Posted on Dec 11, 2019
Why is the boonie cap so demonized in the army?
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Seriously I wanna know. Mainly from you senior leadership and your mentality when it comes to this specific headgear, or even as to why it's frowned upon in the field when it's clearly authorized to be worn in the field.
Also if you are just going to bash me or make smart ass remarks because I'm asking this question, then don't even leave a comment. Thanks
Also if you are just going to bash me or make smart ass remarks because I'm asking this question, then don't even leave a comment. Thanks
DA Pam 670-1
Uniforms
Army Regulations
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 351
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Sr NCOs fight things like boonie caps because they are busybodies and need something to do.
I am a bit of a contrarian (no surprise, for those who know me).
One AT, I went the other way and ordered that the boonie cap was part of the uniform of the day. The Guard people in the contonement area went nuts, trying to talk about there was a Guard regulation (don't care, we're USAR... and it wasn't true) or a post commander edict (there wasn't) and who authorized it (this guy, with more stripes than you high-speed).
All of the kerfuffle was a lot of fun, frankly. And my troops loved it, especially when it was time for chow. "Refer all questions to the 1SG" was the order of the day, and very few would have the balls to roll up and question me.
Marys.
I am a bit of a contrarian (no surprise, for those who know me).
One AT, I went the other way and ordered that the boonie cap was part of the uniform of the day. The Guard people in the contonement area went nuts, trying to talk about there was a Guard regulation (don't care, we're USAR... and it wasn't true) or a post commander edict (there wasn't) and who authorized it (this guy, with more stripes than you high-speed).
All of the kerfuffle was a lot of fun, frankly. And my troops loved it, especially when it was time for chow. "Refer all questions to the 1SG" was the order of the day, and very few would have the balls to roll up and question me.
Marys.
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1SG (Join to see)
MSG Eryk Yoakam (Retired) - Nonsense level: 11.
You know, last I checked ape-shit CSM didn't have authority to issue article 15s, he'd have to have his commander onbpard. I feel like MAYBE there are better things for him to do.
You know, last I checked ape-shit CSM didn't have authority to issue article 15s, he'd have to have his commander onbpard. I feel like MAYBE there are better things for him to do.
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SGM (Join to see)
1SG (Join to see) - In some instances, such as USASMA, E9's have command authority under 600-20. I don't know all of those circumstances I retired in 2012.
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SFC Pop Pop
Sounds like Anonymous up there wanted to get into a pissing contest with the CSM, won, and it cost one of their soldiers some UCMJ. Is the CSM wrong? 100%. Is he then going to make hell for every one of Anon's troops? 110%. Lesson: sometimes just take your lumps so your juniors don't become targets.
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1SG (Join to see)
LCpl Michael Cappello that is among the best compliments I have ever received. Thank you Lcpl, you made my day
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The best answer is that wearing it makes too much sense. The actual answer is that soldiers do not wear it correctly. They want to shape and form it to look like some Australian sergeants major. So instead of constantly correcting soldiers, leaders just decided to not even let anyone wear them. Pretty sad but that's the truth.
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LCpl Michael Cappello
If that were true, why do Marines not have that problem? Granted that our recruits may be a different caliber of person. I prefer to believe that it boils down to training. We are NOT attempting to look like anything other than a Marine. I suggest that if those "Soldiers" wish to "Shape and Conform" their Boonie hats in order to look "COOL" they should be encouraged to look like the coolest warriors to wear a Boonie hat. MARINES. So simple. No one will ever look UNIQUE. Thereby achieving uniformity. Perhaps they should be TRAINED to remember that they are supposed to be "SOLDIERS" and NOT a fashionista. Then again, it was the Army itself that made the Beret a "fashion statement" rather than a mark of pride for those who strove to excel and earned the right to visible distinguish themselves. Green Berets and and other Spec Forces have earned that title. While RANGERS may Lead the Way, EVERYBODY gets a BERET. They have turned the Beret into a stinking participation trophy. How do you expect "soldiers" to behave. I have NEVER seen ANY of the other branches have the problems that seem to be about individualism as much as I see it with the ARMY OF ONE. There should be no "constantly correcting" and the avoidance there of. IT IS YOUR DAMN JOB !!! DO IT !!! "Smoke" Em like you mean it. Enforce discipline and regulations. Isn't that how you build discipline in the first place? Sound like a bunch of unruly children and their parents letting them get away with it. DISGUSTING. Sounds like your promotion system is nothing more than TIS and TIG.
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PV2 Tommy Smith
"While RANGERS may Lead the Way, EVERYBODY gets a BERET."
Man LCpl you said a mouthful with that one. I always thought that it was wrong to let everyone ware a beret other than the ones who earned it. Now you can't tell who is who.
Man LCpl you said a mouthful with that one. I always thought that it was wrong to let everyone ware a beret other than the ones who earned it. Now you can't tell who is who.
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SPC Keith Lindsey
LCpl Michael Cappello - I completely agree with your comment about the berets in the U.S. Army. In my humble, but most accurate opinion, the Army should go back to C-caps for dress greens (though I think that a hard cap would be much better!) or the hard cap for dress blues. Berets were meant for combat specialties and should return to that.
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SGT David Schrader
I had a CO when I was in the gulf that must have thought he was Crocodile Dundee. It almost looked like he starched his boonie cap to keep its shape.
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I've worn my boonie cap on three deployments just to piss off SGMs, CSMs and O-6s. Had one GO tell me he wished his CSM would let him wear his. The hat isn't a spec-ops thing designed to "break up the human form" (though it does that well), it's a Sun hat, period. It was designed to keep the sun of your face, ears and neck. Several years ago (before OIF/OEF) I took some of my engineers to do a humanitarian project in a southern latitude area and told my supply sergeant to order us some, had to explain to him they were authorized because the commander (me) said so and the CTA allowed it. Had a run in with some touring pouge of a SGM about it while we we there - he failed to notice the "hard hat required" sign on the construction site when he came to "educate me" on the "error of my ways". I told him to get lost (while wearing a full brim construction helmet). After he got back to the states an told on me, I got a phone call from the engineer group commander wanting to know how I'd ordered them because he wanted all of our engineers to have them (both boonies and the full brim hard hats)
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CPT (Join to see)
Sun hat, huh? That makes sense. I always thought it was to keep the monkey spunk and spiders from getting under your collar (which we always kept buttoned)...but that was just Panama.
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SP6 Richard Kellar
They were awesome in the Vietnam typhoon season. Better than using a poncho hood and you could see too shoot without that poncho getting in the way. My 1st SGT thought you might need some extra training if you didn't wear a boonie hat..
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