From Glenn Beck's Page Two
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Posted on 05/07/2005 7:18:12 AM PDT by wjersey
The American military beret used to be something hard earned ("Mistrial for Lynndie," May 5). Thanks to former Chief of Staff, General Eric Shinseki, however, the Ranger black beret is now issued to all Army recruits — even if desk-bound or in a non-combat zone.
If ever a symbol of excellence and sacrifice in soldiering has been diluted, this is it.
The adoption of a beret for everyone is nothing short of an insult to all elite Airborne, Ranger and Special Forces units, past and present, who've earned the special right to wear the black beret.
If no other good comes of the trial of Pfc. Lynndie England for abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, I hope they snatch that beret off her head — before booting her from the service.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
From Glenn Beck's Page Two
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".....an insult to all elite Airborne, Ranger and Special Forces units, past and present, who've earned the special right to wear the black beret."
Actually burgundy, black, and green, respectively. But the writers sentiment is right-on.
It is an insult. I didn't wear the black beret, but did wear a cherry top.
Have a pic?
Earned, not issued bump.
Makes me sick to see them so cheapened.
I earned my beret in "jump-school" 42 class. I wore my beret with pride in my unit with the 82nd ABN, 1/508.
Ex-president Carter (socialist) tried to take our berets from us because he said that we got into to many fights over our berets. Yes, we did fight for the honor of our berets.
Now anyone gets one, and sure does deminishes the hard training we indured to get one.
Airbourne - "all the way"
Where was all this outrage when the beret issue was first started--I believe it was Bill Clinton who authorized the wearing of a black beret!!!---I wore a green one and had to earn it.
I don't have a military background but I grew up thinking of the beret as signifying something special.
But you don't understand, it was wrong to not be inclusive. By denying everyone a beret you were discriminating and causing hurt feelings. (/SARC.....
I agree with you.
No, ma'am. If I have any, my mother is in possession of them.
HHC 82d Soldier Support BN (ABN) HOOAH!
For all the news-crap we've had to endure because of the actions of this troll-like little dyke, taking it's head off at the neck would have the same effect.
What then did the specialized training consist of, that the soldiers received prior to being able to don the Black Beret on June 16th, 2001?
The soldiers attended a class, where the primary instructors were Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. The soldiers received training from these Paratroopers on the proper wear and care of a beret as headgear.
Despite the United States Army's problems relative to the foreign production of the Black Beret and their requiring the Defense Logistics Agency to break the law (the Berry Amendment) in order to fulfill its needs, it was reported that there is no shortage of Black Berets in the Ft. Bragg area. Throughout the rest of the Army there are great shortages of Black Berets as most of the Berets have been returned, either due to poor quality or because they were made in Communist China.
Since Ft. Bragg is where the most intense opposition exists among soldiers to General Shinseki's plan to steal the heritage of the United States Army Rangers by issuing the Black Beret to the entire United States Army, it makes sense for him to direct the Army to increase the availability of berets in Ft. Bragg, NC. That is after all, the largest concentration, be they Paratrooper or Special Forces soldiers, of beret wearing soldiers in the United States Army.
History will have a special place for General Shinseki. He won't be remembered as the Chief of Staff who 'Transformed the Army' from the cold war era to some future force, after all, there are others with a similar vision and progress marches forward no matter who sits in the Army's top position. Soon enough the Secretary of Defense will be telling General Shinseki what he can and can't do in regards to Transformation anyway as part of his defense review process. Where issues of spending Billions of Dollars are at stake, there is political control, at least budgetary control, of our Military. The Chiefs of each service resent this, as they feel they should have a free hand to direct their services without political or civil control.
Brazenly stealing the heritage of the Black Beret, earned by Rangers through a rigorous selection process, training, standards, and combat might cost only 'Millions' of dollars, at least for the Berets. That is something that surely a Chief of Staff ought to be able to do. The only problem with it, is that General Shinseki has lied to the American people, the Congress and to every soldier who serves on the front lines of our Army in order to accomplish his goal.
The Black Beret being issued to the entire Army is not going to enhance it's performance, for there are no performance enhancing standards behind it. Having a symbol without something tangible behind it leaves the symbol wanting for some claim to credibility as to stature. It's simply not there. We know this and the American people know this also. Repeating the lie will not make it true, no matter how many times the Chief of Staff or his supporters do so.
