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 Network Engineer
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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.
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SSG General Services Technician And State Vehicle Inspector
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11 y
SFC, that is true too although he was referring to just berets. I don't think they should be allowed to wear the red ballcap except while conducting airborne operations. I'm sure you know this but it came about so that jumpers would know on the DZ who is a rigger in order to seek assistance.
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2LT Michael Lear
2LT Michael Lear
7 y
Maroon caps worn by Medic instructors
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CW5 All Source Intelligence Technician
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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!
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SGT Jim Jones
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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.
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Cpl Brett Wagner
Cpl Brett Wagner
7 y
You should still be very proud you are part of a very select elite group. A 100 men with test today but only 3 will win the Green Beret.
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SGT Jim Jones
SGT Jim Jones
7 y
Thank you for your statement. I guess I was just feeling down. The Green Beret is my most prized award.
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1SG Henry Minor
1SG Henry Minor
7 y
Berets belong to the specialized units.I retired in 1995 before the headgear change.I have served in Airborne units ,but never earned ,or thought i should wear the Beret
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CW4 Tim Claus
CW4 Tim Claus
>1 y
Pride should come from what you accomplished, not how many items are hung on your uniform. When you have been around long enough you know that badges, medals, etc are not really applied in an even handed and impartial manner.....
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MSgt Electrical Power Production
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Usaf berets large 440x1736
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
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SFC Combat Engineer
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What is a weather parachutist?? Just curious.
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MSgt Electrical Power Production
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They gather and interpret weather data and provtide intelligence from deployed locations while serving as members of Air Force Special Tactics teams with US Army Special Operations Forces.

Combat Weathermen collect data, assist mission planning, generate accurate and mission-tailored target and route forecasts in support of global special operations, conduct special weather reconnaissance, and train foreign national forces.

They are specifically located to provide meteorological and oceanographic support to various components of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
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SFC Combat Engineer
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MSgt (Join to see) - That's pretty cool, I've never heard of them.
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MSgt Electrical Power Production
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Many in the Air Force don't no much about them. Must just recognize Combat Controllers, PJ's and SERE personal and what they do.
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MAJ Michael Steely
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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.
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Cpl Brett Wagner
Cpl Brett Wagner
7 y
LoL
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SGT Joshua Bressel
SGT Joshua Bressel
7 y
2 words: boonie hat.
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SFC Randall Atchison
SFC Randall Atchison
7 y
When I was at Bragg I would watch the troops with the berets fooling with those darn things trying get it straight. Too big of a pain in the butt for me! Give me a soft cap any day!
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CW4 Tim Claus
CW4 Tim Claus
>1 y
Of all baseball caps, my favorite was the derby cap worn with OD fatigues. At least it had some elastic at the back that would help keep the SOB on your head in a stiff breeze.
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MSG Operations Ncoic
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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.
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MAJ N/A
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7 y
Very funny (but accurate) descriptions.
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SGT Jim Ramge, MBA
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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!
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Cpl Brett Wagner
Cpl Brett Wagner
7 y
Thank you for your honesty and service.
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SPC Jelle Matt
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Bergdahl is NOT Airborne. He got to wear a maroon beret because of the unit he was attached to. What a fucking travesty.
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CPL Chris Palmberg
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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.
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SGT Joshua Bressel
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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.
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A1C Lexas Granger
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You guys are dumb with the weird labeling of the berets. Funny, but dumb Alpha Foxtrot.

