U. S. Marines preparing for NATO’s Cold Response 2026 exercise in the Arctic encountered an unexpected problem: their issued boots began falling apart in freezing conditions after less than a month of use. The Marines were ultimately forced to buy locally made replacement footwear in Norway, Newsweek reported, citing Pentagon documents and a source within the department.

The defects emerged in late February, shortly before the exercises began in Norway and Finland in March. Holes developed in the boots, the soles separated from the rest of the footwear, and icy water seeped inside. Some Marines had to be pulled from training because their boots were no longer usable.

After the units returned from Norway, it became clear that the problem was more widespread. Stocks of the same boots were inspected at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where defects were found in roughly half of the pairs examined.

Additional inspections were conducted in April and July. The military continued to find defective footwear, with the proportion of faulty boots rising even further during the summer. A military presentation obtained by Newsweek described the results of the April inspection alone as an alarming level of defects.

The issue attracted additional attention because of U.S. military procurement rules. With certain exceptions, the Pentagon is permitted to purchase military footwear only if it is made in the United States, while Congress is considering further tightening these requirements. Critics of this approach fear that restricting the available options could ultimately force service members to use lower-quality footwear.

Around 3,000 U. S. Marines participated in Cold Response 2026. The exercises in Norway and Finland were intended, among other objectives, to prepare U.S. and other NATO forces for operations in harsh Arctic conditions.