Posted 12 years ago
tlmbaran
(136 items)
14th US Army Combat Engineers. 2003-2004, Operation Iraqi Freedom. These guys would go out and destroy I.E.D's....a.k.a. road side bombs.....brass balls if you ask me! My latest Ebay find, only $3.99! Smells like cigarette smoke, but if I were blowing up bombs for a living, I would be smoking to calm my nerves too!
I never liked the idea of the black berets being general issue. I wore a maroon beret for part of my career, but it wasn't about a perceived loss status, it was practicality. In hot weather they bake your brain, leave you with a two-tone forehead and don't keep the sun out of your eyes. In rainy weather they sucked up the water and felt like you had a wet dish rag on your head. In cold weather they were no help at all.
I'm glad they went back to patrol caps. Berets are fine for Class As because they replaced another useless piece of headgear anyway.
Chris-- I was never a fan of the beret either. Even though I am retired, I was glad when I heard that GEN Dempsey made the decision to go back to the patrol cap.
The beret, in addition to its' lack of utility, never really looked good on 50% (or more) of the soldiers that wore it.
Scott
Chrisnp & Scott-
So they ONLY wear a beret with the Class As now? What about the Army Dress Blues? I couldn't imagine them being any kind of practcal out in the field other than the fact they look "COOL"....about as useless as our US Navy enlisted Sailor caps. Wind blows it off your head, it gets dirty easy, doesnt block the sun, doesnt keep your head warm when its cold out, and gets all goofy and misshapen when its wet. Its only good for a beach hat if your get stranded like on Gilligan's Island!...But that's Navy Tradition for you! (oh, in bootcamp, we were taught that if you hold it on your chest just right in the calm waters of a swimming pool, it will help keep you afloat....so if a ship was sinking in an olympic size pool, I'd be safe. Choppy waters of the Atlantic, no so good...) LOL
Another change-- the Class A is now what we used to call Dress Blues. They are still in the phase out of the Army Green Class A uniform.
I believe 2014 is the date that everyone must have the Blues. You will see most of the Army folks wearing the Blues already in a Class A configuration.
Scott
Interesting. So on the Blue Class A uniform, it would be a beret OR a visor dress cap then? (like Honor Guard)
I just did a quick check (Policy Announcement of 20 AUG 08) and saw that the beret is the primary headgear unless the CDR directs the wear of the visor cap (CPL and above).
Also the uniform is called the Army Service Uniform (ASU).
Scott
Well, that explains what I saw on television recently. some general was providing commentary, and I was wondering why he was in blues.
I propose we create a new service ribbon called the "adapt and overcome" ribbon. It will have a roman numeral device like the Air Medal to denote how many uniform changes a soldier has had to endure during his period of service. The ribbon itself will change colors every few years.
Er..I meant Arabic numeral, but heck, why not create Roman numerals too?