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

[patches]

Just now, CPTDAB said:

I would like to add some information on this subject from personal knowledge, as I recognize this.  The beret above is fromTroop E (Air), 1st Cavalry, 172nd Inf Bde, stationed at Fort Wainwright Alaska, and was in use in the 1973-1979 timeframe.  The unit was commanded by then- LTC Norman Schwarzkopf, and the First Sergeant was my father, 1SG Everett M. Bell(BSM, AM, PH)(deceased).  I recall that dad was lead on the project, and watching at home the work of designing the flashes, there were several designs, and I believe he and my mother Bobbie worked on those, some were two part designs sewn together.  Ultimately a one piece felt fabric was approved, as shown above.  I distinctly recall the work that went into that, and the final product.  Also, I recall that the Canadian beret was sourced because it was easier to obtain in Alaska at that time, and was 'the Best'.   I do remember Dad donning such a beret proudly when it was finally worn by the unit,  I do not have any photos, however, nor his original, those having been lost over too many relocatons or other events that prevented their retention, at least by me.  I certainly wish I had that now. I have been a militaria buff from a young age, so that is the only reason I have to be able to have retained this information. What a great memory!  Having become a soldier myself, and finally getting my own US black beret at one time, I can attest to the fact that the Canadian wool beret was head and shoulders the gold standard in terms of quality and feel.  That much I do remember also.  Great find!

Great story, I was up there in July 81-Dec 82 in Co A 4/9th, but after the Berets were done away with, E Troop was of course co located near us. My very first Platoon Sergeant in Co A, a Sfc Colby a Vietnam Marine Corps Vet interestingly enough, was transferred out in like September of 81 or so to become the E Troop Blue Platoon's new Platoon Sergeant.

[Tonomachi]

4 hours ago, CPTDAB said:

I would like to add some information on this subject from personal knowledge, as I recognize this.  The beret above is fromTroop E (Air), 1st Cavalry, 172nd Inf Bde, stationed at Fort Wainwright Alaska, and was in use in the 1973-1979 timeframe.  The unit was commanded by then- LTC Norman Schwarzkopf, and the First Sergeant was my father, 1SG Everett M. Bell(BSM, AM, PH)(deceased).  I recall that dad was lead on the project, and watching at home the work of designing the flashes, there were several designs, and I believe he and my mother Bobbie worked on those, some were two part designs sewn together.  Ultimately a one piece felt fabric was approved, as shown above.  I distinctly recall the work that went into that, and the final product.  Also, I recall that the Canadian beret was sourced because it was easier to obtain in Alaska at that time, and was 'the Best'.   I do remember Dad donning such a beret proudly when it was finally worn by the unit,  I do not have any photos, however, nor his original, those having been lost over too many relocatons or other events that prevented their retention, at least by me.  I certainly wish I had that now. I have been a militaria buff from a young age, so that is the only reason I have to be able to have retained this information. What a great memory!  Having become a soldier myself, and finally getting my own US black beret at one time, I can attest to the fact that the Canadian wool beret was head and shoulders the gold standard in terms of quality and feel.  That much I do remember also.  Great find!

Thanks for sharing this information with members of the forum.

[kammo-man]

Black beret with a cool flash worn by a member of the Recon Platoon of the 2n Battalion 8th Cavalry in Vietnam

Cool picture
Do Yih own this one ?
Owen


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[seanmc1114]

12 hours ago, kammo-man said:

Cool picture
Do Yih own this one ?
Owen


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No. I found it on togetherweserved.com

[kammo-man]

Thanks for the link.
That’s a really nice hand tinted photo
Owen


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[seanmc1114]

2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. This is about as 70's as you can get.

[Tonomachi]

Does anyone know if the 82nd Aviation Brigade ever supported the 172nd Infantry Brigade in Alaska?  I found this 82nd Aviation Brigade beret which is Canadian made and was found about 20 years ago at an estate sale in Maryland.  I obtained the beret from the original buyer who had kept the beret in his possession for the past 20 years.  He unfortunately lost the identity of the veteran over the years.  I restored the beret by attaching the correct unit crest which was very difficult due to the thickness of the flash combined with the beret stiffener and leather backing strip.  