Tell you what if you see a Red Beret from the Air Force. You obviously needed a nap and they’ll carry you to your bachelor pad and put you to bed with a ba-ba. Oh, wait that’s if you’re Air Force...
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Cpl Brett Wagner
Cpl Brett Wagner
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lol
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SPC Milton Sayatovich
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You guys forgot one color, orange. When I was on active duty the unit I was assigned to was deployed to the Sini desert. We were assigned and ordered to wear the orange berets.
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Cpl Brett Wagner
Cpl Brett Wagner
7 y
You poor bastard
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SPC Milton Sayatovich
SPC Milton Sayatovich
7 y
Thanks.
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CW4 Tim Claus
CW4 Tim Claus
>1 y
Aren't orange mushrooms deadly?????
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PO2 Charles Kokel
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I liked the Stetson better. My brother a friend were Calvary
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SSG Joseph VanDyck
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CW2 John Brookins, only SF qualified in an SF slot can wear the Green Beanie, SF support wears maroon. CPL Wagner...perfectly good airplane, the scariest C130 I ever hurled my self out of was a USMC C 130. This was in 1992.
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Cpl Brett Wagner
Cpl Brett Wagner
7 y
LoL! We do fly some scary a/c. I saw guys patch the skin of an A-6 with a coke can.
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SFC Anthony Camacho
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United Nations: Sky blue
Orange: Multinational Observers (Sinai Desert)
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LTC Larry Hanold
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Wearing a beret should mean you are a highly qualified individual in a specialized Combat unit.
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LTC Russ Smith
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Handing out Black berets for finishing boot camp was right up there with participation trophies. That's just sad. Also the way it was communicated to the field when the uniform change came about was absolutely horrendous. The entire force found out about it through the media rather than through command channels. Finally, taking away the black beret from the Rangers was really insulting and just handing it to any old yokels that finishes basic training. . . It just seems that if you really wanted to give us all berets the tan beret should've been what was issued to the entire force and you would not have disrupted and insulted the Rangers. Having said that, the black beret for all is a horrendous horrible idea and I hope when the new uniforms come out in May the beret finally goes away and should the Rangers desire to go back to the black beret they should be allowed to with all due speed. And I say this as a five jump chump who had the privilege of wearing a maroon beret for very short while with the XVIII Airborne Corps.
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SFC Randall Atchison
SFC Randall Atchison
7 y
When I first went into the Army, Black Berets were worn by tankers!
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LTC Russ Smith
LTC Russ Smith
7 y
I remember in 85 at Fort Lewis the tablets has black berets, no flash or crest.
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SGT Eric Hawkins
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Wags,

Bergdahl wore a maroon beret while assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 24th ID. He is not Airborne certified, he was awarded a Combat Infantry Badge. But, he will lose that as soon as his court Marshall is over. When you are assigned to an ABN unit, you wear the beret for uniformity. But you're still just a dirty "leg!" He never earned ANYTHING!

Sgt. Hawk
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SGT James Colwell
SGT James Colwell
8 y
Okay, easy on the "dirty" leg comments! I agree with you about Bergdahl, but isn't airborne just another way to get to work? ;)
BTW I had asked for airborne school when I enlisted, but did not read my contract carefully enough. The closest I got was running by the jump towers during OSUT. Oh, well!
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SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S.
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On reflection ... I think Mountain should get a beret as well.
How about granite gray?
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PV2 Brandon Gamble
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Black
A 23rd Infantry Regiment soldier wearing his black beret, circa 2000
Main article: Black beret

A black beret was authorized for wear by female soldiers in 1975, and is used also for mechanized units, troops, and guards. The black beret is worn by soldiers in the United Army.[4]

On January 30, 1975, it was officially allowed to be worn by the newly created battalions of United States Army Rangers who had worn it unofficially during the Vietnam War. In 1978, Army Chief of Staff Bernard Rogers required all units to adhere to the uniform regulation AR 670-1, which had not been updated to authorize the black beret for Rangers. In 1979 the new Army chief of staff, GEN Edward C. Meyers, directed that the black beret be authorized wear by Ranger units only. AR 670-1 was updated in 1980 to include this provision.

In 2001, the black beret became the primary headgear for both the service uniform (in garrison setting) and dress uniform for all United States Army troops unless the soldier is approved to wear a different distinctive beret. In 2011, the Army changed back to the patrol cap for wear with the utility uniform, with the beret remaining the headgear for the dress uniform.[5]
Brown
A soldier from the 1st SFAB wearing her brown beret, circa February 2018

Soldiers of the U.S. Army's new Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFAB) are authorized to wear the brown beret—with a brigade specific beret flash and distinctive unit insignia (DUI)—to recognize these new specialized units whose core mission is to conduct training, advising, assisting, enabling and accompanying operations with allied and partner nations. According to an official U.S. Army article, "SFAB soldiers will be on the ground with their partners - fighting side-by-side with them in all conditions, so the brown beret symbolizes dirt or mud akin to the 'muddy boots' moniker given to leaders who are always out with the troops."[6]
Maroon
A former ACG of the 82nd Airborne Division wearing his maroon beret
Main article: Maroon beret

In 1943 General Frederick Browning, commander of the British First Airborne Corps, granted a battalion of the U.S. Army's 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment honorary membership in the British Parachute Regiment and authorized them to wear British-style maroon berets. During the Vietnam War, U.S. military advisers to Vietnamese airborne units often wore the Vietnamese French-style red beret.

