<p>I recently drove two hours to the nearest PX to buy the required ACU hot-weather boots and no-shine low-quarters to find that they had my normal size but those didn't fit. Does anyone have any advice on the sizing of Belleville boots and Bates shoes? Also, are there any suggestions on how to tell if you've found a good fitting pair?</p>
<p>order from the AAFES catalog on the phone, the # is given in the 'boot letter', a half size smaller does the trick...</p>
<p>I actually drove an our to a PX at Ft. Dix, and i ran into the same problem, the catalog is fast and easy. the boots come from belleville direct in 3 weeks, the bates came from an afb in tx in about 2 wks.</p>
<p>how long after you submitted your acceptance did you get more info on boots etc.?</p>
<p>the "memorandum" actually came before I submitted my acceptance but after i received my offer of appointment. it's a small white paper that arrived along with a piece about getting physically fit and another on mathematic skills standards.</p>
<p>btw, about the AAFES catalog, do you have to get a membership or something before you can order stuff</p>
<p>yes, that's what i was referring to</p>
<p>Has anyone else noticed that the boots squeak when wet? I wore my boots today in the rain and made a racket walking through my house on wood floors.</p>
<p>My boots were a whole size smaller (Belleville brand). So whether it's a half size or a whole size, everyone I've talked to says that you should get them smaller than normal.</p>
<p>I got a whole size smaller myself. Also, about the no-shine low quarters, is West Point still requiring the rubber sole?</p>
<p>my unit just got issued the acu uniform and when we were getting our boots they said to ask for a whole size smaller than our normal black boot size. My hot weather altimas were 1 1/2 sizes smaller and my cold weather bellevilles were 1/2 size smaller. Don't buy online, go to a px and try stuff on.</p>
<p>if you are accepted, AAFES has a list of people authorized to buy the boots without a military id. to go to a px, you simply need the boot letter. If you are accepted, and have not yet gotten the boot letter, check the candidate info page and sign in. There, you should be able to print the letter out. I did that before I got the letter ion ther bigger packet.</p>
<p>thanks jrbunz. i could print out my letter today. unfortunately, i'll have to drive over 2 hours to edwards afb to get my boots.. im not sure i want to risk just ordering them from the catalog given the tricky sizing..</p>
<p>WP2010: You may want to phone ahead of time to make sure they have issue boots in stock. We didn't and made a 4 hour round trip to Fort Bragg only to come home empty handed. The up side was that my son was able to try on boots and low quarters and get an idea for the size he needed to order from AAFES. Be warned, the ordering process through AAFES is slow especially when the shoes that arrive don't fit and a reorder is necessary.</p>
<p>you're right ann, I called ahead and they're ordering boots in because they did not have them in stock. (they're getting in 3 pairs: the size I normally wear and plus and minus a half size..)</p>
<p>well ,if you do order through the catalog, it is free shipping, at least to you, and returns are allowed, but you probably have to pay that shipping. from my experience, the boots were also cheaper, I paid about $75 through the catalog for issue bellevilles, as the paper from west point said they would range at about $95, and that was the going rate at Ft. Dix as well...</p>
<p>jrbunz: Our mail order did not go a smoothly as yours. So far I have spent $35 in shipping charges returning lowquarters that were either the wrong size or defective (torn leather). The boots that were delivered were McRaes - anyone have any experience with these? They seem to be OK. Son was told he could not specify the make.
If WP2010 can get boots directly from the PX that would be my first choice -especially since they were kind enough to order in for him. Fort Bragg was not as helpful.</p>
<p>How are you all order through AAFES? I called them up to order my USAFA boots and couldn't do so, because I'm not in their "system". The individual with whom I spoke had no idea what was going on.</p>
<p>My son was asked to fax his WP letter of appointment and boot authorization letter through to the AAFES catalogue sales dept. before they would process his order.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>The first time I called, the sales rep had no idea either, she wanted me to fax a 100 different forms and still promised nothing w/out a military id #, so I just hung up and tried again with a new rep. My name was on a list, and there was no problem the next time. depends on who you talk to. If they ask to fax stuff, just ask for a manager, because you are not supposed to be bothered with that stuff</p>