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
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 351
I just retired in 2018 from the Army after 32 years. While in Fort Hood Texas getting ready to be deployed to Iraq in 2006, I was issued my first permanent profile. I have an old injury to my nose that required a skin graft. My nose was considered pre-cancerous and my profile was that I "would" wear a boonie hat for the remainder of my days in the Military as well as putting on sun block at all times while outdoors for any period of time. This was issued by a O-6 dermatologist. While there at Hood I was "ACCOSTED" no less than 3 dozen times by junior and senior NCO's who felt my profile was not justified. Mind you these people were not courteous, they were ruthless and over bearing in their attempt to bully me into conforming to what they decided was right. Why on earth would an O-6 issue me a boonie hat that would potentially save my life as opposed to me obeying "TRADITION". After all is not tradition more important than the safety of our fighting men and women. I even had one SGM forcefully reach up and snatch my hat off my head and tell me I was a damn drama queen for wearing that hat.
One prime example of this also went to the wearing of the beret when, "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.
So to answer your question even when the hat is approved at all times it has to be approved by a Army surgeon or by the command for certain non garrison situations like FTX or outdoor activities. Even when it is approved or in my case mandatory, it will always be frowned upon by the traditionalist within the Military services even if it is justified. That is human nature my friend. While there are many traditions that are set in regulations like AR 670-1, there has to be exceptions and there often is. But just because there is an exception does mean people within the Military services are going to accept them. I am proof of that.
One prime example of this also went to the wearing of the beret when, "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.
So to answer your question even when the hat is approved at all times it has to be approved by a Army surgeon or by the command for certain non garrison situations like FTX or outdoor activities. Even when it is approved or in my case mandatory, it will always be frowned upon by the traditionalist within the Military services even if it is justified. That is human nature my friend. While there are many traditions that are set in regulations like AR 670-1, there has to be exceptions and there often is. But just because there is an exception does mean people within the Military services are going to accept them. I am proof of that.
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SGT (Join to see)
I remember this happening to you! You should've sicced Jerry Fryar on them to talk it out with them while you took care of business! :)
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As if the other headgear wasn't a pain. Almost nobody wore the dang beret IAW 670-1, not to mention "ranger roll" of the patrol cap.
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My unit in Iraq, 04-06, wore it. Except my 1SG. But only on the FOB. There wasn't an issue. Now once we got back home, it got packed away to never be seen again. Until we deployed again to the MFO in Egypt. It was either the MFO specific boonie or the MFO specific beret. Now when I was on state active duty for flood fighting, my 1SG allowed us to wear them, unless the Old Man and CSM where coming out. In my experience it just comes down to COC and operational environment.
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I wore it every day on deployment. Loved that thing. Wish I was standard wear.
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Can't answer your question, but would like to make several points. Wearing a boonie cap allows you to hear better especially in the jungle vs. a steel pot which can distort sound. A boonie cap is also a lot more quiet and certainly not as heavy.
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Is the hat your referring to what I was wearing in the photo. Notice we mostly didn't wear shirts nor socks. We had a Col. in a LOH call down to our CO to tell the troops to put their shirts on as we were out of uniform. Our great CO didn't tell us till the LOH was out of sight as we were in a firefight at the time and he was afraid we would bust a cap on his copter. Lots of rules were overlooked but we performed and got a PUC for those months.
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The boonie hat is the best headgear ever designed by the military. I think it should be the primary headgear for all units in the field or when not wearing a beret. Get rid of the patrol cap. Add rank for garrison, blank for the field.
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Because the Marines wear it in the field. An a soldier should never wear anything that a Marine wears.
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LCDR (Join to see)
The Marine units I was in sure didn't wear it. It was just as demonized in Marine Infantry and Artillery as it seems to be in the Army.
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LTC (Join to see)
LCDR (Join to see) - Mostly Force Recon wore the boonie. Same with the Army Rangers and Special Forces.
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I’m at North Ft Hood under the 1st Army umbrella and we’ve been rocking them at the flightline. No questions asked and no statements made.
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Trang Bang, 1966. I still have that hat. People should enhance their calm when it comes to combat zones. I had a XO that required us to look strac even down range. We squared him away by saluting him several times. He gave up.
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PO3 Edward Riddle
I'm surprised it took a couple of salutes. Tells me a whole lot about this guy. Wrong place to be saluted at all.
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I never understood why the bookie hat was issued and never allowed to wear. In regards to not knowing how to properly wear boo or hats, the same applies to patrol caps and berets, and that goes from PV1 all the way up to CSM. Too many Soldiers want to wear them with their own style, if they even wear them at all.
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SSG Jason Clark
Ignore the typos. Didn’t realize they were there until after I had posted and obviously you cannot edit your comments here.
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SFC Mark Klaers
If the Army is so bothered by this they need to stop issuing caps that can be altered to begin with!
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I agree with majority of respondents that blame this on poor leaders or CSM being bored. That being said, you need to stick around & speak up if you want to shape the future Army. We didn’t get authorization to wear sunglasses in uniform/formations until the mid 1990s, take a look around today. The uniform seems to change every 4-5 years, at least the only people wearing berets today went to a school or belong to a unit that should be wearing them.
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I thought the scouts were allowed to wear them?
Cool question though, never actually thought about it.
Cool question though, never actually thought about it.
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Because the senior staff does not know where the crown and brim is Located on said headgear. The crown does not hold any shape, yet the senior staff demands that it does maintain the same shape as the field cap.i experienced this in FOB Union 3, Baghdad. These were all Army senior staff. Coming from the Vietnam era myself, I can appreciate the qualities of this headgear. For some reason garrison duty is the same as combat duty, it seems. I’m glad to see troops alive and moving, REMFs makes sure your uniform is perfect. I’m glad we don’t have to shine our boots!
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During my time in the Army I was a Tanker, so we didn't see boonie caps. However, when I joined the Air Force we used them quite frequently when not wearing kevlars, especially during my time in the Middle East, with the exception of my time in Saudi Arabia / PSAB. Not quite sure why the Army has a thing about boonie caps.
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I loved mine. The only place I got to wear it was in Silver Flag Alpha. Indian Springs I think? It was good to wear to keep the sun off the neck. Of course none of us wore it properly but I wore it the two weeks I was there.
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I never understood why this wasn’t the daily headgear. Made more sense than that stupid beret. It’s more practical than most pieces of headgear. But I do understand some of the mentioned issues. Heck most soldiers try to make there PC’s special and have to be told to undo it (myself included).
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