Thanks alot MSG High info is def very much appreciated. Merry Christmas

Ok, been hearing this for a while, and it's time to put it to bed.
I graduated from 19E10 M-48/M-60 Armor Crewman AIT in the Summer of 1989. I was in D-4-13, and the previous summer I was in A-3-81. And back then, when you graduated, you were officially a tanker. You didn't have to do anything else. Hell, you survived several weeks of training, went thru 5 Mil Stakes tests (I know, now it's called Warrior Stakes, or some such), and you were official.You could wear the boots, and when you got to your duty station no one said a thing because you had been thru basic to earn them. I served both reserve and Active Duty (2-77 and 1-68 in Ft. Carson, 4th ID back in the 90's) and took a break in service in 2001. I didn't hear about this "you gotta qualify to wear them" horseshit til I got back in three years ago.
I don't know where it started, but I would assume some cheap ass old bastard who was hitting his RCP (retention control point)with a nasty attitude started it by screwing with some new guys ( I was at Carson in the 90's, lot of old broke dick fat asses with bad attitudes there and then, and f***ing the new buddies was a past time.)
But it's a myth. You go thru that school, and make it, you get your boots. Provided the CO permits. But every CO I had wore his(and considering that OBC or whatever they call it now) was only a couple of weeks long, I'm sure if a New butterbar was permitted without shooting a gunnery, then so should a new boot fresh from Knox.
Also, I've been on crews where the loader and driver were high speed, and the gunner/TC combo wasn't worth a blue f***. How are you gonna punish a new driver/loader when the TC/Gunner were f***bags?
Let's put the myth to bed: Graduate from 19K10 school, and get your boots.

what old head tanker says is absolutely incorrect, i am a tanker right now and you will qualify a tank table 8 before you wear tanker boots. sorry head but maybe in the 90's when you were in you could wear them straight out of basic but not any more. I am at Ft Knox as an instructor putting these privates through and there is no way in hell these privates deserve to wear tanker boots for basic training, basic is a joke now a days it is not hard and you could do it with your eyes closed now. the drill sergeants and nco's hands are tied so tight you can barely get away with yelling at a private. end statement though lets not just give tanker boots as a freebie just because you graduate basic training big whoop go qualify a gunnery with a highly trained crew and put some meaning back into the tanker boots.

I will claim ignorance on some of the traditions of my fine combat arm brothers. I am an 11A in a Warrior Transition Unit. We have a 06 Brigade Surgeon who wears Tanker Boots, I guess they could be prior service, but I don’t think there have ever been female tankers. I could be wrong.

I look at the tanker boots like my Blue Infantry Cord and my Combat Spurs; something you earn. Seems everyone here is too afraid to say something because of the rank involved, but I don’t care. I just want to make sure I have my facts straight before I say anything.