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Is the Corps getting a new boot?

Marines are beginning to question the future of their footwear following a flood of new boot sightings that seem to closely coincide with the commandant’s travel itinerary.

Sources at Camp Pendleton, Calif., who attended a speech by Commandant Gen. James Conway during his latest visit there in late October, reported spotting the Corps’ top general wearing a boot with a “hard, rubbery plastic coating” on the tip.

According to Marines who have seen them, the commandant’s kicks sport an up-turned toe — similar to high-tech running shoes — and a tab in the back believed to assist foot insertion.

The only known photograph of the alleged new boot is inconclusive, though squinting hard at the grainy image suggests a discoloration at the tip, which new-boot theorists insist is evidence of up-armored toes. The pull-up tab is clearly visible on the general’s left boot.

Sightings aren’t limited to Camp Pendleton, however. An official at Marine Corps Systems Command claimed to have seen the boot in Quantico, but was unable to investigate further as it was in motion, attached to a Marine of significant rank.

Officially, the Corps has not confirmed the existence of a prototype boot, though sources familiar with the sightings claim that conclusive photographic evidence of the boots exists.

DISCUSS: New boots?