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Why Are Shoes So Important?

Featured Author:

STL Joseph Garcia

Senior Team Leader Joseph Garcia is a leading innovator and one of the nation’s foremost experts in the highly specialized area of Correctional Special Operations. Currently, he is Senior Instructor for the United States Corrections-Special Operations Group, STL Garcia was formerly deputized in Virginia Beach and Arlington County, Virginia.

In 2007, STL Garcia is scheduled to release the first CERT Tactical manual (CERT Publishing). STL Garcia will be featured in the CERT video series “Correctional Hostage Rescue” due out in Fall 2007. He has been featured in numerous print and news media networks (FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC and others).

For more information:
- Visit the US C-SOG website

More articles from this author:

• Moving from Riot Troopers to 21st Century CERT Operators
• All Vests Not Equal
• Medic Up!

Over the last year we have heard of operators blowing out their knees due to slipping on wet surfaces in their correctional facilities. We’ve heard complaints of “tactical boots” by companies that make other things beside shoes that are falling apart, slippery and or provide little to no comfort but look cool.

We tested a number of boots from a manufacturer which only MADE SHOES and not tried to be all things to all people. We wanted to go to the authority in boot manufacturing and design. What we discovered after careful examination is that many companies actually private label and spend little to no time actually developing boots.

After carefully checking references and talking to prominent podiatrists like Dr.##### of ######, we learned that a boot must incorporate specific footwear technology to perform in the demanding environments in which our soldiers and special operations personnel operate.

Matterhorn is the only boot that has been approved by the CERT Tactical Network and is exclusively used by Team US C-SOG. Teams around the world have specced-in the Matterhorn boot because of the cutting-edge technology upon which it’s built. A question was asked of the Matterhorn president: Why does he have cut up tactical pants and crushed glasses on his side table? He simply stated, “we only do one thing here and we do it right or we do not do it at all. We build footwear technology.”

Before the next time you shell out more than 100 bucks for your boots, you should check what is important to you: Happy feet or the company’s bottom line. At US C-SOG our teams have a solid reputation for using only the best equipment. We choose our operational gear not necessarily because it comes from a “name” company but rather because we train hard and we deploy in real-world operations. We know that our team better have equipment that works and gives our boys the edge in all combat operations.