In the navy.....

Zeldman

Zeldman

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Question to recent naval aviators.

I know back in the day carrier qualified pilots wore brown shoes, so my question.... Is that still going on today?
 
Yep, and brown boots with the flight suit.
 
How many non-naval aviators will answer this question...? :popcorn:
 
Zeldman said:
Question to recent naval aviators.

I know back in the day carrier qualified pilots wore brown shoes, so my question.... Is that still going on today?
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"recent" disqualifies me ... but my Navy flight boots were black 40 years ago
 
Brown 5.11s and red laces. :)
 
Or non Naval Aviators but are "recent" in being non Naval Aviators? :confused:
 
Sorry to derail the thread Zeld. Had to throw that out there. :lol:
 
I should have explained more. My reason for asking is I was introduced to a person yesterday that was wearing a Navy uniform with black shoes. I saw the wings so of course the first thing I asked was if he was carrier qualified.

My mistake. He didn't even finish his first sentence when I realized not only was he NOT in the Navy but he had never flown a plane.
 
The Black Shoes run the Ship but the Brown Shoes land on the Boat.

Cheers
 
Zeldman said:
I should have explained more. My reason for asking is I was introduced to a person yesterday that was wearing a Navy uniform with black shoes. I saw the wings so of course the first thing I asked was if he was carrier qualified.

My mistake. He didn't even finish his first sentence when I realized not only was he NOT in the Navy but he had never flown a plane.
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So what was he doing wearing the uniform, just pretending?
 
Zeldman said:
I should have explained more. My reason for asking is I was introduced to a person yesterday that was wearing a Navy uniform with black shoes. I saw the wings so of course the first thing I asked was if he was carrier qualified.

My mistake. He didn't even finish his first sentence when I realized not only was he NOT in the Navy but he had never flown a plane.
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Aren't you in Alaska? That's Army country. Most likely an Army Aviator posing as a Naval Aviator to get chicks. :D
 
Zeldman said:
I should have explained more. My reason for asking is I was introduced to a person yesterday that was wearing a Navy uniform with black shoes. I saw the wings so of course the first thing I asked was if he was carrier qualified.

My mistake. He didn't even finish his first sentence when I realized not only was he NOT in the Navy but he had never flown a plane.
Click to expand...

So was he in A Navy uniform just not OUR Navy uniform? Was it Halloween or should you have tackled this guy and screamed false valor in his face?
 
luvflying thanks for the link good info.a good question to flush out posers.
 
I knew about the reason for the Black Shoes but heard many various stories about why brown, all from the Black Shoes.

Thanks for the link.

Cheers
 
FWIW we don't just wear brown boots/shoes with anything. Looks ridiculous, and also not authorized with uniforms like Service Dress Blue, Whites, etc. Only with flight suit or khakis. Also, it doesn't have anything to do with being carrier qualified. Plenty of NFO's wearing them around too. Used to be that you only got them once you winged and got to the fleet, though I've heard that in recent years, they have started issuing brown flying boots when you begin flight school.
 
Timbeck2 said:
So was he in A Navy uniform just not OUR Navy uniform? Was it Halloween or should you have tackled this guy and screamed false valor in his face?
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He had a US uniform, khaki color, something was not exactly right or current, I am not very familiar with Navy uniforms.
 
35 AoA said:
FWIW we don't just wear brown boots/shoes with anything. Looks ridiculous, and also not authorized with uniforms like Service Dress Blue, Whites, etc. Only with flight suit or khakis. Also, it doesn't have anything to do with being carrier qualified. Plenty of NFO's wearing them around too. Used to be that you only got them once you winged and got to the fleet, though I've heard that in recent years, they have started issuing brown flying boots when you begin flight school.
Click to expand...
Of note, they did change the uniform regs a while back (before I was commissioned) to allow brown shoes as an option with khakis for anyone regardless of whether you were in the aviation community.

Very few outside the aviation community did so and those that did were quite often ridiculed. You occasionally still see Supply and Intel types wearing brown shoes.
 
35 AoA said:
Plenty of NFO's wearing them around too. U
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They also count their traps and get awarded Centurion patches!

I actually thought brownshoes were for all aviators on the officer side. Can't recall if the P-3 guys wore them or not but I thought they did.
 
Zeldman said:
Appears to me that was what he was doing. It sounded as if a little mental illness might be involved as well.
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Were his wings silver or gold? He could have been an enlisted man wearing his silver EAWS "wings".

Brown shoes are awarded to all student naval aviators and NFOs upon successful completion of the Navigation exam in API (very early on in training). They certainly aren't carrier qualed, nor are the P-3 or helo bubbas who also wear brown shoes.
 
Brown shoes went away with Aviation Greens.
 
HornetDriver said:
Were his wings silver or gold? He could have been an enlisted man wearing his silver EAWS "wings".

Brown shoes are awarded to all student naval aviators and NFOs upon successful completion of the Navigation exam in API (very early on in training). They certainly aren't carrier qualed, nor are the P-3 and helo bubbas who also wear brown shoes.
Click to expand...

Gold wings. And after talking to him for 1 minute it was pretty easy to determine he was not a naval aviator or even a pilot. When I made the mistake of asking him if he was carrier qualified, he immediately went into how many times he had landed with battle damage, at night, in hurricane like winds..... I asked what he flew and he started naming many types of planes. He was non-stop talking and was just not making any sense to me. He wanted to show his naval aviators card, his secret clearance, and military intelligence card and a few other cards. I did not think to ask for his military ID.

Pretty sure if I had asked him if he was an aviation warfare specialist he would have started telling me about his combat experience there. He was wearing a naval officers rank. Like I mentioned before, I am not familiar with navy ranks, but he had a silver star on his collar.
 
These is such a thing as a card with your naval aviator number on it.......not commonly carried, I have no idea where mine is. Never heard of a clearance card or a military intelligence card. There is such a thing as a classified courier card, but likely not what he was attempting to articulate to you.
 
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