Navy Says YES to Toe Shoes (and Barefoot-like Footwear)

BREAKING NEWS!

In what has become an ongoing saga, the Navy has officially given the "thumbs up" (toes up?) to "Minimalist or barefoot-like footwear (current types such as the Vibram Five Fingers, Nike Free Shoes, Vivo Barefoot Shoes, Inov-8 Shoe, and Feelmax)."

More specifically, NAVADMIN has authorized the wearing of these shoes "with the Navy Physical Training Uniform (PTU) during command/unit directed physical training (PT), individual PT, and activities to include the semi-annual physical readiness test (PRT)."

As you'll recall, the Army took a not-so-friendly stance to toe shoes back in late June, much to the chagrin of many FiveFingers fans.

You can read the official unclassified release after the jump — apologies for all caps, that's just how these types of communications ship (apparently).

ATTENTION INVITED TO

ROUTINE

R 051519Z AUG 11 PSN 075960K27

FM CNO WASHINGTON DC

TO NAVADMIN
ZEN//OU=DOD/OU=NAVY/OU=ADDRESS LISTS(UC)/CN=AL NAVADMIN(UC)

INFO ZEN/CNO WASHINGTON DC

BT
UNCLAS
QQQQ

SUBJ: MINIMALIST FOOTWEAR
UNCLASSIFIED//
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
TO NAVADMIN
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
UNCLAS //N01000//
NAVADMIN 238/11

MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/AUG//
SUBJ/MINIMALIST FOOTWEAR//
REF/A/DOC/NAVPERS 156651/01JAN03//
AMPN/REF A IS NAVY UNIFORM REGULATIONS//

RMKS/

THIS NAVADMIN AUTHORIZES THE WEARING OF MINIMALIST FOOTWEAR WITH THE NAVY PHYSICAL TRAINING UNIFORM (PTU) DURING COMMAND/UNIT DIRECTED PHYSICAL TRAINING (PT), INDIVIDUAL PT, AND ACTIVITIES TO INCLUDE THE SEMI-ANNUAL PHYSICAL READINESS TEST (PRT).

MINIMALIST FOOTWEAR IS DEFINED AS SHOES THAT ALLOW THE FOOT TO FUNCTION NATURALLY WITHOUT PROVIDING ADDITIONAL SUPPORT OR CUSHIONING.  ANY SHOE THAT IS MARKETED AS MINIMALIST OR BAREFOOT-LIKE FOOTWEAR (CURRENT TYPES SUCH AS THE VIBRAM FIVE FINGERS, NIKE FREE SHOES, VIVO BAREFOOT SHOES, INOV-8 SHOE, AND FEELMAX) ARE AUTHORIZED FOR WEAR WITH THE PTU.

FILE THIS NAVADMIN UNTIL CHANGES ARE INCORPORATED INTO THE QUARTERLY BUPERS DIRECTIVE CD-ROM CHANGE CONTAINING REF A.  IN THE INTERIM, FOR MORE INFORMATION ON UNIFORMS AND UNIFORMS POLICY, VISIT THE NAVY UNIFORM MATTERS WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.PUBLIC.NAVY.MIL/BUPERS-NPC/SUPPORT/ UNIFORMS/PAGES/DEFAULT2.ASPX.

POINTS OF CONTACT:
A.  MR. ROBERT B. CARROLL, OPNAV N131U, VIA E-MAIL AT ROBERT.B.CARROLL(AT)NAVY.MIL; CMDCM(SW/AW) MARTHA KASTLER VIA E-MAIL AT MARTHA.KASTLER(AT)NAVY.MIL; PSC(SW/AW) SHAWN LAFFERTY VIA E-MAIL AT SHAWN.LAFFERTY(AT)NAVY.MIL.

RELEASED BY VADM MARK FERGUSON, N1.//

BT
#1553
NNNN
UNCLASSIFIED//

(Source)

Thoughts?  Any reason toe shoes make sense for the Navy but not the Army?  Opine below!

Thanks to all those who sent in this tip!