Afghan Boots

The ANA wear boots when they can get them. Mix of black boots or desert. They also wear flip flops, sneakers or whatever they can find. Except for the Commandos, they usually have very lax uniform policies... (cover, no cover, mix of old and new uniforms etc)

i don't know if boots actually fall under the same category of clothing, but take a look at this document.

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=455cd3c1295cae368d49398db474c851&tab=core&_cview=1

in the Q&A documents is written

1. Question - In section “C3 CLAUSE 952.225-0015 HOST NATION CONTRACTOR AND SUBCONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS (AUG 2011)”, it is not clear to us if the production process can be done abroad Afghanistan and shipped back to Afghanistan? In terms of quality, performance, and security it will be easier to perform the production outside Afghanistan and the shipment cost will be the same.

Answer – Product must be produced or manufactured in Afghanistan in accordance with the 886 provision of Public Law 110-181.

clothing is manufactured in afghanistan with US (ADS inc) material.

They actually have an indiginous boot production industry. There are a series of DOD images posted to the web and here is a link to one of the stories:

(i will post links after 7 days)

Here is another article:


Afghan Company Provides Boots for Afghan National Security Forces.


by ISAF: NATO forces in Afghanistan on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 1:06am ·
.



NATO Training Mission Afghanistan
Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Hall

The Afghan national army and police forces continue to train hard and develop, while growing by the numbers each and every day. But, to sustain dedicated soldiers and policemen, one needs to have the necessary equipment and gear to be able to conduct their duties. For one local boot manufacturing company, their goal is to ensure that their defenders of freedom are never without quality footwear while helping to grow the Afghan economy by providing jobs to Afghans in Kabul and throughout the country.

There are currently eleven different companies that manufacture boots for Afghan soldiers and policemen. Four are from the United States, seven are from Afghanistan.

Of those seven, only one makes the boots in Afghanistan.

Kabul Milli factory, manufacturing boots for over a year, is the largest boot manufacturing company in Afghanistan.

"My goal is to provide the best quality product for the Army and police and to give good service to the ANP and ANA," said Ihsan Saffi, Milli manufacturing managing director.

To assist in providing quality production of their boots, NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan's logistics directorate has taken lead with overseeing a process improvement program, while mentoring their Afghan counterparts on what to look for during the post-production process.

"In an effort to insure that we are providing the Afghan national army and national police a higher quality product, we are initiating our process improvement program," said Capt. Adam Pudenz, NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan logistics security assistance officer. "We are bringing in the Defense Contract Management Agency, quality assurance and industrial engineers that we work with to show Kabul Milli how to make a better product."

"We are not satisfied with the current boot quality by the Milli Company," said Brig. Gen. Gary Patton, NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan, deputy commanding general (Programs). "We are seeing too many defective boots, and that is why we have initiated the product improvement program, so we can get to a more consistent, higher quality boot for the ANA."

Local venders were purchasing boots from foreign countries such as China, India and Korea. Kabul Milli wants to establish themselves as a "role model" company for boot manufacturing in Afghanistan, by Afghans.

"We have stopped our orders from all foreign boot companies effective last week," said Patton. "The reason is, we want Afghan products, not products from other nations. It's important that Afghan soldiers know that their country is making their boot...that's pride."

Afghan national army and police leadership at all levels have received feedbacks on boots from different manufacturing companies. The results have indicated the need for Afghan boot manufactures to conduct production domestically.

"Right now I have 166,000 boots from different factories...they are mixed, when we issue them to the units, they complain about the quality...we don't know from which company...it's a very difficult problem," said ANA Col. Ali Gouhar, commander, Afghan national army Central Supply Depot.

With 400 workers employed at Kabul Milli, manufacturing boots, bedding and pcp pipes, the company stands as an economic blueprint for Afghanistan, by providing job opportunities and products that will benefit the country in more ways than one.

"I want to help the Afghan people, the poor people who are busy working in this company," said Saffi. "I want to provide food for them, because it's very difficult right now having work and getting a job in this country."

