Posted on Feb 22, 2018
Who wears the airborne tab above their rank on their patrol cap?
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Posted in these groups: 
82nd ABN
Airborne School
82nd ABN Airborne School
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 15
The only place I have seen it were school houses. The picture is of my hat, or PC, when I was at Benning. I was an Platoon Trainer at the Warrior Training Center. I was basically the officer version of a Ranger Instructor. I have only seen the cadre at Airborne school wear the airborne Tab on their PC.
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Cadet 1SG (Join to see)
Now it makes sense, the person who I saw wearing it was a cadre member at airborne school. Thank you.
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SPC (Join to see)
CPT (Join to see), the guys over at Batt wear them on their PC's as well as a marker of those who are the Ranger SMEs. I was just in BLC with three of them. The way they explained it to me was this;
They wear the Tab on their headgear because they do their field problems in sterile uniforms, and the Tab is how they distinguish those who are equipped to mentor and lead those who have not attended the School.
They wear the Tab on their headgear because they do their field problems in sterile uniforms, and the Tab is how they distinguish those who are equipped to mentor and lead those who have not attended the School.
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As others have stated, it is a local exception to policy for specific schools/units. RIs usually have it on their headgear. The fake "recon" tab was worn in the real 2CR at Ft Polk. The Arctic tab is occasionally seen from the guys in Alaska. It follows same rules as the Stetson, it's not authorized, but the commander allows it for morale, tradition, or identification of key personnel (instructors).
Others you may see
Airborne/JM school - black hats
AASLT school - black shirts/hats
Pathfinder - black hats
Cav units - Stetsons/spurs
Ranger tabs on hats - 4th RTB instructors
USAJFKSWCS instructors - SF/CA/PO distinctive hats
As you can see, apart from the Stetson, it's mainly to identify instructors in large classes. This helps for safety and student success. We all wear the same clothes and none of these positions qualify for the instructor badge (for some reason), so having a distinctive piece of headgear allows for quick ID of the key personnel.
Others you may see
Airborne/JM school - black hats
AASLT school - black shirts/hats
Pathfinder - black hats
Cav units - Stetsons/spurs
Ranger tabs on hats - 4th RTB instructors
USAJFKSWCS instructors - SF/CA/PO distinctive hats
As you can see, apart from the Stetson, it's mainly to identify instructors in large classes. This helps for safety and student success. We all wear the same clothes and none of these positions qualify for the instructor badge (for some reason), so having a distinctive piece of headgear allows for quick ID of the key personnel.
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SPC (Join to see)
And the operational Ranger Batts wear the Ranger tabs on their PCs- or at least they did in the 90s.
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Nobody who is following AR 670-1. While commanders are authorized to designate head gear I don’t see who would authorize such shenanigans outside airborne school. Even then they have black hats.
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Cadet 1SG (Join to see)
Thanks Sir, I saw it on an airborne school cadre member but couldn't find it anywhere in AR 670-1.
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