Who wears the airborne tab above their rank on their patrol cap?

Cadet 1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 22:47:16 -0500

Response by SFC Greg Bruorton made Feb 22 at 2018 10:52 PM

SFC Greg Bruorton — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 22:52:08 -0500

Usually, it's only the wings that are worn above the rank insignia; not the tab.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 22 at 2018 10:52 PM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 22:52:17 -0500

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.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Feb 22 at 2018 11:08 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 23:08:01 -0500

No one does this. Ther might be special rules for instructors on duty at the Airborne School and RTB (that are RIs). The riggers have their own headgear all together.

Response by MSG John Duchesneau made Feb 22 at 2018 11:11 PM

MSG John Duchesneau — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 23:11:46 -0500

I haven't seen it and its not authorized by AR-670-1 but instructors at the Airborne School might have a local exemption to policy.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 22 at 2018 11:20 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 23:20:39 -0500

I have seen the Ranger (School) tab used in that manner from time to time, but not the Airborne.

Response by 1SG Marc Jensen made Feb 22 at 2018 11:31 PM

1SG Marc Jensen — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 23:31:42 -0500

No one, at least no one is authorized to.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 23 at 2018 8:01 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 08:01:54 -0500

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.

Response by SFC John Hatton made Feb 23 at 2018 10:37 AM

SFC John Hatton — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 10:37:31 -0500

Unknown to me?

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made Feb 23 at 2018 11:28 AM

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 11:28:19 -0500

Above the rank? Never! Above the CMB .. sure :)

Response by SSG Shawn Kent made Feb 23 at 2018 11:54 AM

SSG Shawn Kent — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 11:54:56 -0500

We used to wear the ranger tab at 7th ID in the mid 80s till SGM Mock showed up

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 23 at 2018 12:25 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 12:25:32 -0500

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.

Response by SSG Matthew Koehler made Feb 23 at 2018 12:57 PM

SSG Matthew Koehler — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 12:57:55 -0500

i did not even do that with my Mountain tab...

Response by COL Jon Thompson made Feb 23 at 2018 2:56 PM

COL Jon Thompson — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 14:56:51 -0500

When I was a training officer with the Northern Warfare Training Center in Alasksa in the mid-90's, we wore green PCs with the Mountain tab above our rank.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 24 at 2018 3:47 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 03:47:20 -0400

Personnel who belong to the 1-507th PIR (the airborne schoolhouse part of RTB) all wear the airborne tab above the rank on the pc.

Response by SFC Orlando Jacksin made May 7 at 2020 7:11 AM

SFC Orlando Jacksin — Thu, 07 May 2020 07:11:28 -0400

Yes, if you were not Ranger qualified, we wore an airborne tab on our patrol caps when I was in RTB OPFOR for Ranger School. Some units do some times differently than the big Army does with all types of unofficial or unauthorized stuff. Anyone who served past AIT knows that.