Posted on Jun 24, 2014
Cpl Brett Wagner
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So this is more of a question for my army brothers than it is a discussion. I am curious to know what the colors mean.

Thanks Wags
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SFC Ron Culver
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Going to tje black beret Army wide was one of the dumbest ideas ever inflicted on the Army. I hated that thing from the day I had to start wearing until I retired. Some wannabe spec ops type sitting behind a desk at the Pentagon probably thought it up. It is almost as bad as the idea of going to pinks and tans again. How many dress uniforms do our soldiers need?
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SGT David Compton
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When in the 90's when I was in the berets and the color it meant something. It signified that your unit was Elite and you had earned that by Blood Sweat and Tears. Green was for the Special Forces Groups. Black was for the Rangers. And Maroon was for the Airborne. All of which you had to go through and and preform well enough to pass. Not everyone did. As for myself I did. They should have left that alone. If DOD and the Army wanted to have everyone in a berets, the regular troops should have been issued a Tan beret, or just let them keep the field cap. If a soldier want to wear a Beret they should have volunteered to do the training it takes to earn one.
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PO3 Bob Anderson
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Ranger tan.....much better then black.
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CW3 Kevin Storm
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As someone who just hates the Army Black Beret, I assumed it was so a 4 star could get an in as a CEO of Dominoes Pizza. Because 3/4 of the people looked like pizza chef's at some fast food joint. Seriously, Green: SF, Black Originally: Rangers, jacked up and given to everyone, then the Rangers got the Tan Beret, Airborne: Red
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Cpl Brett Wagner
Cpl Brett Wagner
7 y
LMAO!
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CW3 Kevin Storm
CW3 Kevin Storm
7 y
Don't get me started on the Army's choice in Camouflage. I am convinced a bunch of four stars invested heavily in the company that made the ACU everything. I was in for 34 years, I never saw the Army move so fast on a pattern that didn't match anything anywhere on the planet. I swear to God, I am positive the guy who approved that uniform was one hundred percent color blind and could not tell the difference. At one time a guy brought in ACU TP. I was rolling, it was a joke, but I could see the army doing it, we had ACU everything. You name it, it had that Sage Green pixilation on it. It took as 10-15 years in the 1980's to convert from Vietnam Flax jackets to the BDU ones with the shoulder pads. At least 3 years after 1982, when I joined for a BDU Field jacket to come out. Hell we were issued wool pants left over from WWII until what the end of the 1990's? I am sure some guy in in BFE South Dakota still has his.

