Editing Jungle boot (section)

=== Vietnam War ===
[[File:PDN Levels In215 0 OutDefault x2, Framecrop - IPL, hot weather boot (green canvas) covering B&W Film Negative NSSC Photo Collection (7 May 1985) 005706 image primary(.png).jpg|thumb|240x240px|US jungle boots with Vibram sole]]
In the early years of the American involvement in the [[Vietnam War]], some US Army soldiers were issued the 'M-1945 tropical combat boot'.<ref name="ROT" /> In 1965, a newer version of the boot was made using materials developed after the end of the war{{Which|date=April 2025}}, and it was adopted by the US military as the 'M-1966 jungle boot'.<ref name="KEA" /><ref name="ROT" /> It was co-developed by [[Natick Laboratories]] and the shoe industry.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b655548;view=1up;seq=901 Hearings on military posture and H.R. 13456], p. 8177.</ref> In the newly developed improved footwear, the upper was cotton, leather comprised the toe and heel, with improved [[nylon]] reinforcements around the throat.<ref name="KEA" /><ref name="ROT" /> That improved footwear used a [[Vibram]]-type lugged sole co-joined to the leather toe and heel.<ref name="KEA" /><ref name="Wood, Clyde E. 2006 p. 106">Wood, Clyde E., ''Mud: A Military History'', Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc., {{ISBN|1574889842}} (2006) p. 106</ref> Water drains in the form of screened eyelets in the canvas top near the bottom were intended to drain moist mud from the inside of the boot using a hastily-modified version of the [[Bernoulli principle]].<ref name="KEA" /> To use up old stock, the 1942 version of the removable ventilating insoles of fused layers of [[Saran (plastic)|Saran]] plastic screen were issued with the improved jungle boot.<ref name="KEA" /><ref name="RIS" /> US Army contracts went to shoe manufacturers such as Genesco, [[Bata Corporation|Bata]] (in [[Belcamp, Maryland]]), and Belleville Shoe Mfg. Co. to produce the M-1966 jungle boot.

To help prevent American foot injuries from [[punji stake]] traps, the 1966 jungle boots used a [[stainless steel]] plate inside the boot's sole to protect the wearer from enemy [[Punji stick|punji stake traps]] and nails.<ref name="ROT" /><ref>Kearny, Cresson H. (Maj), ''Jungle SNAFU...And Remedies'', Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (1996), p. 179</ref><ref>''Interview with General Colin L. Powell'', [http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/pow0int-3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509144948/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/pow0int-3|date=2008-05-09}}: [[Colin Powell]], later to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces, was injured by sharp objects, but was poorly served by the plates in his footwear; he stepped on them at an angle, penetrating his instep.</ref> Later jungle boots used [[nylon]]/[[canvas]] uppers instead of [[cotton duck]]. The footwear received improvements, including Dobie's mud-clearing outsole and nylon webbing reinforcement on the uppers.<ref name="ROT" /> Vibram-soled jungle boots continued to be issued to troops in 1969 until the introduction of jungle boots with the Panama sole tread.<ref name="ROT" />
[[File:Terra Australian Combat Boot.jpg|thumb|Australian replacement Terra combat boots]]
The US military jungle boot's popularity extended beyond Americans. During the Vietnam War, poorly-equipped [[Australian Army]] and [[New Zealand Army]] soldiers traded for a pair of jungle boots from American troops to use alongside their standard-issue black leather [[general purpose boots]] (GP boots). After the [[1 RAR|1st Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment]] (1 RAR) co-joined the Americans in the [[South Vietnam|Republic Of South Vietnam]] alongside the US Army's [[173rd Airborne Brigade]] in 1965, many Australian troopers were willingly traded their worthless Army-issue "[[slouch hat]]s" for a pair of jungle boots from the Americans since the boots Australian troopers were issued were World War II vintage tropical-studded ankle boots and their footwear were poorly suited to the conditions in the country. Special Air Service troopers of [[Special Air Service Regiment|Australia]] and [[New Zealand Special Air Service|New Zealand]] used American jungle boots during their involvement against the [[North Vietnamese Army]] and the [[Viet Cong]], and they were very popular with SAS troopers. Until the replacement of the GP boots for the Terra boots in 2000, Australians wore American footwear with their uniforms; the boots remained popular with Australian soldiers post-Vietnam.