Posted on 06/13/2011 6:19:19 PM PDT by cll
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Army is abandoning the beret, after a failed 10-year experiment.
The black beret, which proved deeply unpopular with American soldiers, will be replaced by a patrol cap for everyday wear, US Army spokesman Colonel Tom Collins said Monday.
The move came after outgoing Army chief of staff, General Martin Dempsey, asked the army's sergeant major "to go out and talk to soldiers across the force and see what was on their minds," Collins told AFP.
"One of the things that soldiers consistently brought up was the desire to wear the patrol cap as part of their duty uniform," he said.
The beret will still be part of the Army's dress uniform, but will no longer be worn in the field as soldiers complained that it was impractical, he said.
"It does not have a visor and doesn't shield the sun, doesn't absorb sweat well," Collins said.
One soldier put it more bluntly.
"I hate wearing a wet sock on my head," Chief Warrant Officer Mark Vino, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, told the Army Times. "Plus it makes head/skin break out."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Yes. At the time it was argued that awarding the right to wear a beret to only elite troops was somehow discrimnatory
Tropical worsted, just like Lt. General Omar Bradley's wearing in the photo I posted. That's the uniform we wore in the summer right up to the early 1960's in The Old Guard; it goes way back to the "brown boot" Army.
I received this comment in an email from a fellow member of The Old Guard Association this am: "Was over at Fort Meade this morning for the Army Birthday/Flag Day breakfast and every soldier I saw was in a patrol cap - and they looked REALLY HAPPY".
I just got an email from HQ. I changed the main part from ALL CAPS to make it easier to read.
1. The purpose of this message is to announce specific changes to the wearing of the selected items with the ACU.
2. Effective immediately, the ACU patrol cap is the primary headgear for all soldiers as the duty uniform headgear. Commanders retain the authority to prescribe the beret for special events such as parades or changes of command/responsibility. The black beret will be retained and worn with the dress uniforms. Those soldiers, who are authorized to wear the green, tan or maroon beret, will continue to do so in accordance with AR 670-1, wear and appearance of army uniforms and insignia.
3. Effective immediately, soldiers may sew on the U.S. Army tape, name tape, and rank insignia as an option at their own expense.
4. Soldiers may sew on all authorized skill and identification badges at their own expense as supplies become available. Initial stocks are anticipated in eight to ten weeks of publication date of this message. Skill and identification badges must be sewn on or pinned on; soldiers are not authorized to mix sew-on with pin-on badges once available.
Mulva?
Delores!
Effective date was/is today.
Dang, that means I was out of uniform when I went to the HQ and PX today!!
Thank you rangerwife. Being an old Sgt, this is the first I’ve heard of it. Thank you for the information.
They’re not supposed to laught or smile.
$40? When did they ever cost just $40? You must have found a pair on the strip off base;)
You must have been an old Cav guy. Col. Robert “Bullet Bob” Wagner used to use that saying all the time. I was in the 2nd ACR (80-81 & 84-87)
$40 in 1975 was one heck of a lot to pay for one set of shiny shoes...
I like how men look in the garrison cap. They look so DASHING!
BTW...can’t stand the general issue berets — everybody looks like they have some awful growth sliding down their faces.
Regards,
No problem! :) Have you seen this one?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110610/ap_on_he_me/us_transgender_veterans_3
I posted it earlier in the thread as well. It makes my blood boil because I have friends whose husbands can’t get mental health care due to combat, but these vets are going to receive mental health care.
I just don’t understand our “new” government. Everything is SO pc to the point of stupid. If those transgender individuals could afford the sex change operation, they can surly afford the post op hormone shots. The wives should encourage their husbands to continue asking the VA for help. In the military we learned the squeaking wheel gets the grease, so they should insist they get the treatment they have earned and deserve. Ask the local congressman and senator for help. Sometimes it takes a lot of paperwork and patience, but it is worth it, in the end.
TSK, TSK, Arrowhead19452. Get with the program. lol
HA!! Well, I didn’t get the message until Tuesday afternoon since we don’t work on Monday. We are on a compressed ten hour schedule which is Tuesday - Friday.
The wives I know are doing just that; testifying on Capitol Hill and personally meeting with members of congress. It’s VA that is slow to move, which the president could do something about as well.
Compressed schedules can really mess up a uniform, can’t it?
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