“Medial tibial stress syndrome, tibial periostitis or shin splints is a common injury that affects athletes who engage in running sports or basic activities such as cross country, football, or hiking. MTSS injuries affect the connective muscle tissue surrounding the tibia (bone located near the lower leg). This injury is brought on by exerting too much pressure on the lower leg muscles or excessive impact on the muscle. Consequences of severe MTSS can result in, at worst, broken bones.”

If you run or walk in sneakers, you can stomp with your heel as hard as you like, since it is cushioned. Consequently, people do this all the time.

Try to do this in a boot with hard heel, and it will feel rather strange — and you will walk with a loud klick. And if you try to run any distance that way, you will jar your shins to pieces.

People who are accustomed to going barefoot won’t do it — it is no fun to stomp your bare heel into pavement or hard earth with full force.

The solution is simple — you have to train yourself to run touching ground with toes first, or at least with nearly flat foot. Chinese-style canvas shoes with little cushioning will do it in no time.

As for the Australian army, they should buy their soldiers those little motorized wheel-chairs, and for hard terrain, hire Chinese palanquin bearers.

It is more practical than changing boots in the middle of firefight.

They found that the kids they were recruiting then had grown up in sneakers and thus hadn’t developed the strong shin bones to cope with army boots. There was nothing they could do to improve things except change shoe requirements.

It was something to do with wearing hard-soled shoes or going barefoot during the ages of 8–12. That’s when you can develop those strong shin bones. And of course I can’t find the link so this is all hearsay.