"The goal here would be, we want to increase quality while increasing the economy as well," said Maj. Charles Seidel, chief of local acquisitions.


AND lastly, with the corruption still continuing in the AFG Govt the problems resurface as indicated in this last boot article on a declining industry:

(I will post link after 7 days)

Perhaps they can take international orders:

MILLI FACTORY KABUL AFGHANISTAN

Address: OPPOSITE POST OFFICENEW STREET SAHAY SANATI KABUL AFGHANISTAN

Here are some images and some articles of the boot production facility in Kabul.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntm-a_cstc-a/4919574464/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntm-a_cstc-a/4919575166/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntm-a_cstc-a/4919576632/in/photostream/

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Factory-in-Kabul-is-Gearing-up-to-Make-Boots-97860739.html

http://www.dcma.mil/communicator/spring10/2_features/DCMA_0310_Spring2010_Communicator_TAGGED_Pg30-31.pdf

Found these boots discarded by the ANA (they kept the laces thogh). They are boots from the Milli company in Kabul. I gave an ANA who lived in the building where I found them US issued boots 2 days earlier. Might be why these were thrown out. The color is slightly more brownish than in the photos. The quality seems pretty decent for what they are. They are pretty beat up but seem to of seen lots of use.

Now I just have to mail them home.

Great find!

I like them.

More info about them here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/isafmedia/6416763789/in/set-72157628185644777/

JYN

Thanks guys. I just stopped by the local tailor today to pick up a ANA boonie and found a second pair of Milli boots. This time lightly used and with the laces. I paid $5. When I get home Ill try to post some of my finds from over here.

How's the quality, is it true those boots are shitty made and fall apart after a few weeks/months.

To american standards, the boots are low quality but I wouldnt say they are absolute shit. Hard to say how long they would last. Ive seen them worn by Afghan forces pretty often. Seems like they could potentially last a good amount of time, depending on what they are doing. Moving around the mountains is going to be rough on any boots.

Heres a lightly used pair.

wow, this brings back memories.... a friend of mine came across this thread when he googled me to find my current contact info.  

I was the program manager for the Afghan manufactured boots (Adam Pudenz).  I can answer all the questions in this thread.  to start with, the image above (the posting on Apr 2013, "no shoe laces") is of a pair of boots that were manufactured under an old specification that was developed by an over-worked US contracting officer A VERY LONG TIME AGO (with input from the COR of course) and lacked any industry standards or detailed quality specifications.  Anyway, manufacturing of boots using that specification were halted in January of 2010 and we developed a new specification for the boots.  the new spec was developed with help from the same stateside boot program management office that oversees all footwear contracts for US soldiers.  The new boots manufactured by Milli exceeded our US specifications (the boots pictured directly above - 7 June 2013 post - is of the winter weather variant, the insole is missing).  Two more manufacturers were also awarded contracts after a thorough evaluation and selection process.  boots from all vendors filled the depots

Like another thread above mentions, afghans wear boots "if they can get them."  Even though the depots were supplied with enough boots to issue every Afghan soldier two sets of boots per year, the boots (and many other items) were consistently stolen from depots, along route to the units, or at the units themselves--sometimes by the Afghan commanders.  Stolen boots are sold on the local "Bush Market" in Kabul for pennies on the dollar that it cost to manufacture them. (this accounts for one person's remark above stating that they bought a pair of Kabul Milli boots for $5--Kabul Milli doesn't sell on the market, they sell only to the US and Afghan Govt purchasing officials)  There are also imitation Kabul Milli boots, but that is another story.  In addition to uniform items being stolen, soldiers themselves would also sell their equipment and replace the items with cheaper equipment, and pocket the difference.  A common practice that I tried to put a stop to was that of soldiers taking their issued boots, selling them and returning to their supply office with tattered old boots and requesting a new issue of boots... which they would then sell and repeat the process. (leading to the myth that they fall apart in a week/month or so)  I can explain our testing criteria and personally vouch for the quality of the new production.  Hell, we even tested the boots on US infantry that went on patrol--all good.  better yet, the pair I wore for two years in Afghanistan is still in great shape and are sitting on a shelf two feet away from me as I type in my home office.
Ah, I need a drink now.

