"Justin Broderick" wrote in message

Once upon a time all the Navy and Marines wore brown shoes. When the
navy
switched to black shoes, to better go with the white, and blue,
uniforms,
aviation remained with brown shoes. One of the reasons given and the one
that makes the most sense to me was because aviators in both the Navy
and
Marines wore the Marine green uniform, refered to as "Working Green".

Actually the black shoes were first.

Concur.

When green and khaki uniforms were
authorized for aviators in WW1, they had brown shoes to go with them.

There are some very nice photos in the archives of the NAVAIR Museum showing
early aviators wearing russet riding boots that they probably obtained from
their nearest Army Cavalry officer neighbor (the Army having shifted from
black to russet about the time of the Spanish-American War). I would bet a
dollar to a donut that this is the origin of the brown shoe.

It was also in fashion in those days to wear jodpurs, paddock boots, and
half-chaps. I believe I have seen that, too.

More than one Army officer in those days swapped his horse for a flying
machine. That he might have taken some of his gear with him is pretty
logical. That other services might have copied it is also logical (why
re-invent the wheel?).

They also have some very interesting photos of flight crew both afloat and
ashore which shows a really amazing variety of gear even within the same
organization. I suspect that this, more than anything else, must have given
'Shoe captains and admirals the vapors.

Just
before WW2 all officers and chiefs were allowed to wear the khaki working
uniform, but with their regular black shoes and brown shoes as an option.
Aviation officers, who also had the winter green uniform and tan overcoat,
were required to have brown shoes. Most non-aviation officers went with
the
minimum required kit and wore their black shoes with khaki, and a whole
tradition grew up around it.

Can't comment on this, as I have not reviewed either the photos of the day
or the Uniform Regs of the day!g

Bill Kambic

If, by any act, error, or omission, I have, intentionally or
unintentionally, displayed any breedist, disciplinist, sexist, racist,
culturalist, nationalist, regionalist, localist, ageist, lookist, ableist,
sizeist, speciesist, intellectualist, socioeconomicist, ethnocentrist,
phallocentrist, heteropatriarchalist, or other violation of the rules of
political correctness, known or unknown, I am not sorry and I encourage you
to get over it.