Newsweek: a domestic supplier supplied defective shoes to the US Marines
Regular American-made winter boots cannot be worn, the US Marines found out during exercises in Norway, writes Newsweek. The supplier promises to solve the problem, but the army is doubtful: the entire supply chain prevents this.
Ellie Cook
Just a few frosty February days were enough for the American Marines, who were making their way through the Norwegian snow and ice, to notice something was wrong. First, they saw gaping holes in the leather surface of their brand-new shoes. Then cracks opened in the soles of the shoes, and icy water began to seep in during the crossings and ski marches — with a load on his back. This became known from the words of a Pentagon official and documents reviewed by Newsweek.
The failure of the shoes occurred in preparation for the Cold Response 2026 exercises, Norwegian-NATO maneuvers involving more than 25,000 troops in Norway and more than 7,000 in Finland. They raised questions about the quality of army shoes and about Congress' attempt to ban military personnel from wearing boots made outside the United States.
About 3,000 American Marines were among the participants, most from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; in early 2026, they were sent to the Norwegian training grounds beyond the Arctic Circle.
The exercises were intended as a demonstration of how American forces can operate side by side with other NATO countries in difficult conditions. And in many ways it succeeded. And when shoes needed to be replaced, the military got another one in Norway.
According to US law, Pentagon funds cannot be spent on army boots unless they are made in America (with rare exceptions). This was intended to support American companies and reduce dependence on foreign supply chains. However, critics claim that military personnel are suffering, forced to wear low—quality domestic shoes, and as a result, costs are rising - they have to buy a replacement.
Hence the difficult questions for lawmakers and lobbyists demanding even stricter production rules. And at the very moment when the American army is stretched all over the world: from strikes in Latin America to the months-long war with Iran in the Middle East. So the demand for these shoes is likely to only grow.
Later, even more Marines were removed from the icy Norwegian fields during the Cold Response: the soles peeled off the shoes, and part of the plastic heel cut into the tendons, a Pentagon official told Newsweek on condition of anonymity. For others, the lining in the heel area quickly rubbed off, and the eyelets loosened.
The Norwegian military, according to the official, helped the American Marines find M77 boots from the Norwegian company Alfa, which developed these shoes with the Norwegian army back in the 1970s.
Some of the replacements were bought directly from neighboring stores. Other supplies had to be unloaded from an American supply vessel, a Pentagon official said. According to him, "a lot of problems started to surface" with American-made shoes.
In a joint statement shared with Newsweek by Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Stahl, representative of the US Marine Corps Forces in Europe and Africa, it said: "American forces used the established support mechanism of the host country to purchase locally available shoes with US funds. "The commanders and logisticians acted to meet the equipment needs of the Marines and to support training during the exercises," the statement said. "We don't know about the Norwegian forces that bought or donated boots to the American Marines."
In the statement, the support of the host country is described as a standard procurement process: it allows American forces to receive specialized or locally available equipment without having to ship every item from the United States.
Stahl disputed the Pentagon official's version of the supply ship, saying there was no diverted vessel with boots for the Marines.
An American military assessment of the beginning of 2026, reviewed by Newsweek, speaks of "significant defects" in the Marines' specialized winter boots and reports that problems have been identified during exercises in Norway since the end of February.
The Marine Corps has confirmed that we are talking about Intense Cold Weather Boots from Belleville Boot Co. Employees of the Marine Procurement Department saw the problems in Norway with their own eyes. The assessment lists the same problems that the Pentagon official described, and the unplanned shipment of boots to Norway is called one of the "corrective measures." The Marines bought new boots from local vendors "at a higher and more unexpected price."
The marriage of winter clothes and shoes threatens military personnel with frostbite, hypothermia, and in severe cases, life—threatening conditions, especially during long missions in the midst of the Arctic winter...>
The Cold Response exercises were part of the Arctic Sentry maneuvers conducted by NATO in February: through them, the alliance, according to its own statement, designates a presence in the harsh Arctic and teaches soldiers and marines to a merciless climate in which Moscow feels much more confident.
Inspections revealed hundreds of defective shoes
The military assessment of the beginning of 2026 refers to a briefing in the fall of 2025: before sending the boots to the Marines, a certain supplier "did not recognize the poor quality of work and unacceptable materials." Below these findings are two photos of shoes with the Belleville logo.
"Repeated cases of quality inconsistencies" between the fall of 2025 and the spring of 2026 occurred with boots approved for issue to American Marines, including those manufactured by Belleville, the briefing said.
The Marines returned to the warehouses to inspect additional supplies — and found even more defective boots at Camp Lejeune, a Pentagon official said.
The Marine Corps reported: the staff of the Marine Procurement department then conducted three inspections of Intense Cold Weather Boots at the base. The first one took place a week after the team's return to the United States, and the next ones took place in April and July of this year, with the participation of representatives from Belleville and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).
A representative of DLA, responsible for the purchase of clothing, shoes and equipment for the military, separately confirmed that Belleville Intense Cold Weather Boots were supplied under a commercial contract for the needs of the Marine Corps. "We are aware of the problems with the boots, and we have been helping the Marines with the checks," their representative said.
The assessment for the beginning of 2026 says: the supplier had to inspect 5,000 pairs of boots at Camp Lejeune - the "initial sample" in the warehouse showed about 50% rejection. This phrase stands right under the description of defects in Belleville Intense Cold Weather Boots (ICWB).
