This is in tribute to yet another of my shipmates who died yesterday. We’d known each other since the 70s. He was another Mustang P-3 NFO, made LCDR, and did 30 years. Like me, he went back to work for the Navy after retirement, and we often crossed paths in the DC environment…

The history of the Brown shoes in Naval Aviation!

Courtesy of Rich Keane, Blue Angel Alumni Historian/ Director, Crew Chief #3 / #7 68-71

Naval Aviation officially began 08 May 1911 with the first order of a “Flying Machine” from the Wright Brothers. This purchase also included aeronautical training of Naval personnel who would become the first Naval Flying Instructors who would be the founders in spearheading Naval Aviation as we know it today.

To train these future Naval Aeronautical Aviators in the Wright Brother’s flying machine, Rockwell Field (the first Army airfield in the United States, located on the north island of the island chain in San Diego), was selected and jointly shared with the Navy as the most suitable airfield site. In October 1935, Rockwell Field was transferred to the Navy by presidential executive order of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The last Army units departed in 1939. Later, the Army Corps of Engineers was commissioned to dredge the channel and fill the low areas, leveling the island chain, thus the name “North Island” emerged as Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California.

Six commissioned officers were selected from the surface fleet as the first student Naval Aviation Aviator Trainees to be trained by these Naval Flight Instructors. These pioneer Aviator Trainees coming from the surface fleet wore uniform low quarter, square toed, black rough out leather shoes which served best on the coal burning ships commonly consumed by soot from the ships stacks.

Arriving for duty at the North Island Air Field for training flights, the six students experienced a foreign environment of dust on the soft surface air field. They found themselves being constantly required to remove the dust from their black shoes which was irritating causing them to look for alternatives to this nuisance.

In the midst of their training while often times funding their own petrol expenses, the six discussed alternatives to their problem deciding that brown shoes might serve best to solve their problem with seniors who were putting what they felt was too much into uniform appearance. With that, all six decided that brown high top shoes with brown leggings was their solution. On a Saturday morning, the six located a cobbler shop on 32nd Street in San Diego, California whom they commissioned to produce same at a time and price they could live with. Upon taking custody of their prize a short time later, the test of practical use of their new Brown Shoes and acceptance from their senior cadre members became a function of time.

Within a few days, the practicality of the Shoes of Brown proved to be an acceptable solution to the student Aviators.. The six then met to discuss how to bring about change of the uniform regulation to include the Brown Shoes and high top leggings as distinctive part of the aviators permanent uniform.

With some discussion on how to approach their proposal, they concluded that a petition to bring about change for a distinctive aviators uniform would best serve their plight.

A few days later, they met to compose a petition which would later be approved and endorsed by their seniors and forwarded to the Navy Bureau for consideration. On 13 November 1913, the Navy Bureau signed approval to the uniform regulations to include The Shoes of Brown with Brown high top leggings as part of the permanent uniform for Naval Aerial Aviators.

This change carried itself through World War II to 1944 while logistically; the brown shoes were not in production due to priority war efforts. However, in stock supply would be issued and the wearing of same was still authorized. At the end of the war in 1945, production of brown shoes was again continued and issued until July 1976.

Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr., USN, was a two term CNO from 01 Jul 1970 to 01 Jul 1974. An Admiral from the Surface Navy (Black Shoe) had a desire for significant change within the Navy and its policies. With that, one of his initiatives was to end an era of Naval Aviation with the removal of the Brown Shoes from the Navy.

With the stage set, at 0000, 01 July 1976, the CNO, by instruction to Naval Uniform Department of NMPC, ended an era in tradition of Naval Aviation distinction and pride. “A Naval Aviation tradition came to an end when Brown Shoes were stricken from the Officer’s and Chiefs uniforms. The tradition distinguished the Brown Shoe Navy of the Aviators from the Black Shoes of the Surface Officers.”

