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U.S. Army Abandons Unpopular Beret for Patrol Cap
Published June 14, 2011
| NewsCore
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Army said Monday that it was abandoning the beret, after a failed 10-year experiment.
The black beret, which proved deeply unpopular with American soldiers, will be replaced by a patrol cap for everyday wear, U.S. Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins said.
The move came after outgoing Army chief of staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, asked the Army's sergeant major "to go out and talk to soldiers across the force and see what was on their minds," Collins told AFP.
"One of the things that soldiers consistently brought up was the desire to wear the patrol cap as part of their duty uniform," he said.
The beret will still be part of the Army's dress uniform, but will no longer be worn in the field as soldiers complained that it was impractical, he said.
"It does not have a visor and doesn't shield the sun, doesn't absorb sweat well," Collins said.
One soldier put it more bluntly.
"I hate wearing a wet sock on my head," Chief Warrant Officer Mark Vino, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, told the Army Times. "Plus it makes head/skin break out."
Before 2001, the black beret was associated with the elite Rangers special operations forces. Many Rangers resented the idea that the hat they had earned the right to wear had been assigned to the entire force.
The uniform change applies to 1.32 million soldiers -- including 566,473 active-duty troops -- and goes into effect immediately. The new headwear comes with a lower price: a beret costs $11.90, while a patrol cap is only $6.50.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/06/14/us-army-reportedly-abandons-black-beret-for-patrol-cap/
