Hey – us Old Farts gotta bitch about something.
That's not bitchin' - you're just telling it like it is.
When I enlisted (61) there really were brown boots to go along with the M1s for BCT (got my M1 thumb on the last day of basic as we were preparing for the graduation parade). Depending on foot size about half of the guys got brown boots along with a bottle of black dye. I got black boots.