 

 

[Tonomachi]

On 12/19/2020 at 7:57 AM, seanmc1114 said:

2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. This is about as 70's as you can get.

I'm guessing those that collect these berets have seen this mint example on eBay?

 

 

[rtd_sf_eng]

When I attended SF training in 1967, we were authorized to wear the beret without a flash only after we completed Phase I.  We could place the flash on the beret only after we graduated from Training Group with orders transferring us to a Group.  The next picture is of my ex after finishing her fifth jump while attending jump school that was conducted by the HALO school cadre in May 1977.  She is wearing the green beret with the 5th SFGA recognition bar or what most called the candy bar.  Later, date I'm not sure, Center changed the policy and that all non-SF qualified personal but were airborne qualified would wear the red beret with the candy bar.  She was also the first female to graduate from the HALO Jump School

[McChizzle]

4 hours ago, Tonomachi said:

Does anyone know if the 82nd Aviation Brigade ever supported the 172nd Infantry Brigade in Alaska?  I found this 82nd Aviation Brigade beret which is Canadian made and was found about 20 years ago at an estate sale in Maryland.  I obtained the beret from the original buyer who had kept the beret in his possession for the past 20 years.  He unfortunately lost the identity of the veteran over the years.  I restored the beret by attaching the correct unit crest which was very difficult due to the thickness of the flash combined with the beret stiffener and leather backing strip.  

 

 

 

[McChizzle]

4 hours ago, Tonomachi said:

Does anyone know if the 82nd Aviation Brigade ever supported the 172nd Infantry Brigade in Alaska?  I found this 82nd Aviation Brigade beret which is Canadian made and was found about 20 years ago at an estate sale in Maryland.  I obtained the beret from the original buyer who had kept the beret in his possession for the past 20 years.  He unfortunately lost the identity of the veteran over the years.  I restored the beret by attaching the correct unit crest which was very difficult due to the thickness of the flash combined with the beret stiffener and leather backing strip.  

 

 

I have been researching the various beret flashes that have been reported/shown on the 172nd's olive-drab berets and I am really struggling to figure out what is real and what is fake.  I do not think this combination of beret and flash is correct.

 

Does anyone know of a good definitive source for this sort of think?

[patches]

In response to the Alaska OD Beret with the 82nd Airborne Division Aviation unit's DI and Flash, who knows why or how it made it on to this beret, a beret who's color is on the books as being the one worn in the 70s by units of the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Sep).

 

The unit of course that was in the 172nd Inf Bde during the period the OD Beret was worn is the 222nd Aviation Battalion, nicknamed outside the unit, outside the unit I guess, as The Rotorheads, their Flash was a diagonal Orange/Red and Black, upper right Black lower left Orange/Red, can not find an image of it to post, and the source I get this from, Stein's Army Patches book, doesn't even have a original depicted, he only has a graphic of it.

 

The DI for the 222nd Aviation Battalion.

[McChizzle]

6 hours ago, patches said:

In response to the Alaska OD Beret with the 82nd Airborne Division Aviation unit's DI and Flash, who knows why or how it made it on to this beret, a beret who's color is on the books as being the one worn in the 70s by units of the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Sep).

 

The unit of course that was in the 172nd Inf Bde during the period the OD Beret was worn is the 222nd Aviation Battalion, nicknamed outside the unit, outside the unit I guess, as The Rotorheads, their Flash was a diagonal Orange/Red and Black, upper right Black lower left Orange/Red, can not find an image of it to post, and the source I get this from, Stein's Army Patches book, doesn't even have a original depicted, he only has a graphic of it.

 

The DI for the 222nd Aviation Battalion.

Do you have a good authoritative list of units that were assigned to the 172nd iInfantry Brigade in the 70s?  That would help me focus my research and learning?

[patches]

3 hours ago, McChizzle said:

Do you have a good authoritative list of units that were assigned to the 172nd iInfantry Brigade in the 70s?  That would help me focus my research and learning?

