "light combat boot," instead of a standard "all-season boot."  The rollout was to be completed by the end of 2020, but has now been pushed back to mid-2022, Berlin daily Tagespiegel reported, citing a Defense Ministry response to a parliamentary inquiry. The Defense Ministry told the newspaper: "Due to limited production capacity in industry the schedule could not be kept." Frustrated soldiers and a defense system struggling to repair its way into a fully functioning military. And a new defense minister who will have to regain confidence from army representatives. According to the parliamentary inquiry, around 160,000 of 183,000 soldiers have received their first pair of heavy combat boots. However, troops have not received the second pair. Only 31,000 soldiers have been issued the light combat boot. "It seems quite grotesque that it takes eight years to equip troops with new footwear," said Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a member of parliament from the opposition Free Democrats who requested the information from the Defense Ministry. "After all, this is not a question of fashion but one of safety. Imagine firefighters extinguishing fires in slippers," she said.

 Germany's role in NATO

West Germany officially joined the trans-Atlantic alliance in 1955. However, it wasn't until after reunification in 1990 that the German government considered "out of area" missions led by NATO. From peacekeeping to deterrence, Germany's Bundeswehr has since been deployed in several countries across the globe in defense of its allies. Soldiers have complained about the comfort and quality of the standard-issue all-season boot. Some buy their own boots, which is against regulation but often permitted. The extended waiting time for the new combat boots was criticized by the Commissioner for Armed Forces, Hans-Peter Bartels, in his most recent annual report. "Unfortunately, the output process slightly diminishes morale," he noted. "Recruits, according to the perception of many senior soldiers, would be treated preferentially in the issue of new models." Seasoned soldiers, who still get the previous model when exchanging boots, feel like second-class soldiers, he said.

^ This is just one more sad fact the men and women in the German Military are forced to deal with. The former German Defense Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, who was in office for nearly 6 years did little to nothing to give the right equipment, training or support to the German Military (including those fighting in warzones) and this November she will become President of the European Commission so you can imagine what she will do (or I should say not do) there too. Not only the Germany Military but the German Government does not seem able to meet the basic needs of the men and women working for them. You often read about all the German Government officials (including Merkel herself) who couldn’t make an important meeting or event because there was no working German Government plane. There is clearly something wrong going on within Germany that needs to be fixed right away – starting with giving basic things like boots to their soldiers. ^

https://www.dw.com/en/german-troops-wait-8-years-for-new-combat-boots/a-50191037