There is sooooo much more to the whole saga around boots and other items manufactured in Afghanistan (that created jobs for the Afghan people). Unfortunately the responsibility to procure uniform and other items that were being manufactured in Afghanistan was handed off (blindly) from the NATO coalition to the Afghan Government--with US funds.  Complete ineptness and corruption of the Afghan Government led to the end of the Afghan Manufacturing requirements and a flood of imports from China, Pakistan and other cheap locations (Yes, my fellow tax payers--your taxes we used to buy goods from Pakistan and China and God-only-knows where-else).  In October 2012, after clear failure of the Afghan procurement (note that it was the local Government, not the manufacturers that failed), the Afghan First and Afghan Made program was shut down completely.  It has since been replaced by the Central Asian States policy.  

anyone that is dying to learn more about the history of this program and/or more about my experience and opinions can private message me for my email or phone number.  Please explain in your message the reason you are interested and what you intend to do with the "lessons learned"

thank you

Adam.pudenz wrote:wow, this brings back memories.... a friend of mine came across this thread when he googled me to find my current contact info.  

I was the program manager for the Afghan manufactured boots (Adam Pudenz).  I can answer all the questions in this thread.  to start with, the image above (the posting on Apr 2013, "no shoe laces") is of a pair of boots that were manufactured under an old specification that was developed by an over-worked US contracting officer A VERY LONG TIME AGO (with input from the COR of course) and lacked any industry standards or detailed quality specifications.  Anyway, manufacturing of boots using that specification were halted in January of 2010 and we developed a new specification for the boots.  the new spec was developed with help from the same stateside boot program management office that oversees all footwear contracts for US soldiers.  The new boots manufactured by Milli exceeded our US specifications (the boots pictured directly above - 7 June 2013 post - is of the winter weather variant, the insole is missing).  Two more manufacturers were also awarded contracts after a thorough evaluation and selection process.  boots from all vendors filled the depots

Like another thread above mentions, afghans wear boots "if they can get them."  Even though the depots were supplied with enough boots to issue every Afghan soldier two sets of boots per year, the boots (and many other items) were consistently stolen from depots, along route to the units, or at the units themselves--sometimes by the Afghan commanders.  Stolen boots are sold on the local "Bush Market" in Kabul for pennies on the dollar that it cost to manufacture them. (this accounts for one person's remark above stating that they bought a pair of Kabul Milli boots for $5--Kabul Milli doesn't sell on the market, they sell only to the US and Afghan Govt purchasing officials)  There are also imitation Kabul Milli boots, but that is another story.  In addition to uniform items being stolen, soldiers themselves would also sell their equipment and replace the items with cheaper equipment, and pocket the difference.  A common practice that I tried to put a stop to was that of soldiers taking their issued boots, selling them and returning to their supply office with tattered old boots and requesting a new issue of boots... which they would then sell and repeat the process. (leading to the myth that they fall apart in a week/month or so)  I can explain our testing criteria and personally vouch for the quality of the new production.  Hell, we even tested the boots on US infantry that went on patrol--all good.  better yet, the pair I wore for two years in Afghanistan is still in great shape and are sitting on a shelf two feet away from me as I type in my home office.
Ah, I need a drink now.

There is sooooo much more to the whole saga around boots and other items manufactured in Afghanistan (that created jobs for the Afghan people). Unfortunately the responsibility to procure uniform and other items that were being manufactured in Afghanistan was handed off (blindly) from the NATO coalition to the Afghan Government--with US funds.  Complete ineptness and corruption of the Afghan Government led to the end of the Afghan Manufacturing requirements and a flood of imports from China, Pakistan and other cheap locations (Yes, my fellow tax payers--your taxes we used to buy goods from Pakistan and China and God-only-knows where-else).  In October 2012, after clear failure of the Afghan procurement (note that it was the local Government, not the manufacturers that failed), the Afghan First and Afghan Made program was shut down completely.  It has since been replaced by the Central Asian States policy.  

anyone that is dying to learn more about the history of this program and/or more about my experience and opinions can private message me for my email or phone number.  Please explain in your message the reason you are interested and what you intend to do with the "lessons learned"

thank you

Welcome to the forum, please post an introduction in the introduction section

Adam.pudenz wrote:wow, this brings back memories.... a friend of mine came across this thread when he googled me to find my current contact info.  