So, back to the special place that history might have for General Shinseki. Now that he has hung his career on a hat, he has seriously degraded his own credibility amongst his peers, his subordinates, the congress and the American people. It was necessary for the Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to attend a press briefing to support the General, due to the flawed logic of his assertions of a connection between the issuing of the Black Beret and Transformation. Well informed media persons took him to task and it wasn't pretty. They know a lie when they hear one and they know faulty logic when they see it.
The repercussions from this lie are that there are serious problems whenever and where ever General Shinseki appears to advocate ANY plan or vision on the Army of the future. Where there were four or five questions about an issue, there are now twenty or thirty. His ideas are now under the microscope in every manner and from every direction. He has damaged his credibility and therefore, as the Chief of Staff and most senior officer in the United States Army, cannot effectively advocate to fill the needs of an entire branch of service of the United States Military.
When he started out on this process, of wanting for some symbol to instill pride in the force, it would have been an easy matter for him to select anything, ANYTHING, other than the Black Beret of the Rangers. It has already been paid for in blood spilt in foreign lands, defending our nation's interests. A six year period from 1973-1979 that scattered Armour units wore the Black Beret is not a superior claim to wear the beret when compared to the 1951-2001 history of the Rangers. That is the big lie. It is an assault on the intelligence of every soldier serving today, to expect them to believe this lie. Nonetheless, it has been repeated time and time again by the Chief of Staff and his supporters.
Many soldiers throughout the Army will never forget that their service Chief lied to them about this. This era, if we would be ignorant enough to refer to General Shinseki's tenure as Chief of Staff as an 'era', as if it defined an important and unique period of history, is one that American soldiers had thought was over with the election of President Bush. The Clinton Administration ended, and hopefully, the military's disdain for it's top leader could end also. But alas, General Shinseki is like a rude hangover, willing to look down to the American Service member from the top, demanding good faith service, while lying to their faces.
Don't worry General Shinseki. You shall have their good service. They took an oath to deliver it and will be true to that oath. But know this: they look past you, just as those serving President Clinton looked past him, to a brighter future, hopefully filled with persons of integrity in powerful positions, such as the position you currently occupy.
Veteran Ranger Community Position
The rest of the world should know, the veterans of the Ranger Community are saddened to see the Black Beret go to the rest of the Army. We fought hard to keep it in order to honor our brothers who were lost to some of the fiercest fighting our Nation has asked any soldier to participate in.
Please understand that we, the veteran community DO NOT regard this so called "compromise" as a victory at all.
We are disappointed in those who might suggest that the contributions of a single soldier, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, could possibly outweigh the contributions of the over 25,000 Rangers who have served our nation since 1951 and who overwhelmingly opposed his decision to eliminate the Army Traditions under which we served.
We are very disappointed that the Chief of Staff's office used disinformation extensively, to mislead the public, the media, the Congress and Senate to argue the merits of his action.
We know that transforming the Army into a more lethal and deployable force has no logical connection with ending a 50 year tradition, removing the heraldry of one active duty unit, and assigning it to others.
We are disappointed that the review Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz was to conduct may not be conducted, as specifically requested by both President Bush and Senator Warner, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
We strongly believe that a beret of any color worn by soldiers serving in the United States Army should be manufactured in America only.
To all our supporters in the public, lawmakers who have represented us when we asked, we greatly appreciate all of your assistance and advocacy. We hope that those who opposed this action will continue to aspire towards a higher calling: the truth.
http://www.rangerblackberet.com/
(personally, I was a steel pot wearer who respected the 3 Berets for what they were, as shown by their headgear)
As an aside, the beret is about the most worthless piece of headgear ever issued to a soldier. It doesn't block the sun, it shrinks in the rain, it attracts dust like nothing else, and it takes hours to shave and form before wearing for the first time. Don't know why the rangers wanted them in the first place.
Thats not actually true. If your assigned to a Airborne Unit you can wear the maroon beret. It happens quite a bit..
Apparently some groups have been working on stopping this since 2000.
Quote:
THE RANGER BLACK BERET - EARNED, NOT ISSUED
All Rangers Past, Present and Future are counting on you. Many of us have been working this issue day and night since Oct. 2000...
More at the site - http://www.rangerblackberet.com/march_advocacy.php3
I see you beat me linking to that site. My link is just a specific program they were working on since October 2000, and includes some talking points in support of changing back.
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