Here's why it's an aircraft carrier tradition to catapult a pair of boots

• The US Navy is full of time-honored traditions.
• A personal one for naval aviators is known as a "boot shoot."
• Catapult officers, known as shooters, launch their boots off a flight deck in a final sendoff.

The US Navy has many unique traditions, such as painting sailors' noses blue when operating in the Arctic Circle or putting "pollywog" sailors through a series of disgusting initiation rites while crossing the equator.

Among the peculiar practices is launching a pair of boots off the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in a special ceremony known as a "boot shoot."