In my opinion one of the most interesting pieces of uniform that the US Army (and many other countries and for that matter police) use is the beret. Though they are worn over most of the world today, there are historical artifacts showing that they have been worn since the bronze age over much of Europe, not just in France as pop culture might have you believe. Depending on who is wearing the beret and for what reason the type, color and shape of the beret may vary. Today, many people still wear the beret as a daily headgear, ceremonial headgear, military headgear and police headgear. Each one of these having their own style of wearing, different material, color and tradition (such as strings or not and stiffening device or not). What I want to focus one however, is the American Army berets and their own nuances. Today there are 4 different color berets authorized for wear, the black beret, the maroon beret, the tan beret and the green beret. The black beret currently is the dress uniform headgear for all US Army troops, with the exception of those authorized a different color beret. Though the black beret has been around for several decades and once authorized for only female troops, later on Rangers, and for a time the daily wear uniform (BDU or ACU) for the majority of the Army, today it is for dress uniform only. The maroon beret (of course my favorite) is the distinctive headgear for Airborne troops. The lineage of the American maroon beret goes back to the second World War when some of the American paratroopers were honorable given the right to wear the maroon beret of their British counterparts. While later on some of the advisers in Vietnam wore the Vietnamese French style beret while in country. Through much of the 1970s many units (including most if not all paratroops) but for about a year or so from 1979-1980 they were not authorized. Thankfully, since then, they have not only been authorized, but a point of pride for US Airborne troops. The tan beret was used for a short time in a unit in Alaska, but after 1979 it disappeared from wear until it was assigned to the Rangers in 2001. Many Rangers werent exactly enthused about this, as they had been wearing the black beret that had been stripped from them and given to the majority of the Army. However, the Rangers have accepted the new beret and embraced it as their own. Last but definitely NOT least, the green beret. The green beret also traces its lineage to World War 2 and a link between the first Special Forces troops called Darbys Rangers. In the 1950s the wear of the green beret was banned at Fort Bragg (home of Special Forces) it was commonly still worn overseas by these troops, but this was rescinded in 1961 when it was deemed the official headgear of the Special Forces. Today, all four of these berets are worn by their respective units in the US Army. There is much pride in the wear of some of these due to what is required to wear them, such as the maroon (airborne troops), tan (Ranger troops) and green (Special Forces). To the soldiers who have earned the rights to wear these three berets in particular they take them seriously and often times spend hours upon hours prepping them and shaping them to ensure proper look and fit. I myself have spent hours with a maroon beret on my knee and a razor shaving and shaping my berets, fitting and refitting it until it fit perfect. And for those of you wondering, yes I do try it on every once in a while and it still looks perfect.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 02:48:15 +0000
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