ROCKFORD, MI (March 23, 2016) — Bates® Footwear, a division of Wolverine Worldwide, announced today it has been awarded a contract to manufacture Temperate Weather boots for the United States Marine Corps (USMC) under a new five year U.S. Government contract.
“I applaud today’s announcement, which will support jobs in Big Rapids, further diversify Michigan’s manufacturing sector, and help keep U.S. Marines safe with quality, reliable footwear,” said U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI). “I also commend Bates Footwear for its unwavering commitment to serving and honoring the brave men and women that make our military strong.”
Although the Temperate Weather boot will be a new production line for Bates Footwear in 2016, the boot itself is not unfamiliar to the USMC as Bates produced a similar Temperate Weather boot from to 2007 to 2014. Each boot is constructed with Vibram® “Sierra” soles to provide superior grip with increased longevity. The boots will be manufactured in Big Rapids, Michigan and will be constructed of 100% American-made materials.
U.S. Representative Bill Huizenga (R-MI) said, “Michigan has a history of providing our servicemen and servicewomen with reliable high quality footwear. I am proud to see the U.S. Marine Corps continue this tradition by choosing to outfit our Marines with boots made in West Michigan. It is vital that the men and women serving in our Armed Forces have access to the best equipment available. In terms of footwear, that means having military boots manufactured by Bates.”
“We are very proud to once again provide the United States Marine Corps with a dependable, enduring Temperate Weather Boot. Bates remains committed to upholding the values of the United States Department of Defense and the Marine Corps,” said Andrew Fowler, Vice President and General Manager, Bates Footwear.
U.S. Representative John Moolenaar (R-MI) said, “I congratulate all the hardworking men and women at Bates for winning the Marines contract. This is wonderful news for Big Rapids and for manufacturing in Michigan. Marines have been wearing Bates products for decades and this contract means they will be wearing the world’s best boots for another five years.”
Would these boots include Gore-Tex?
Congrats to a great Team !
Awesome news and great win for the USMC!
Hope they also manage to sort their tropical/desert weight uniform woes and finally get the FROGs made of FR Defender ripstop instead of current heavier-weight twill.
I loved the style and the comfort of Bates boots but they never seemed to last. They would consistently fail under hard use. Being a Marine and having to pay for my own boots out of pocket, I was really pissed when the ones I bought for Iraq didn’t even last one month. Ended up using Altama boots for the entire deployment.
Ugh. Every pair of Bates I ever tried on was always poorly fitting and poorly made. They constantly had fabric bunching up in weird places and the laces would never allow to get the boot tight. The eyelets would always bottom out on each other.
I have the Bates USMC RAT boots.
They are well made and not a bad boot.
My main complaint is there is absolutely no heel retention and thus I get blisters whenever climbing uphill.
I recently switched over to Salomon-Quest 4D GTX Forces and will never go back.
WHY WOULD they go with glued on soles and not stitched on ones( see pic)?!? I am not a marine but what happened to the RAT boot.( seemed better made) Not an expert at all just my two cents
It is not a glue on the photo
Never impressed with Bates, they fall apart real fast and stains never go away. Bellevilles have always been GTG for me and as a bonus they look almost new when you clean them in the shower, great for when having to travel any Pogue-heavy AO.
Congrats to Wolverine World Wide and the team at Bates. Great Company, Great Brand, Great boots!