Soldiers from across the country are testing three new boot designs as part of an ongoing effort to equip combat units fighting in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan with lighter, more effective gear.

By early next year, the Army could start issuing to soldiers in Afghanistan an improved boot that’s significantly lighter than the current Mountain Combat Boot.

Program Executive Office Soldier has been issuing the current Mountain Combat Boot, made by Danner, for Afghanistan deployments since last summer. The leather boot features a rugged sole to stand up to heavy loads and jagged terrain.

After wearing the MCB in Afghanistan, soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, say the MCBs are durable, but complained that they were too hot for summer and too heavy for long movements on steep inclines.

Soldiers preferred the traction and supple sole of the Merrell Chameleon light hiking boots they had been issued by the Rapid Equipping Force and Asymmetric Warfare Group, even though the boots tended to wear out in less than two months.

“They said, ‘Your boot is a little bit heavier,’ so then weight became important,” said Lt. Col. Mike Sloane, head of Product Manager Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment. The initial goal of the Mountain Combat Boot program was to find a boot that would reduce ankle and foot injuries but still be comfortable after long days in the mountains.

The 4-4th also bought other popular boots made by foreign companies such as Scarpa, Asolo, Kayland and Lowa.

The Army is prohibited from adopting many of these popular boot brands because of the Berry Amendment, a law that requires all uniform items to be made domestically.

Instead, footwear officials said they borrowed ideas from popular, lightweight hiking boots when creating guidelines for the improved boot effort.

“We definitely involved non-domestics items ... to try to identify characteristics of what soldiers want in a boot,” Mike Holthe, footwear project engineer for PM Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment.

About 750 soldiers are testing three prototypes made by Danner, Belleville Shoe Manufacturing Co. and Wellco Enterprises. The soldiers are from the Army Mountain Warfare School in Jericho, Vt., and 10th Special Forces Group from Fort Carson, Colo., as well as 4th Infantry soldiers training at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.

Program officials hope to get feedback on “the things they like, the things they want more of and the things they want to see improvements on,” said Maj. John Bryan, assistant product manager for Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment. “Nothing is really off the table. ... We want them to use them, abuse them and get us the unvarnished feedback; we can’t get them what they want and what they need without that feedback.”

All three models in the limited user evaluation are waterproof and weigh about 3 pounds per pair. The initial requirement for the MCB called for a weight less than 2.2 pounds per boot, Holthe said.

“They are all significantly less than that right now,” he said. “It has really become a non-issue as far as weight goes.”

The biggest challenge has been finding the right boot design and ensuring that it’s available on a long-term basis, Bryan said, explaining that the Army can’t rely on the commercial market because boot companies change styles and designs as often as once a year.

“What we are challenged to do is make it sustainable ... so every time you come back, we give you the latest of a stable product line,” he said.

Equipment officials hope to select a new boot this fall when testing is completed.

“The goal is obviously whatever comes out of this program is going to replace the current” MCB, Holthe said, adding that the new boot will likely be added to the Rapid Fielding Initiative issue list early next year.

Bryan said he was pleased to see that the Army has finally recognized that one set of equipment may not be right for all battlefields.

“We have realized that if the capability that we have in the current combat boot doesn’t meet the need in a certain environment, let’s adjust. Let’s be sensible and flexible,” he said. “I have been in the Army 19 years, and back in the early 1990s, we would not have done this.”