EGA-DOG Posted April 13, 2020 Share #1 Posted April 13, 2020 I was once told that members of the 5th Marine Regiment wore black pencils on their fourragere and members of the 6th Marine Regiment wore brass colored pencils on their fourragere. Looking at the official unit pages for each regiment, this seems to be the case. My question is, what is the particular reason? It seems that the uniform regulations phased out the black pencils in 2001. Thanks Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QED4 Posted April 13, 2020 Share #2 Posted April 13, 2020 I have never heard of the different regiments wearing different pencils. My understanding was the Black (bronze) was worn with the service uniform and the gold with the dress uniform to match the color of the buttons and collar insignia. Although you see many pictures of the gold being worn with the service uniform I always figured it as unavailability of the bronze ones or like the Navy gray uniforms, most people wore gold insignia because they looked better than black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtMaddoxUSMC Posted April 14, 2020 Share #3 Posted April 14, 2020 Black pencils are still noted in the current regulations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUDMAR1975 Posted April 14, 2020 Share #4 Posted April 14, 2020 Here is the fourrangere that my Frist Sergeant gave me in Jan 1979 when I joined C 1/5. I had never heard of the black tip - gold tip distinction, but was only in the 5th Marines for a short while. I only wore alphas once during the time I was there. Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brig Posted April 14, 2020 Share #5 Posted April 14, 2020 If true, this sounds like unit self-imposed nonsense. When I was with 2/6, the regiment had its only policy on the twists when wearing this. That is, there are two loops that go over the button, one to the front, one to the rear. The twists in the front corresponded to the battalion, and in the rear to the regiment. So the front loop we put on, twisted twice, and the back loop 6 times. The loops weren't big enough for 6 in the rear without bunching up on itself. Wasn't in any published regs anywhere, it was just something 6th Marines decided to do. Don't know what 5th was doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EGA-DOG Posted April 14, 2020 Author Share #6 Posted April 14, 2020 Thank you everyone for your input. Brig, do you remember if yours was brass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brig Posted April 14, 2020 Share #7 Posted April 14, 2020 It's brass, it's still in my closet. Both the one I bought new at the PX, and the old one they issued me that was dated 1985 on the package. The one from the 80s was more of a sea foam green, though, and not from sun fading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wharfmaster Posted April 14, 2020 Share #8 Posted April 14, 2020 When someone says " Black tip vs. Brass tip " I automatically think Armor Piercing is superior to Ball. Wharf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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