Sir Lucius posted:

If an admiral ever asks me why I'm not staying in I'm going to tell him: it's because of the boots. The 9 inch boot regulation limits personnel footware to pretty much only Bates -- there are different styles of Bates, but all around Bates are just a poo poo boot. The 8 inch Belleville flight deck boots are much more comfortable, they last longer, they're easier to put on, and overall they're way higher quality material. What about the safety of non-skid you might ask? As a shore "sailor" I don't give a gently caress about non-skid, but the fact still remains there is no comfortable boot option for the majority the Navy. Bates fall apart, Bates squeak when you walk. Bates seemed to be designed in such a way that every 2 years your uniform balance is going to go into a new pair of Bates. Why is it like this? Because someone, somewhere got a lot of money to make Bates the regulation boot -- it is in no way in the interest of Navy, but purely been done for personal gains.

Now you might be saying, "it's just a loving boot, who cares?" Well it isn't. It's all the little annoying poo poo that really isn't a huge deal, but the only reason it's done is because someone higher up in the chain is benefiting from it. And it's created an environment where I don't want to be a part of the esprit de corps. I don't want to go to command functions or divisional outings and pretend I'm having fun. I think the Navy Ball is a huge circle jerk, a waste of manpower, and should be completely abolished. In fact, you've taken something that should be fun, and turned it into a doughnut selling event so that you can promote people who are willing to jump through hoops to pad their eval. Once upon a time the Navy may have been a lifestyle, but now it's just a day job. The majority of people don't like to hang out with their bosses after work, especially when pretty much anything fun you can do could get you in trouble.

So with all due respect, the reason I'm not staying in, sir, is because my boots are out of regs. I'll turn down anchors, I'll turn down a $75,000 SRB -- if I can't be comfortable on my feet then I'd rather get out.