Boots I.

This is coolbert:

The News Hour this evening has a short but interesting discussion about the current state of the U.S. Army.

The feeling is that the army is near the breaking point. Forces stretched too thin, repeated and lengthened deployments to Iraq, not enough dwell time, NOT enough troops for contingencies, etc.

Statistics that startle:

* Three times as many moral waivers are being given to recruits as were given out only three years ago. Waivers for repeated misdemeanor violations or a single felony conviction. Normally, pre-2003, any misdemeanor or felony would have been a bar against enlistment.

* More troops than ever are being allowed to enlist WITHOUT A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA. AND, OF THOSE WITHOUT A DIPLOMA, HALF [50 %] DO NOT EVEN COMPLETE BASIC TRAINING!!

[consider that a $40,000 signing bonus is now being offered to persons willing to enlist!!]

President Bush has promised - - NOW - - NOT to extend anymore deployments to Iraq beyond a 12 month period!

This all sounds bad. Iraq is a millstone around the neck that cannot be gotten rid of?

Solutions anyone?

coolbert.

Valenki.

This is coolbert:

Here is the valenki boot. The boot as worn by Soviet troops in winter conditions. Made of FELT!
Wool is very worm EVEN WHEN WET!!

"traditional Russian winter footwear, essentially felt boots . . . Valenki are made of wool felt. They are not water-resistant, therefore they are sometimes worn with galoshes to protect the felt."

"Valenki are a part of the Russian army uniform in winter . . . both winter boots and valenki are worn in the Russian army and that valenki are generally preferred for lower temperatures."

There is a boot obtainable in the U.S., for outdoorsmen, that is rubber on the outside, with FELT inserts. Removeable inserts, several carried by the user, one drying while another being worn. Very warm in all temps!!

coolbert.

Feet!

This is coolbert:
The Chinese Communist volunteer Forces [CCVF] Korea went into battle wearing a low quarter tennis shoe, NOT a boot. The shoe worn by the Chinese was made of rubber and canvas, totally inadequate, and the cause of monstrous trouble in the cold, wet weather of the Korean winter, 1950.

"His [Chinese] uniform is a good cotton quilted pants and jacket. When it gets wet it becomes a deadly situation. The Chinese soldier for the most part has tennis like shoes for his feet, and were not satisfactory."



"The rubber-and-canvas tennis shoes worn by the Chinese soldiers provided no protection against the cold and resulted in extremely heavy rates of frozen feet. The basic uniform was heavily quilted cotton . . . Warm in dry weather, the quilted uniforms were impossible to dry when soaked. Few Chinese soldiers had gloves, so many suffered from frostbitten or frozen hands. They often had to sleep out in the open, in minus-30 degrees Centigrade, without blankets . . . In fact, two-thirds of the Chinese casualties were from the cold that winter, against one-third from combat. Chinese veterans later declared that 90 percent of the 'volunteers' in Korea suffered from some degree of frostbite in the winter of 1950."

Right, we think that American troops in Korea as suffering from the cold. The Chinese suffered even worse. That quilted down filled uniform is NO GOOD when wet. Those tennis-like shoes made of canvas cannot be dried properly and contribute to "trench foot". The purpose of puttees was to PREVENT water and muddy wet cold slosh from getting inside the low quarter cut shoe, but the Chinese did not even have those [puttees].

As I have said before, historically, most casualties in war are either due to water [not having enough or polluted with disease!] and feet!!

coolbert.

Puttee.

This is coolbert:

In a previous blog article, I had casually mentioned the puttee. A World War One [WW1] uniform accessory of WHAT USE AND VALUE?

"A puttee . . . a covering for the lower part of the leg from the ankle to the knee, consisting of a long narrow piece of cloth wound tightly and spirally round the leg"

A mystery to me of what utility the puttee served.

Well, here is the answer. As I thought, an article of clothing of dubious value. MORE of a hindrance than a help! Hated and detested by all?

"Puttees were long strips of woollen material bound round the lower leg from ankle to knee and were intended to stop water and mud sloshing into boots [the British soldier of the era wore that low-cut boot] and breeches. They were cursed by soldiers as worse than useless; they cut off circulation when too tight because they shrank in the wet, and unwound when too loose, hampering movement."

It had to be just an ordeal just to put the damn things on? I also wonder to what extent these damn things accelerated the process by which a troop would get the World War One phenomenon of "trench foot".

Puttees. Gone with the days of the collar stays and spats!

coolbert.