Posted on 04/21/2009 10:30:47 AM PDT by llevrok
April 20, 2009: U.S. Army troops are becoming more energetic and vocal in efforts to get rid of the black beret they have been forced to wear for the past eight years. Back in 2000, the U.S. Army commander (Chief Of Staff) general Eric Shinseki ordered that the black beret replace the traditional billed cap (which had been used for nearly a century). Shinseki believed the black beret would be a symbol of excellence, reflecting the overall professionalism of the entire Army. He believed the black beret would repair the (largely nonexistent) divisions created by the use of different color berets in some units (red for airborne, green for special forces, black for rangers). Shinseki also believed that, because black berets are (everywhere but in the United States ) worn by armor troops, and in the U.S. by Rangers, the new headgear would reflect a merger of both light and heavy forces. This was a non-issue to most troops. Shinseki also insisted that selecting the color black was not intended as an insult to the Rangers (who were, and still believe that this was exactly what was intended) but was simply the best color to match the battle dress uniform (BDU). This, despite the fact that there is no longer any black in the BDU. Shinseki also wanted to create a "world class uniform" that would be respected by foreigners who came into contact with US troops. But American troops associate the beret with armies that tend to lose (especially the French) and consider it no great honor. Then there are practical issues. The beret is made of wool, and requires more care to keep it presentable. Even at that, no one can agree on exactly how one should wear it. The damn thing is made of wool, and is uncomfortable in warm weather. Since it has no bill, it provides no shade for the eyes when troops have to stand in formation. It also costs twice as much as the patrol cap (the baseball cap live headgear, that is the same pattern as the BDU and is soft and light). But for many formations and occasions, the troops must wear the beret, instead of the patrol cap. Most troops would prefer to use the patrol cap, in camo or monotone versions, instead of the beret.
From the beginning, the black beret was very unpopular. Surveys quickly revealed that the majority of the troops were hostile to the head gear change. But Shinsheki went forward anyway. Current and former rangers, and many members of Congress, appealed to president Bush to reverse the policy back then. But September 11, 2001 came along before Bush could do anything, and the beret issue has been pushed into the background ever since.
But now the troops feel they have won one war, and are on their way to winning another, and would like to get some relief from those damn, stupid berets.
Well, that’s ugly with the digital camo on it.
I wore the one with the prior camo pattern.
The British Royal Marines, Parachute Regiment, SAS, German SKS, Russian Spetnatz, Several Scottish Regiments, and the Israeli military might dispute that opinion
Weren’t any troops “dying” from from no “body Armor” from Jan 2001-11 Sept 2001.
I chatted with some senior Army NCO about six months after the order came down. He was at some course at the time, where the topic was discussed by a dozen senior Army NCO’s....of which none agreed with the idea or the message delivered.
About two years later...I had one Army Captain tell me that this was rated as one of the five dumbest ideas of the decade within the Army.
Well sonny. I wore one that was ALL green. 1968. LOL
Get rid of the Euro 9mm Berettas's while you're fixing things. A good American Colt.45 model 1911. (back when Colt was American).
One reason the Army/military is so confused about the beret/”cap” issue - is the damned thing isn’t a cap...
Little kids wear caps.
Baseball players wear caps.
Dumb ass “rap stars” still haven’t figured out how to wear caps.
In our day, the military wore COVERS....not caps.
Jeeze what feminine pansies they’ve become.
The referred to “soft cap” is nothing of the sort!
It was a UTILITY COVER..... plain and simple.
There was no confusion in the old Marine Corps...
We had it all, with the proper nomenclature.
There were MANY authorized service/climate/functional/MOS appropriate COVERS. But, not a SINGLE CAP!
I guess next, they will call men’s trousers - pants.
In our day, only women wore pants and panties - men wore trousers and boxer/BVD shorts.
They gone too damned far with the metrosexual Army.
Yeah, I guess he didn't have anything else to do. /s
I was one of those that though this would never come to pass.
I’ll be glad to see it go.
It wasn’t Bush’s job to do it.
As CIC, he was civilian leadership.
Uniform decisions are left to the individual services, as it should be.
I can’t recall how many times I took shit for the “Ranger tuck” on my patrol cap. Even blocking it, so it didn’t look like a hand rag was verboten.
I did it anyway.
All that “confusion’, and the USMC still has to come to The Army to design its uniforms and camo.
Go figure.
To make matters worse I think they are made in China.
By the time Bush was aware of it and everybody was complaining about the thing it was too late to turn it around. Millions had been contracted for. They had some quality issues I recall and they were buying the bulk of them from China because there wasn’t anybody in the U.S. who could make that many berets.
The other thing is that Bush had some loyalty to Shinseki. Even if it could have been done Shinseki would have had to retire or resign after his boss publicly humiliated him. Bush did hang with some people a long time.
Background: Shinseki was the 3rd ACR adjutant in ‘78 when then Army CoS Bernie Rodgers put the edict out on multi-colored berets, including black berets for armored/cavalry units. Shinseki always had a hard on about his black beret being taken away and acted accordingly when he attained the position as Army CoS.
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