Yes, Berets, Maroon, were worn again starting in the late summer 1981 by the companies of the Infantry Battalions that were Airborne Status units, these being the C Companies of all the battalions, and other select personnel who were jump qualified that were in direct attachment to the C Companies, mainly the Medics of the Battalion HHCs, Artillery Foward Observers etc.

 

 

Units were split between Forts Wainwright and Richardson. Fort Greely as far as I know did not have Brigade elements posted there, only U.S. Army Alaska units, (which by the 70s were very confusingly known as called the HQ 172nd Light Infantry Brigade or simply 172nd LIB, which took over for U.S. Army Alaska in December 1972, 172nd LIB, which despite the use of 172 and the wear of the patch were not brigade units 

 

Field Components

 

4th Battalion 9th Infantry (My old unit, July 81-mid Dec 82, OD Berets of course were not worn anymore)

 

4th Battalion 23rd Infantry

 

1st Battalion 60th Infantry

 

E Troop 1st Cavalry (Air)

 

1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery

 

222nd Aviation Battalion

 

There was an Engineer Company who's number always escapes me now and again

[McChizzle]

8 hours ago, patches said:

Yes, Berets, Maroon, were worn again starting in the late summer 1981 by the companies of the Infantry Battalions that were Airborne Status units, these being the C Companies of all the battalions, and other select personnel who were jump qualified that were in direct attachment to the C Companies, mainly the Medics of the Battalion HHCs, Artillery Foward Observers etc.

 

 

Units were split between Forts Wainwright and Richardson. Fort Greely as far as I know did not have Brigade elements posted there, only U.S. Army Alaska units, (which by the 70s were very confusingly known as called the HQ 172nd Light Infantry Brigade or simply 172nd LIB, which took over for U.S. Army Alaska in December 1972, 172nd LIB, which despite the use of 172 and the wear of the patch were not brigade units 

 

Field Components

 

4th Battalion 9th Infantry (My old unit, July 81-mid Dec 82, OD Berets of course were not worn anymore)

 

4th Battalion 23rd Infantry

 

1st Battalion 60th Infantry

 

E Troop 1st Cavalry (Air)

 

1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery

 

222nd Aviation Battalion

 

There was an Engineer Company who's number always escapes me now and again

 

This is assume, thank you!

 

Do you remember the beret flashes worn by each unit with the OD Berets?  If so, I would love some help finding good examples of each.  From what I have been able to confirm, 1-60th wore a beret flash that was light blue outlined with white piping.  There are various different beret flashes identified on the Internet as HHC, 172nd--it's quite confusing from all the possible misinformation that is out there.

[patches]

57 minutes ago, McChizzle said:

 

This is assume, thank you!

 

Do you remember the beret flashes worn by each unit with the OD Berets?  If so, I would love some help finding good examples of each.  From what I have been able to confirm, 1-60th wore a beret flash that was light blue outlined with white piping.  There are various different beret flashes identified on the Internet as HHC, 172nd--it's quite confusing from all the possible misinformation that is out there.

For the Beret flashes, do go through this very topic from page 1, lots of original 172nd Inf Bde berets are posted, plus some period photos of them being worn.

[McChizzle]

9 minutes ago, patches said:

For the Beret flashes, do go through this very topic from page 1, lots of original 172nd Inf Bde berets are posted, plus some period photos of them being worn.

 

I have and I am still confused.  Looking for authoritative help.

[patches]

1 hour ago, McChizzle said:

 

I have and I am still confused.  Looking for authoritative help.

Which ones are you confused about?

[McChizzle]

46 minutes ago, patches said:

Which ones are you confused about?

 

All except 1-60th.  I try to use more than one source to properly ID a unit's beret flash and the flashes I find can very or are specific to the old airborne unit in those formations, not necessarily the non-airborne artic soldier's that wore the OD berets.

[rtd_sf_eng]

The 67th Engineer Company was located at Fort Wainwright.  In February-March 1976, my company went to Fort Wainwright for Jack Frost training and while there I purchased all flashes that were worn there, which were made at the post concession cleaners.  And they did wear the OD beret (I referred to it as a 'Buffalo Chip' beret).  Here is the flash from the Engineer Company.

