U.S. Air Force basic trainees receive their initial gear, including athletic shoes, at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, in February 2019. (Sarayuth Pinthong/U.S. Air Force)
The Defense Logistics Agency has awarded two U.S. athletic shoe manufacturers contracts worth a combined $156.9 million to provide training shoes for military recruits through 2029.
The agency’s Troop Support division awarded San Antonio Shoemakers and New Balance Athletics Inc. three-year, fixed-price contracts for an indefinite number of shoes, according to a Sept. 17 news release on the Pentagon’s website.
San Antonio Shoemakers received the larger contract, worth $98 million, to continue supplying its SAS Mission One athletic shoes to the military.
The Texas-based company received a $90.5 million contract in 2023 that expired March 21. It got its first government contract in 2017.
New Balance received a contract worth nearly $58.9 million and is expected to begin supplying its Made in USA 0430 athletic shoe next year, according to the company’s Sept. 18 news release.
“New Balance is proud to have been awarded this contract to provide our U.S. service members with our specialized Made in USA 0430 athletic footwear for basic training,” Kevin McCoy, a company vice president, said in the release.
A collection of gear issued to U.S. Navy recruits on their arrival at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill., in November 2018. (Camilo Fernan/U.S. Navy)
The 0430 name is a reference to the early wakeup calls familiar to recruits in basic training. The shoes will be manufactured at New Balance’s factory in Skowhegan, Maine, according to the company.
The contract drew praise from Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who has advocated for legislation requiring more military footwear to be manufactured domestically.
“I have worked closely with New Balance for years to support American footwear manufacturing and to strengthen the domestic industrial base that our military depends on,” she said in a Sept. 18 news release.
Collins has repeatedly sought passage of the Better Outfitting Our Troops Act, or BOOTS Act, which would require optional combat boots worn by U.S. service members to comply with the Berry Amendment, meaning they would be made in the United States using U.S.-sourced materials, according to her release.
A version of the legislation introduced in June by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, is pending in the Senate, according to Congress.gov. A House version failed to advance that month.
“This contract builds on that longstanding partnership and is a major win for New Balance, its hardworking employees in Maine, and for American manufacturing,” Collins said.
The proposed legislation is intended to close what supporters describe as a loophole in the 1941 Berry Amendment that has allowed more foreign-made boots into the military market and reduced demand for domestically manufactured footwear.
New Balance belongs to the United States Footwear Manufacturers Association, which has endorsed the BOOTS Act and advocates for domestic footwear manufacturing.
“This new contract is a testament to New Balance’s industry-leading efforts to build a more robust domestic supply chain for footwear,” Karlee Popken, the association’s policy director, told Stars and Stripes by email Tuesday.
The Defense Logistics Agency did not respond to multiple emails requesting additional information this week.
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