Young recruits commonly fail to successfully complete basic military training (BMT) on time due to musculoskeletal injuries. Overuse injuries of the lower extremity are the most prevelant, with tibial bone stress injuries (TBSI) accounting for 24-56%. These injuries can delay completion of BMT and/or attribute to attrition of trained personnel for the military workforce. The standard of care for treating TBSI involves rest often followed by medication, manual therapy, exercise, stretching, and other treatments. When the injury results in a tibial stress fracture, clinicians prescribe a walking boot (WB) to be worn daily for 3 to 12 weeks. The WB immobilizes the ankle joint and stabilizes the lower limb, which is thought to reduce the loading environment and promote bone healing. However, the rigid design of a WB results in reduced ankle mobility which decreases muscle activity up to 20–50% and causes significant muscle atrophy to occur within 4 days of boot wear, further delaying the recovery period. Further, the effects of a WB on mechanical loading of the tibia remains unknown. An alternative treatment option is needed to overcome these limitations and allow the bone remodeling process to occur sooner during the recovery phase. Our lab has developed and evaluated a custom Dynamic Ankle Orthosis (DAO) that applies a distractive force to offload the lower leg and ankle while retaining sagittal ankle motion during walking. Previous over ground and treadmill walking studies of acute brace wear found the peak tibial compressive force (10.9%) and Achilles’ tendon force (12%) were moderately reduced in the DAO compared to a clinical WB. Sagittal plane ankle motion during stance phase significantly increased by 54.9% with the DAO compared to the WB. Additionally, in vitro testing on cadaveric lower limb specimens confirmed during dynamic axial tibial loading conditions, as observed during the clinical studies, the DAO provided a significant reduction in tibial bone strain (23.3%) compared to the WB. Moving forward, we propose two studies: Study One will assess the comfort level of wearing the DAO on a daily basis for one week in a healthy adults. Study Two will be clinical investigation that compares treatment outcomes in a TBSI runners population wearing either the DAO or WB. The aims for Study Two will be to assess (1) bone healing quality and (2) functional ability (muscle strength, mobility, muscle atrophy) between the injured and uninjured limb. Calf muscle circumference, bone images, and functional parameters will be analyzed and statistically compared between injured and uninjured limbs. Findings from this study are twofold: they will help determine the feasibility of using the DAO to manage lower extremity injuries that occur during basic training and improve BMT outcomes and will support a new initiative to develop technologies that prevent TBSI from occurring during basic training.