[CPTDAB]

On 1/31/2008 at 5:00 PM, Tonomachi said:

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?

For what it's worth, I would like to elaborate a little more on this.  Given a subsequent mention that various beret flashes (of commercial quality) were available at Fort Wainwright in the clothing sales store in the late 70's, I think that this was among the prototypes that were made in the first batch, due to the felt flash, not commercially produced, and probably sewn on by my mother.  I think that the whole first batch was done at our home on Fort Wainwright.  I can also narrow the time frame down to 1974-1975, more precisely because my father was in the 1SG slot and worked on a variety of felt flashes when that project was undertaken. I wish I had some of the rejected ones! I am trying to find out if my brother may have Dad's beret, which is identical.  I think also that my father, as First Sergeant,  collected the money and ordered the first batch of berets for the unit and my mother sewed the flashes onto them.  That is why the stitching is a little imperfect, she must have sewn quite a few of those in that first batch! 

[patches]

A muted photo, but the Beret will be Black, GI is one William Jeuchter of the 71st LRRP 199th Infantry Brigade (Sep), October 1967 - October 1968, Jeuchter, a MACV RECONDO School Grad, he may of been promoted to Sergeant E-5 by tours end. Not sure what is on the Beret, Wings and Oval??? those unit crests he's wearing are the NCBU DIs for the 199th Infantry Brigade (Sep) maybe it's another DI on the Beret? On the page I found this on states that after his return from Vietnam he was killed while trying to save other men in a Training Accident at Fort Bragg North Carolina, no other details Unit or date, or if he was awarded a Soldiers Medal etc etc about this are given.

 

[patches]

On 1/28/2021 at 8:39 PM, patches said:

A muted photo, but the Beret will be Black, GI is one William Jeuchter of the 71st LRRP 199th Infantry Brigade (Sep), October 1967 - October 1968, Jeuchter, a MACV RECONDO School Grad, he may of been promoted to Sergeant E-5 by tours end. Not sure what is on the Beret, Wings and Oval??? those unit crests he's wearing are the NCBU DIs for the 199th Infantry Brigade (Sep) maybe it's another DI on the Beret? On the page I found this on states that after his return from Vietnam he was killed while trying to save other men in a Training Accident at Fort Bragg North Carolina, no other details Unit or date, or if he was awarded a Soldiers Medal etc etc about this are given.

 

Found more of photos of Jeuchter in this topic, see posts # 161, 162, 163, in post # 166 Member SKIPH mentions a Hand Grenade Range at Bragg named after him in the 70s, so perhaps Jeuchter was a Basic Training Cadre Instructor at the time of he' s actions, at a this range???? (Bragg ran a Basic Training Course from 1966 or so till around 1970-71 or so)

 

[MPage]

1/12th Cavalry!

 

 

[patches]

12 hours ago, MPage said:

1/12th Cavalry!

 

 

That's an interesting one, first best guess is one worn when the 1st Battalion 12th Cavalry and the 1st Cavalry Division was in that TRICAP phase. the late phase. Initially the 1st of the 12th Cav was still fighting in Vietnam when the The Cav was reformed at Ft Hood, in May 1971, it being in the division's 3rd Brigade (Separate) that remained in South Vietnam. It, the 1st of the 12th Cav Colors along with the rest of the 3rd Brigade (Separate) come home to Hood June 1972, and it replaces the 2nd Battalion 12th Cavalry in the division's 1st Armored Brigade as a Mechanized Infantry Battalion, the 2nd of the 12th is inactivated. albeit briefly (2nd of the 12th was my old unit, May 1980-May 1981).

 

Guess the Black Beret showed affiliation for it's assignment to the 1st Armored Brigade, as it was the only infantry unit in the brigade and thus the Infantry Blue Flash, the other two were the 1st Battalion 13th Armor and the 1st Battalion 81st Armor, both these tank battalions were inherited by The Cav from the 1st Armored Division  when the 1st Armored Division is Reflaged into the 1st Cavalry Division in May 1971.