For me VFFs work wonders at eliminating knee pain. I have been running a lot for the past 6 years, and with regular shoes my knees still are in agony after about 5 miles. When I wear my VFFs, I can run for quite a bit longer without any pain at all--either at the time or afterwords. So while being overweight and running twice a year could definitely be a contributing factor to bad knees it's not the only one.
I can't believe the people at HQ Army really felt so impassioned about the idea that they had to officially ban it. If it's for looks, then they need to ban those assinine knee socks that I'm sure they're still handing out just like the Marine Corps. I have lots of other opinions about the issue, but I have to go to my 3 hour "don't light the dog, house, your hands, your car, your wife, or your hair on fire" preholiday safety standdown.
You should go to my safety brief. It's the same as my SPC's was, 15 years ago. "If you drink don't drive, if you drive, don't drink. Safe sex, no sex, don't have sex with each other." I do, in a nod to the times, put a pitch in for the buddy system and having a plan. 2 minutes and out the door.
My squadron did the did the safest thing they could by sending me to the desert. 3 beers a day. No fireworks anywhere close. This war on terror is a fucking prison, on planet bullshit! I may have to jettison all my flares at takeoff if I fly on the 4th. That's what I call Patriotism.
Agree with Phrogdriver on the use/lose. According to my orthopedic surgeon "your knees are fucked, but you don't seem to notice/care".. The only thing that fucks them is running. I can run barefoot with less pain than with shoes. I have shot knees, have a plate in my left ankle, snapped my femur and I've broken 4 vertebrae over the years. Squats and deadlifts should be the most bad thing I do, but I can do it anyways, because I keep the muscles strong and don't depend on the joints alone (and I use my head when lifting.. If my back is not up to a 405 deadlift or 315 squat, I DON'T DO IT THAT DAY). So of course, if then Navy makes me stop doing the WUBA Chariot for the PRT, they've now taken my running option that wont' have me in a room with swollen knees and icy hot fumes peeling paint off the wall.
I've always been a huge fan of the 4-5 hour "briefs" that are held in a facility with a seating capacity at least 30% less than the size of the organization...and no A/C. The A/V systems have to be bent, delaying the start for at least a half hour. The briefs have to be all Power Point (with the "same old videos", none of which work due to NMCI restrictions), and have to consist of no more than 10% safety-related material. 90% of the stand-around needs to consist of annual training requirements having nothing to do with safety. There has to be one head for the 200+ participants. Oh, and PMO has to be sitting outside waiting to collar everyone peeling out of the parking lots.
I don't know if anyone else saw this article, but the Army banned the Vibrams... I wonder if the other services will do the same? Source: http://gizmodo.com/5818963/us-army-bans-toe-shoes-for-looking-so-damn-goofy
Too many Marines have drank the Kool-aide on VFFs for them to be banned. Even though the SgtMaj Mafia probably hates them, the extreme PT subculture in the Corps is actually strong enough to resist it. The USAF is bureaucratic enough to try to ban them, but not hard-assed enough to successfully enforce it. The Navy? Well, you already have to wear socks with them. I think VFF's days are numbered in the USN. They'll probably say that people will stub their toes aboard ship, or some other lame excuse.
At the far end of that extreme PT subculture there are the outliers who spend tons of money supporting the flashy marketing nutrition supplement industry (stuff that the flight surgeons usually start off by saying "This hasn't been banned... yet"). We have a few folks like that in the Navy too, just not very many of them. On the other hand, I saw a "1.5" bumper sticker (a parody on the 13.1 and 26.2 stickers that are popular with distance runners) in a Navy parking lot. Now that is some great satire- both laugh-out-loud funny and at sad at the same time. And I know there are a few guys like that hiding out in the Corps, they are just few and far between. There is a happy medium in between the freaks and fatties!
As you know, I'm not a VFF dude, but I don't give a rat's ass if someone else wears them. In this day and age of imminent DoD draw-downs... while simultaneously fighting a war in three theaters...I think we've got closer alligators (to use that puke-inducing phrase) than the equipment one uses to remain in shape. They're just shoes, folks. If VFF keep Marines from actually being in the 3-mile club, and Squids from living up to the 1.5 sticker on Jim123's car, let's smile and get on with our lives. Anyway, speaking of the USN: On my last non-Carnival boat ride, the carnival that was the boat's gym put up signs banning them, with no explanation. (No explanations, of course, but the ubiquitous "...or the gym will be secured" warning.) Nobody - including the guy "in charge" of the gym, the ships safety officer (a buddy of mine), etc. - seemed to know why they were banned. They just were - like everything else in SWOville, The Signs said it was verboten, so nobody dared to challenge it. Nobody challenges The Signs...except the Five Man Electrical Band, but that's another story for another day. Flippin' rebellious Canadians. There were a myriad of signs with other nonsensical rules at that gym: No tank tops/sleeveless shirts "...or the gym will be secured"; everyone must have a towel (and it must be a towel, not a washcloth or old t-shirt) "...or the gym will be secured"; you cannot be on the treadmill or elliptical trainer for more than 30 minutes, even if nobody is waiting, "...or the gym...", well, you get the idea. Time to go for a run.
Oh, I did. I also got me a pen and a paper, and I made up my own little signs. Little piece of advice, JOs - if it's written on the white board in the ready room, it's gospel. Even to filthy hinges and field grade. Just throwing that out there.
I said, "Thank you Lord for thinking about me, I'm alive and doing fine" Signs, signs everywhere, there's signs Blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?
As a note, wore my VFFs during some shop tours friday, had no trouble at all. And some of you guys should try wearing them when in civis. Weird looks yes but lots of people ask about them, say how cool they are, and my shins and legs have never felt better.
Is that even a legal order? That's like saying "no orange shoes." Or when the SgtMaj tells everyone "NO SILKIES!!" and all the pilots show up in silkies out of spite. Get a life people.
Not on this AF base! Cannot wear them in PTU. Of course, I don't wear the PTU and nobody here knows what the Navy uniform regs are anyhow, so I don't think anyone would question me...
Sure it's legal. You can always go more restrictive, not less restrictive, on existing standards. Now, "Is it a reasonable order?" is a different question. I've always thought the USMC had enough rules without adding our own personal preferences.
You haven't been out of the fleet that long. These days, you need to publish an LOI to wipe your ass.
Balogna. I'm the OIC for a reserve mobilization, and for the past 5 months sending guys to schools, and the coming 4 months we'll be on active duty before we deploy, I'm using an execution matrix vice an LOI. Of course, I still have a shit ton of ORMs to do, including wiping my ass.
