What do the different color berets in the Army signify?

CPL Wagner: To Caveat what SSG Redondo has stated below, there is a red ball cap that only parachute riggers wear, and that is the only headgear they wear most of the time - at least in their unit and anytime they are performing duties as a rigger. I don't think that technically they are authorized to wear them outside of their unit AO or when they are not performing duties (such as when they are out and about at the exchange or something), but I see them doing this all the time at Fort Bragg so I may be wrong on that.

One of the Army's dumbest ideas, and they've had many. Where's the distinction if everybody has one? Felt bad for Rangers when the black beret was authorized for everyone. Other than the distinctive feature, berets are completely useless!

I was never prouder when I was awarded my Green Beret. It made me feel like I was something special. Then the Army started issuing berets to everyone who had completed basic combat training. Not as much pride in the Beret as before. HHC, 19th SFGA, 1st SF.

The Air Force also wears berets.

CCT/STO – Scarlet
PJ/CRO – Maroon
TACP/ALO – Black
Weather Parachutists – Grey
Security Force – Blue
SERE Specialists – Sage Green

A functionless piece of uniform. At least the baseball cap offered shade. The baseball cap took one hand to put on and it didn’t take special manipulation to “shape “ correctly. The military should be about killing the enemy not how pretty you look. Give me a cap with pockets-extra ammo carriers-knife holder -something-anything functional- not something that takes more time to do nothing but look good.

Black - graduates basic

Maroon - Yard Dart

Tan - Didnt get peered out and was able to stand at graduation

Green - The only one actually earned any more.

The ones that got fucked were the Rangers - about all that needs to be said on the color fiasco! Should have NEVER dishonored them by removing their namesake. As a non-tab bearing leg medically retired MI puke, that is my honor to you fine men and women of the Ranger Regiment! God Bless and Hooah!

Bergdahl is NOT Airborne. He got to wear a maroon beret because of the unit he was attached to. What a fucking travesty.

US troops in Europe began adopting berets at the discretion of unit commanders. They were generally worn as a means of informal differentiation and often followed our Allies' approach. For example, tankers began wearing black berets similar to German tankers to be easily distinguished from the mech units with whom they were often colocated. The airborne beret is the same shade as the British 1st Para Regiment headgear. When, in the 1960s, President Kennedy commented about the absence of berets amongst S.F. troops at a formal review, it was taken as an executive order authorizing wear of the Green Beret. This, amongst other factors, is why the Special Warfare Center at Ft. Bragg is named in his honor... he was considered the patron, almost the Patron Saint of SF.
When General Shinseki determined all troops should wear berets, and chose black as the universal color, the Ranger Regiment switched to tan, the color of the 22nd SAS Regiment, as their distinctive color.

You all missed 2, that are regularly worn by Army units, though, I believe anyone assigned to said mission can wear them. I add them for clarity, since I have actually been asked. Light blue is for personnel who have been attached to the United Nations, or UN duties, such as "peacekeeping" or "peace enforcement"(surprisingly differing levels of danger there), and brick red berets, for troops assigned to the Sainai peace keeping mission. Also, there is a new, though I'm not 100% up to speed on it, ADVISORY force, who have a new, I believe "brown" beret. They were originally to have a "shade of green" beret, but that, and their unit insignia's similarity to that of SF, led to a communal "Shit Fit", in the SF community.