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US Army berets - blue, black, green, maroon, tan...


BEAST
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Definitely looks like the same guy to me. In this and the the other shot you posted it looks like he's wearing a Ranger tab over a DUI I can't make out on the beret. It might be the 29th Infantry Regiment which has long been associated with Fort Benning.

 

However, it doesn't look like he has a Ranger tab over his Infantry School SSI on his left sleeve. Would it be possible to be a Ranger instructor without being Ranger qualified?

 

Unless my eyes are playing tricks it does look like a Ranger tab there, it's a light color, not dark like a White on Blue Airborne tab.

 

It more noticable in the film capture.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

I was going through my collection and came across a brown Canadian made beret that I believe was worn by a US Army Calvary Unit during the time period when just about everyone was wearing berets. I picked it up a couple of years ago at a flea market. Can anyone confirm that this was ever worn?

This would be for E Troop 1st Cavalry, the 172nd Inf Bde (sep)'s Reconnaissance element, it was indeed Air Cav, my first Platoon Sergeant I had in the 4/9th Inf was transferred over in around September 1981 to be this units Aero Rifle (Blue Platoon) Platoon Sergeant.

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Maroon Berets and OD Rip Stops

 

From the September 1977 Soldiers Magazine, GIs of A Co (Abn) 3/5th Inf, 193rd Inf Bde (sep). Note that error in the caption, referring to the entire 3rd Battalion as Airborne, as well as saying 5th Infantry Brigade, rather than 5th Infantry 193rd Infantry Brigade, Soldiers Mag editors should of caught that one :o

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I picked this up recently - flash is for the 101st Aviation Group:

 

attachicon.gif101st beret.JPG

Looks very familiar, oh yeah that's my basement and Japanese mannequin head. Hope you liked the beret! Scott.

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Next are a couple of guys wearing black berets with the unassigned airborne oval with a blue and white airborne tab and jump wings.

 

If you compare the two photos, especially the fabric around the flash, they look like the same beret so it may be something that the airborne guys put together and passed around for the pictures.

 

I don't know about guys passing one around at the unit level, but at BAC we were handed a beret for our pictures (see avitar) and we all had the same one on for pics. I always hated that pic because that is not how I shaped my beret.

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  • 2 weeks later...
seanmc1114

This sold recently on e-pay; I lost out but am attaching the pic for study purposes. That flash is different than the plastic-encased badges mentioned in Hudspeath's book, as well as the leather ones shown in a related thread.

 

attachicon.gifberet.jpg

This seems to be the same type of beret/insignia combination worn by a member of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment but without the white plastic backing behind his rank insignia. However, the pin on Sergeant chevrons look like they may be polished brass instead of subdued.

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Re #42, 48 and 49: The DUI is the bogus Ranger Trng Bn one -- never approved by TIOH but worn both as a DUI and as a pocket patch -- with a powder horn, CSA flag, etc. These guys were probably part of the Ranger Training Bn of the Inf School, who often acted as instructors for hand-to-hand combat, bayonet drill and PT, for officer and enlisted trainees.. (They were meatheads and proud of it...made the Black Hats at the Abn course look like kindly teachers.

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  • 10 months later...

This apparently is an original plastic 11th ACR beret badge, made in Germany and obtained by a veteran of the regiment. "SK" on clutches stands for Stephan Kramer, the manufacturer.

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This apparently is an original plastic 11th ACR beret badge, made in Germany and obtained by a veteran of the regiment. "SK" on clutches stands for Stephan Kramer, the manufacturer.

attachicon.gif11cav.jpg

Very nice, rare I would think right? How is the DI attached to this plastic oval? it seems it's the plastic oval itself that has the clutch posts attached, like it was made that way specifically. Or is it the case of the the oval having two holes and the DI's clutch post inserted though the holes?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Picked up a few Cold War berets in the last month; one is this one which has the DI for the163rd Armored Cavalry (3rd Squadron, NV NG). At first I thought it was the ubiquitous red/white flash used by several armored units of the era (which essentially it is) but upon close examination it has a maroon border which is attributed in Hudspeath's book to the 2/8 Cavalry - a minor difference.

 

This is how it looked when I got it but I've since given it several rinsings.

 

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I wanted to put this photo in here; it's from another thread and originally uploaded by Gil Sanow.

 

Also - Bill Emerson, author of a couple insignia reference books (and a former adjutant of the 11th ACR) has stated that about 80% of the soldiers in the regiment wore the plastic badge.

 

post-257-0-58949200-1403854645.jpg

 

 

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I wanted to put this photo in here; it's from another thread and originally uploaded by Gil Sanow.

 

Also - Bill Emerson, author of a couple insignia reference books (and a former adjutant of the 11th ACR) has stated that about 80% of the soldiers in the regiment wore the plastic badge.

 

attachicon.gifEmerson beret - Gil Sanow.jpg

 

 

And your sure the Yellow was White and just discolored from age? This one and the one posted previously by itself sure looks specifically made in Yellow.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Certificate from the 1970s authorizing a trooper of the 82nd Airborne Division to wear the maroon beret. It is signed by MG Roscoe Robinson, Jr. who commanded the 82nd from 11 October 1976 to 1 December 1978.

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  • 1 month later...

Here's a couple of shots of soldiers of Company D 57th Signal Battalion 1974-1975 wearing Signal Corps orange berets.

There's a formation standing behind the marching Signal Company with what appears to be Maroon? Berets, or could they be Brick Red for Transportation Corps, or Scarlet for Ord? We're also seeing a glimpse of differant colored Berets in the foreground.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's a soldier from the 4th Battalion 9th Infantry 172nd Infantry Brigade in Alaska - 1976. Black and white photos can be so frustrating at times like this. Would this be an olive drab beret?

post-1761-0-00262100-1410269149.jpg

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In late '67 and 1968, the 1st and 2nd Bn, 27th IR used Combined Reconnaissance and Intelligence Platoons (CRIP) as recon elements. The 2nd Bn wore these berets; I do not know if the 1st did.

 

I believe this is a beret like yours being worn in Vietnam by a member of the 2nd Battalion 27th Infantry.

 

post-1761-0-00377400-1410269228.jpg

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I posted a picture of my father in Post # 45 wearing a similar get-up as this with a white on blue Airborne tab over jump wings on a blue unassigned Airborne oval. Compare it to this one with the same arrangement but with a gold on black Airborne tab instead. It would be interesting to see what SSI, if any, is being worn.

post-1761-0-27954300-1410269520.jpg

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Here are a couple of pictures of officers wearing Ranger tabs over their rank insignia on black berets in the 60's. presumably they are cadre of the Ranger Department at Fort Benning as they are both wearing Infantry School DUI's. Apparently like now the officers would wear their rank on their beret while enlisted cadre would wear the Ranger Department DUI as previously posted.

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post-1761-0-21906000-1410269698.jpg

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Soldier of the 1st Squadron 17th Cavalry 82nd Airborne Division wearing the maroon beret, probably early to mid-70's based on his National Defense Service ribbon. Note that the flash appears to be cut edge.

post-1761-0-55734900-1410269864.jpg

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