What do the different color berets in the Army signify?

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.

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.

Yes, life is simple you are (SS) or not. There are no special coverings.

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)

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.

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.