US Army gives away the Beret

[Ducimus]

Wow, this smacks of Air Force style shennanigans. I always thought it was stupid the Army went to the black beret. Makes them look like an army of some 2nd or 3rd world nation in my opinion.

Now I have never worn a beret, but this....

"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,"

That says it all right there. It's freaking stupid. And if you think back.... even before the 2001 uniform change, back when only Rangers, airborne, and SF had berets they earned, even they didn't wear them in the field. Because apparently It's a dress item, not a field/utility item. So some Army general decides to make it a field item? Wow... that IS stupid. That is so stupid, it is USAF stupid!

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.

I did earn the privledge to wear a certain hat, so i can understand this. I've always felt a bit of sympathy (or is that empathy) to this. If the hat i had earned privledge to wear was given out to the entire branch, id be royally pissed off.