Note- Most people just put them in the closet in hopes they would be back when someone at the top got some ‘sense’…

The following is a letter from LCDR William L. Estes, USN (Ret.) to Pat Francis detailing his odyssey to make the higher ups ‘see the light’…

In September 1979, I was assigned to TRARON Ten as a T-2B/C Buckeye flight instructor (The Dirty 100) at MAS Pensacola, Florida. With my keen interest in history, I began initiatives to resurrect The Shoes of Brown as part of the permanent uniform for Naval Aviation in the same spirit as those in lead who first set the initiative. With several cross country flights to the Naval Archives at NMPC in Washington DC, I researched for the original aviators petition in an effort to author, in kind, the same which would be reborn at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, the Cradle of Naval Aviation. Receptive and in support of the Brown Shoes initiatives, Captain Jude J. Lahr, USN, Commodore, Training Air Wing 6, gave the “Thumbs Up with a Sierra Hotel” for same. With that, I drafted a petition which was headed by and reads:

“RESURRECTION OF THE BROWN SHOES – WHEREAS, In the course of history of Naval Aviation, the “SHOES OF BROWN”, first adopted in November 1913, have held a position of revered, cherished esteem in the hearts of all those associated with Naval Air, second only to the “WINGS OF GOLD”, and WHEREAS, in the course of human events it becomes necessary to recognize an overwhelming desire to return the esprit of heritage amongst the cadre of AIRDALES, now – THEREFORE, let the feelings be known that we the undersigned, all duly designated NAVAL AVIATORS, NAVAL FLIGHT OFFICERS, FLIGHT SURGEONS and FLIGHT PHYSIOLOGIST, do hereby affix our signatures and designators to this petition calling for the immediate change to the Naval Uniform Regulations which would allow the “SHOES OF BROWN” to once again take their rightful position below the “WINGS OF GOLD.”

The first and most fitting to sign was Captain Jude J. Lahr, USN followed by senior CNET cadre members to include Captain Robert L. Rasmussen, USN, parent Commanding Officers (NASP, NASC, NAMI, NAMRL) and other command seniors, mid-grades and juniors alike and was unanimously received and signed as presented. Numerous requests from commands throughout the United States, foreign ashore activities and carriers on the line requested the petition be sent them for signing via telephone, message and post mail. Upon completion of my shore tour, I was then assigned to USS MIDWAY (CV-41). I continued initiatives with the Brown Shoes petition after receiving a “SH” approval from Commanding Officer, Captain Charles R. McGrail, Jr., USN. After an overwhelming receptive Carrier Air Wing 5 and ships company cadre, Captain McGrail later signed out the petition in Red with “forwarded Most Strongly Recommending Approval” to the CNO/NMPC on commands letterhead stationery with a personal note.

Following my 2.5 year Midway tour, I returned to Training Air Wing 6 as a T-2C Buckeye flight instructor with TRARON Ten. On the morning of 12 Sep 85, while airborne on a APM/Spin Hop with a student, I received a UHF radio call from the squadron duty officer (SDO) to “BUSTER” return to base with no explanation. On return to squadron spaces to meet with the SDO, the Skipper escorted me to his office where he moments later received a telephone call from SECNAV, The Honorable John F. Lehman, Jr. (a Tailhooker himself) who congratulated me as being the spearhead in Resurrecting the Brown Shoes back to the “AIRDALES” of U. S. Naval Aviation. SECNAV Lehman informed me that he was going to announce that month, the return of the Brown Shoes at the 1985 TAILHOOK Convention and that he wanted to personally authorize me to be The First to wear the “Coveted Shoes of Brown” before his announcement.

“When you fight with the spirit, the sword will follow…”

I was one of the many proud aviators that donned brown shoes the following day (not that we had a heads up or anything)…

And yes, we both wore those brown shoes with pride, and had the aviation greens to go with them too!

RIP Buzz, the kids have got the watch now, we trained them well.