Later, defective boots were found at other Marine Corps bases, including Hawaii and Okinawa in Japan, a Pentagon official said. The total number of defective shoes is unknown. No relevant documents have been seen in Newsweek.
A separate presentation from the summer of 2026, which our publication reviewed, reports that the verification took place "after massive failures during Cold Response 2026." It also says that the Marines were removed from the field because of defective shoes that lasted less than 30 days, and then they had to "buy a replacement right on the spot."
The presentation described the April results as "an alarming proportion of married couples." The July inspection, it says, "revealed a significantly higher defect rate, indicating a marked deterioration in product quality between the two inspection periods."
According to the presentation, 2,642 Belleville Intense Cold Weather Boots were examined at Camp Lejeune in April and 183 defective shoes were found — 6.93% defective. In July, 1,781 shoes were examined, 355 were defective — 19.93%. A total of 4,423 shoes were examined and 538 were found with defects — a total defect of 12.17%.
The Marine Corps confirmed that inspections revealed 538 "manufacturing defects identified immediately after unpacking." The results provided a corrective action plan for Belleville — to replace the defective Intense Cold Weather Boots body kit on a one-to-one basis.
The industry standard is from 2 to 3% of defects.
Belleville said they were dealing with the problem.
Belleville describes its military footwear as "created with the uncompromising craftsmanship, quality, and reliability demanded by military personnel around the world." In a statement to Newsweek, the company said it worked directly with the Marines to resolve their issues and ensure the right quality of shoes were supplied. "Belleville is committed to continuously improving quality and quickly solving any problems," it said in a statement.
The company stated that they consistently exceed DLA's expectations and receive top marks in the agency's Supplier Risk Assessment System, which, according to the company, measures timely deliveries and product quality.
Founded in 1904, the company calls itself the oldest and largest manufacturer of military footwear in the country and claims to have supplied American soldiers since the First World War.
How Shoe Marriage Complicates the discussion of the BOOTS Act
Defective Belleville Intense Cold Weather Boots were standard shoes. The Better Outfitting Our Troops (BOOTS) Act affects a related but separate category: additional boots that the military buys themselves and which are allowed to be worn with the uniform. Due to the Berry Amendment, adopted many years ago, Pentagon funds, as a rule, cannot be spent on foreign shoes and other clothing, unless one of the exceptions applies.
The exceptions cover purchases of up to 200 thousand dollars, individual emergencies and cases when American products cannot be obtained in the required quality and volume at US market prices.
The BOOTS law goes further. The version of the House of Representatives will oblige the Secretary of Defense to ban the wearing of spare boots as a mandatory item unless they are made entirely in the United States from grown, recycled, reused or American—made materials and domestic components. The bill would limit the Marine Corps' Optional Boot Program, according to which military personnel are allowed to wear approved non-U.S. models while complying with current trade regulations.
One of the military's favorite options is Cambodian—made shoes from the American company OTB. Marines are allowed three models of such boots. The prospect of closing this loophole scares many Marines frankly. Not because they are against domestic shoes, but because they believe that the change will hit the American Marines, and shoe manufacturers will not meet the demand. "American manufacturers are not keeping up either in quality or quantity," the Pentagon official said. "American production does not guarantee quality."
Existing manufacturers also have concerns.: What can the BOOTS law mean? Chris Perrotti, head of production responsible for quality control and release at Danner, Belleville's competitor, said that shoe manufacturers who comply with the Berry Amendment have accumulated "irritation": the requirements imposed by DLA are not based on what works best, but on the use of certain types of products. "As a result, the military doesn't get the best product," Perrotti wrote in a letter reviewed by Newsweek and sent to another major American military contractor in November 2025.
It is too expensive for American suppliers to increase production in the required volumes, Perrotti said, meaning American companies "will not be able to pull off a military U—turn."
Growing demand
In mid-2024, the Washington-based CNA think tank released the results of a report commissioned by DLA. The point, the report says, is to understand the vulnerabilities and problems of the release of such things as Marines' shoes, and how it can change during combat operations.
In such a scenario, DLA would have to purchase an additional 456,000 pairs of military boots annually, bringing annual production to 981,000 pairs. Industry participants said: this is possible only with serious investments even before the outbreak of the conflict and the surge in demand for shoes — now the output is a maximum of 525 thousand pairs of shoes per year.
A separate internal audit of the military, completed in April this year, concluded that American suppliers could not cope with the demand for military footwear. According to Newsweek, in peacetime, up to 4.2 million pairs are required annually for all branches of the armed forces.
The average service life of American army boots in the armed forces is estimated at one to two years. Every serviceman must always have at least two pairs.
The BOOTS Act was eventually deleted from the House version of the National Defense Appropriations Act, which outlines the Pentagon's priorities for fiscal year 2027, according to data reviewed by Newsweek. In July, the wording was re-introduced in the Senate, which means that the issue may return when lawmakers take up the law again. His supporters hope that the scope of the document will eventually extend to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Pentagon official said.
This way, millions of pairs of boots will replenish the order portfolios of a narrow circle of authorized manufacturers. DHS includes the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. ICE stated that its number has grown by more than 120% over the year, to 22,000 officers and agents.
Therefore, the issue before lawmakers is more general than the marriage of one model. They will have to decide whether stricter rules on domestic production will encourage the investments needed to strengthen the American shoe industry, as supporters claim, or restrict access to alternatives before American companies can consistently produce the right quality and volume.