HQDA policy from 1973 through 1979 permitted local commanders to encourage morale-enhancing distinctions. Airborne forces chose to wear the maroon beret as a mark of distinction. This permission was rescinded in 1979 when the army Chief of Staff, GEN Bernard Rogers, required all units to adhere to the uniform regulation (AR 670-1). On 28 November 1980, the updated regulation authorized airborne (parachute) organizations to resume wearing the maroon beret. In the interim, airborne units wore baseball caps with silver wings and the oval flash above the rank badge with the fatigue uniform, and the overseas cap with glider and parachute patch with the dress green uniform.
Tan
A former commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment wearing his tan beret
Main article: Tan beret

On 14 June 2001, U.S. Army Rangers assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment were authorized to wear a distinctive tan beret to replace the black berets that had recently become the army-wide standard. The color was chosen by the members of the 75th Ranger Regiment as being similar to other elite units with similar missions worldwide, notably the British, Australian and New Zealand Special Air Service regiments.

The change in color also required modification of the associated flashes worn by the Ranger units, changing the borders from white to black in order to provide better contrast to the lighter beret.
Green
A Special Forces detachment receive instruction aboard a U.S. Naval ship—off the coast of White Beach, Okinawa, Japan—prior to conducting water insertion and demolition training in 1956, wearing their green berets prior to their approved wear in 1961.
The current JFK Special Warfare Center and School Command Chief Warrant Officer wearing his green beret
Main article: Green beret

In the U.S. armed forces, the green beret may be worn only by soldiers awarded the Special Forces Tab, signifying they have qualified as Special Forces soldiers.

U.S. Army Special Forces wear the green beret because of their link to the British Commandos of World War II. The first Ranger unit, commonly known as Darby's Rangers, was formed in Northern Ireland during the summer of 1942. On completion of training at the Commando Training Depot at Achnacarry Castle in Scotland, those Rangers had the right to wear the British Commando green beret, but it was not part of the regulation uniform at the time and was disallowed by the U.S. Army. [7]

The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) had many veterans of World War II and Korea in its ranks when it was formed in 1952. Members of the 10th SFG began to unofficially wear a variety of berets while training, some favoring the red or maroon airborne beret, the black beret, or the green commando beret. In 1953, a beret whose design was based on that of the Canadian Army pattern, and which was rifle-green in color, was chosen for wear by Special Forces units.

Their new headgear was first worn at a retirement parade at Fort Bragg on 12 June 1955 for Lt. Gen. Joseph P. Cleland, the now-former commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Onlookers thought that the commandos were a foreign delegation from NATO.[8]

In 1956 Gen. Paul D. Adams, the post commander at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, banned its wear, even though it was worn on the sly when units were in the field or deployed overseas. This was reversed on 25 September 1961 by Department of the Army Message 578636, which designated the green beret as the exclusive headgear of the Army Special Forces.[7]

When visiting the Special Forces at Fort Bragg on 12 October 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Brig. Gen. William P. Yarborough to make sure that the men under his command wore green berets for the visit. Later that day, Kennedy sent a memorandum that included the line: '"I am sure that the green beret will be a mark of distinction in the trying times ahead".[9] By America's entry into the Vietnam War, the green beret had become a symbol of excellence throughout the U.S. Army. On 11 April 1962 in a White House memorandum to the United States Army, President Kennedy reiterated his view: "The green beret is a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom".[9] Previously, both Yarborough and Edson Raff had petitioned the Pentagon to allow wearing of the green beret, to no avail.[9]
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