99% of people show up with brown shoes. I’d say 10% of people shine them.
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Initial Flight Gear Issue
- Thread starter Dontcallmegump
- Start date
Back in the day, you shined your shoes for sure. But no one had a high gloss.
Pro tip: skip the Bates brown shoes from the NEX and spend a few bucks more on a quality brown leather shoe, such as Ecco, that doesn't have disintegrating soles.
Pro tip 2: keep a folded up hardcopy of the part of the uniform regs with the phrase "Plain toed, oxford style black, brown..." but does not mention "Bates" anywhere, in case some motard tries to call you out on a nonexistent rule.
Most people will either not actually care or they'll want the gouge on where to buy a uniform shoe that won't fall apart.
Pro tip 2: keep a folded up hardcopy of the part of the uniform regs with the phrase "Plain toed, oxford style black, brown..." but does not mention "Bates" anywhere, in case some motard tries to call you out on a nonexistent rule.
Most people will either not actually care or they'll want the gouge on where to buy a uniform shoe that won't fall apart.
On one hand, I agree with you. On the other hand, we’ve also been told to not stand out during training. I can see it going either way. Hell, my roommate got shit for having a mustache just because it looked bad even though it was in regs. ?♂️
Come on. Where's your sense of adventure?
Summer whites change of commands are good for at least 4 blowouts. White spongy rubber everywhere on the hangar deck!
I like the idea of a fur lined POCKETED jacket especially so I can announce to God and all of naval aviation that I'm a slob who enjoys warm hands. Sue me ?
Brown shoes are required for SNAs/SNFOs from Pensacola and beyond. I'm willing to bet a few beers there isn't another shoe at NASC that's shinier than mine, but most people don't even put a single coat on them.
Still waiting for these Chiefs who like to harasses JO's to come out of the woodwork and jump on me for having my hands in my pockets. Then again maybe they'll start with the instructors leaning on the walls in hallways, hands in pockets, joking with students.
Wait until your first fleet FOD walkdown. You will be 300% more efficient with your hands out of your pockets.
You're not wrong there. Yours are pretty damn glossy.
Does that actually happen? I mean, yeah, at OCS for sure, but in the fleet?
My cover has been blown. Just like they said, "pride cometh before the stall"....
I don't think I ever saw a Chief at the squadron during flight school - do they actually exist there?
In the fleet, especially home cycle/shore tour, they will definitely be present. I was recently accosted in the base galley during lunch for being an example of "poor leadership". My crime was wearing my nomex jacket which is "lightly" adorned with patches. It didn't bother me - the CMC (not mine) that did it clearly had nothing better to do with her time than harass JO's in the lunch line, and she did more harm to her credibility by attempting to berate someone who clearly didn't care. Her hypocrisy became clear when an O-5 jumped the line wearing his jacket bearing similar ornamentation and she didn't say shit - although I'm sure the shit eating grin on my face was worthy of a photograph.
Oh man, missed opportunity! "Excuse me sir, I think the Master Chief over here has a comment on your jacket."
I have found that to immediately disarm a Chief can be done in one of two ways:
1. Immediately agree with everything they say and praise them. Case in point: getting off the boat after an extended underway, I had on my sea-bag and a back pack with (the horror!) a yellow stripe on one shoulder while holding my helmet bag in the other hand. (Trying to get off the boat in one swoop and not have to get back on!) Across half the hangar bay a Chief comes running up, out of breath, yelling: "L-T! Hey, L-T! Excuse me, LIEUTENANT!" I look around see a Chief chomping at the bit: "Sir, you know the regulation states that you can't wear a backpack any other color than black!" I smile largely instead of getting frustrated and acting like I'm caught: "Chief! You're right, my gosh, I can't believe I made that mistake, let me adjust it! Have a great day!" Adjusts to the elbow instead of shoulder, continues walking.. "Oh, uh, ok sir, yeah, have a good day."
2. Know the EXACT rule they claim to be quoting, 2 stories here:
Story 1: CMC comes up to me, tells me I can't have a dip in my cover, the regulation states so. I stated whatever it said (too late to actually look it up) something to the effect of: "Nah, CMC, it actually states that the line going front to back must be straight. Mine is still straight; it's not curved. It makes no mention of a dip or not." (Yes, I get it's a sea-lawyered answer, but I was prepared to answer it quickly and honestly with my interpretation.) He also tried getting us to wear black shoes. He quickly changed his tune. By the end of the tour, we genuinely respected each other. Guess who anged more? CMC.
Story 2: PR Chief suddenly makes it mandatory for everyone to wear double hearing protection at FOD Walkdowns, completed before anyone else is even turning up an APU... ever. That means helmets for all my friends. He claims its a NAVOSH requirement or some BS. I end up looking into it, finding the exact dB level at which it's required, show him that an H-60 at whatever distance isn't required, and he is just absolutely stunned. He relents, admits he made it up, didn't even know the regulation existed, but said he was doing it for the best of everyone (which I get, but it was annoying signing gear out, waiting 10 minutes to sign it back in as the whole squadron filed through the PR shop etc.), and ends up changing the rule back to making it optional.
1. Immediately agree with everything they say and praise them. Case in point: getting off the boat after an extended underway, I had on my sea-bag and a back pack with (the horror!) a yellow stripe on one shoulder while holding my helmet bag in the other hand. (Trying to get off the boat in one swoop and not have to get back on!) Across half the hangar bay a Chief comes running up, out of breath, yelling: "L-T! Hey, L-T! Excuse me, LIEUTENANT!" I look around see a Chief chomping at the bit: "Sir, you know the regulation states that you can't wear a backpack any other color than black!" I smile largely instead of getting frustrated and acting like I'm caught: "Chief! You're right, my gosh, I can't believe I made that mistake, let me adjust it! Have a great day!" Adjusts to the elbow instead of shoulder, continues walking.. "Oh, uh, ok sir, yeah, have a good day."
2. Know the EXACT rule they claim to be quoting, 2 stories here:
Story 1: CMC comes up to me, tells me I can't have a dip in my cover, the regulation states so. I stated whatever it said (too late to actually look it up) something to the effect of: "Nah, CMC, it actually states that the line going front to back must be straight. Mine is still straight; it's not curved. It makes no mention of a dip or not." (Yes, I get it's a sea-lawyered answer, but I was prepared to answer it quickly and honestly with my interpretation.) He also tried getting us to wear black shoes. He quickly changed his tune. By the end of the tour, we genuinely respected each other. Guess who anged more? CMC.
Story 2: PR Chief suddenly makes it mandatory for everyone to wear double hearing protection at FOD Walkdowns, completed before anyone else is even turning up an APU... ever. That means helmets for all my friends. He claims its a NAVOSH requirement or some BS. I end up looking into it, finding the exact dB level at which it's required, show him that an H-60 at whatever distance isn't required, and he is just absolutely stunned. He relents, admits he made it up, didn't even know the regulation existed, but said he was doing it for the best of everyone (which I get, but it was annoying signing gear out, waiting 10 minutes to sign it back in as the whole squadron filed through the PR shop etc.), and ends up changing the rule back to making it optional.