But in the Span of a couple of years we pixelated the entire Army, only to realize it sucked? Are you kidding me, It is like we have a running four star joke about one can do something dumber than the previous one. Black Berets, ACU's, ACU everything in the Army, Change the Class A's to dress blues, New PT uniform that reflects more, but make the uniform worse than what it is, how about a PT uniform that offers more reflection, oh wait it doesn't. I Feel Like an NBA wanna be with those last couple of outfits. Now we have a SMA who has his head on right and is doing what I heard for my 34 years of service, go back to Khaki's, but because some 4 star somewhere won't be the deputy Senior executive Emeritus of some defense contracting company making a solid 8 figure income annually, the plan will get killed in favor of some other idiotic device like ...I don't know Star Track PT Uniforms, The Road Guards have to wear Red Shirts with triple PT belts on.
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SGT Richard Smith
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At one time there was a rumor that Cav unites would have cowboy hats I wonder what happened to that
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SPC Jeremy Smith
SPC Jeremy Smith
7 y
This is still the case but they are used for ceremonially purposes such as change of command.
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PFC Cavalry Scout
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7 y
We have Spur and Stetson Friday’s every week.
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SSG Senior Drill Sergeant
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When there brought out the back beret to everyone it was a recruiting tool and a mistake. Most are unable to wear it correctly.
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CPT Jeff Robinette
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Berets used to be EARNED!
RANGERs wore a Black Beret!
SPECIAL FORCES wore a Green Beret!
82nd AIRBORNE wore a Maroon Beret!
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SSG Carl Gamel
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The beret is the worst piece of headgear ever made. It is not waterproof, no bill to shade the sun or keep rain off your glasses, no flap to keep your ears warm in the winter. They should have left them to the Airborne units.
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PFC Robert Shadwick
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Orange for Multination force organization MFO Sinai Egypt
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SGT James Raschke
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The only group that was allowed to wear the Green Beret was of course the Special Forces only to the red beret or maroon Beret went to all Airborne units only three the black Berets went to the Commandos or Rangers only the white boy was going back and forth to get voted back in for Honor Guard and military police units only and that's who I think are allowed to wear the berets.
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MSgt Darren VanDerwilt
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367b844d
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SPC Training Room Nco
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Red: Part of an Airborne Unit
Tan: Part of a Ranger Unit (usually Ranger qualified)
Black: Every soldier gets one in Basic Combat Training.
Green: Special Forces soldiers only are authorized to wear this most sacred of headgear.
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Christina Maziol
Christina Maziol
7 y
You can not wear a tan beret unless you are with the 75th or rtb (Ranger training bragade). Ranger training bragade is for ranger school not the 75th. You do not get one for being "Ranger qualified". Ranger qualified means you went thru Ranger school and are not in special operations. You have to go thru RASP to be in the 75th.
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SPC Training Room Nco
SPC (Join to see)
7 y
Christina Maziol - 75th RGR RGT and RTB are Ranger units, as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Batt all fall under the Regiment. The side note of "usually Ranger qualified" comes form the fact that all Line personnel within the regiment are sent to Ranger School, and are, more often than not, sent back to FORSCOM if they fail to complete the School. The qualification has nothing to do with wearing the beret, however, it comes with being in the unit.
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LCDR Doug Nordman
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Thanks for the info, guys. The berets have been a mystery to submariners who didn't know someone in the Army.
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PO3 Tom Lewis
PO3 Tom Lewis
8 y
Yes, life is simple you are (SS) or not. There are no special coverings.
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LT Leonard Fahrni
LT Leonard Fahrni
8 y
I cross decked from the Navy to the National Guard and played in the Colorado national Guard Band. Right after the Army gave everyone a beret we were playing at some event and an audience member came over to me and was shaking my hand. He said "I know what it means to earn one of those berets." I was embarrassed to tell him that some one with a much higher paygrade had noticed that units with berets had a lot of pride, so figured we would all get a lot of pride by handing us berets. Having stars on your shoulder doesn't necessarily mean you understand cause and effect (or which is the horse and which is the cart)
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SGT James Colwell
SGT James Colwell
8 y
LCDR Doug Nordman could you explain something about submariner uniforms? A friend of mine has a son who was a submariner. I saw a picture of him in camo (blue) uniform. Why does a submariner need to wear a camo uniform? No offense, but the irony of that was pretty funny to this simple old Army grunt.
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LCDR Doug Nordman
LCDR Doug Nordman
8 y
SGT James Colwell -
You're right, James, that uniform's not necessary when submariners are on a submarine, but submariners are also assigned to shore duty at other commands in the submarine force where digital blues are the working uniform of the day.

The Navy's digital blues uniform is unpopular (to put it mildly), and later this year it's being replaced ("retired") by a different camo working uniform which looks more like the camo that the other services are wearing. If I remember correctly it's known as NWU Type III.

Underway on a submarine, the crew (from the CO down to the most junior E-1) wears coveralls with motivational t-shirts, motivational socks, and sneakers. Most of the time, the XO and CMC also authorize the men to grow beards. When my daughter was at sea on a submarine, she requested (and the XO approved) ponytails.
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SFC John Martin
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Dark blue: Cherry backed RAMC cap badge. General service beret.
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SSG James Oliver Nathan Jr
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Special units. Infantry shuold have Blue.
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PV2 David Holder
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Thanks but no thanks, liked our Stetsons far better. Glad I was out before the beret was a thing for everyone.
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SPC Donn Sinclair
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I got out way before the beret era. My son's in now, tried one of his on. Glad I didn't have to wear one. Like any other fashion, some guys can pull it off, most can't. I couldn't.
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SSG Byron Howard Sr
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When I 1st joined Cav got black, armor got gold, artillery got Red. I can't remember the rest I was Cav so I know we had black. Different MOS's got different colors so you could tell who was what.
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SSG Byron Howard Sr
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When I was infantry 11B in 2/12 Cav we wore black berets.
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Matt Moon
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United States Army . Black - Regular Army , Green - Special Forces, Tan - Ranger, Orange- Colition Forces. White - Honor Guard, Sky Blue- United Nations, Red - Military Police. Maroon - Airborne. Brown - Security Assistance Force. Gray - Cadets, Tankers, Sapper & Combat Enginers. Yellow - Unknown.
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