I was the program manager for the Afghan manufactured boots (Adam Pudenz).  I can answer all the questions in this thread.  to start with, the image above (the posting on Apr 2013, "no shoe laces") is of a pair of boots that were manufactured under an old specification that was developed by an over-worked US contracting officer A VERY LONG TIME AGO (with input from the COR of course) and lacked any industry standards or detailed quality specifications.  Anyway, manufacturing of boots using that specification were halted in January of 2010 and we developed a new specification for the boots.  the new spec was developed with help from the same stateside boot program management office that oversees all footwear contracts for US soldiers.  The new boots manufactured by Milli exceeded our US specifications (the boots pictured directly above - 7 June 2013 post - is of the winter weather variant, the insole is missing).  Two more manufacturers were also awarded contracts after a thorough evaluation and selection process.  boots from all vendors filled the depots

Like another thread above mentions, afghans wear boots "if they can get them."  Even though the depots were supplied with enough boots to issue every Afghan soldier two sets of boots per year, the boots (and many other items) were consistently stolen from depots, along route to the units, or at the units themselves--sometimes by the Afghan commanders.  Stolen boots are sold on the local "Bush Market" in Kabul for pennies on the dollar that it cost to manufacture them. (this accounts for one person's remark above stating that they bought a pair of Kabul Milli boots for $5--Kabul Milli doesn't sell on the market, they sell only to the US and Afghan Govt purchasing officials)  There are also imitation Kabul Milli boots, but that is another story.  In addition to uniform items being stolen, soldiers themselves would also sell their equipment and replace the items with cheaper equipment, and pocket the difference.  A common practice that I tried to put a stop to was that of soldiers taking their issued boots, selling them and returning to their supply office with tattered old boots and requesting a new issue of boots... which they would then sell and repeat the process. (leading to the myth that they fall apart in a week/month or so)  I can explain our testing criteria and personally vouch for the quality of the new production.  Hell, we even tested the boots on US infantry that went on patrol--all good.  better yet, the pair I wore for two years in Afghanistan is still in great shape and are sitting on a shelf two feet away from me as I type in my home office.
Ah, I need a drink now.

There is sooooo much more to the whole saga around boots and other items manufactured in Afghanistan (that created jobs for the Afghan people). Unfortunately the responsibility to procure uniform and other items that were being manufactured in Afghanistan was handed off (blindly) from the NATO coalition to the Afghan Government--with US funds.  Complete ineptness and corruption of the Afghan Government led to the end of the Afghan Manufacturing requirements and a flood of imports from China, Pakistan and other cheap locations (Yes, my fellow tax payers--your taxes we used to buy goods from Pakistan and China and God-only-knows where-else).  In October 2012, after clear failure of the Afghan procurement (note that it was the local Government, not the manufacturers that failed), the Afghan First and Afghan Made program was shut down completely.  It has since been replaced by the Central Asian States policy.  

anyone that is dying to learn more about the history of this program and/or more about my experience and opinions can private message me for my email or phone number.  Please explain in your message the reason you are interested and what you intend to do with the "lessons learned"

thank you

Adam,
Great incite on Afghan boot manufacturing. I remember reading open source publications detailing the boom in production but after several years of expansion the Milli company was in hard times. Would you happen to know why they didn't turn to exporting boots to other nations for military or civilian markets?

Thanks,
Tom

Hello everyone,

happy to presente you my last acquisition, it come from a french Gendarme (MP) who form afghan police.




A picture of afghan policeman whose worn a similar pair:


A picture from a report about Melli:


Hope you like