I like beret, and flight cap. see below, I am not sure the name is correct - flight hat. - - - Updated - - - I dislike all other hats.
What she's wearing is known as a (*)(*)(*)(*) cap (the C word). Some times referred to as a (*)(*)(*)(*) cutter (what you do when your using an urinal) . When being politically correct or in front of civilians it's called an over seas cap. In the Marine Corps there's no such thing as a hat or cap, they are covers. Before the social engineering of the Army, berets had to be earned. Earning anything in the PC military today is considered to be politically incorrect.
Forcing everybody in the Army to wear berets was the single most retarded decision ever made in regards to uniforms. Nobody could make theirs fit properly, they all looked stupid, you couldn't put it on with one hand, it looks stupid, you have to shape it and shave it, it looks stupid, it was uncomfortable, and it looked stupid lol I was so happy when somebody in high brass with common sense finally said let the troops go back to wearing patrol caps. I agree with you 100%, let people who earned the beret wear the stupid thing, never force everybody wear that thing again lol.
As already brought up, technically the military hat is actually referred to as a "cover." My favorite cover is the boonie, this one is Desert Storm era with the 6 color - chocolate chip desert camo. As a civilian these covers are great for fishing.
The beret is better than the cowboy "hats." Wearing one of these, one automatically loses about 20 IQ points.
USAF refers to that as a flight cap...this will have blue and silver braid for company-grade and field-grade officers; solid blue for the enlisted. Certainly a very squared away cover, that looks professional.
What I understand issuing berets to all soldiers was a PR move, thinking that young kids would think they were cool and would join the Army and become an "Army of One." That had to have been the worse slogan the Army ever came up with. I always thought that the beret was to Frenchy looking or feminine looking. I had no problem with Army Special Forces (Green Berets), Air Born or Rangers wearing the beret. First they had to earn it and the dress uniforms back during the 60's were more military looking than today and those who earned the beret always wore bloused boots. But berets just aren't Americana. During the Vietnam War Marines who served with CAP's (Combined Action Platoon) were authorized to wear a blue beret but never saw any CAP Marines doing so and have only see one photo of a CAP Marine wearing one. I think Navy sailors who served on PBR's were authorized to wear a blue beret. The purpose of any cover is to protect your head from the elements. A beret didn't shade your eyes from the sun and was worthless when raining. And the beret had no U.S. Army history or tradition.
I picked up a Vietnam era olive drab boonie cover in 1970 but never really wore it since by that time I was assigned to Sub Unit One 1st ANGLICO and we were always required to be wearing our flack jackets and M-1 helmet. I was never a soldier but a Marine but as for Army headwear goes I thought the Army's "Ridgeway Field Cap" was very military looking. It protected your head from the elements and looked very military. By the 60's it would become called by some as the Castro hat since even Fidel Castro loved the "Ridgeway" cover along with the M-1911 A1 pistol. Castro seemed never to go any where without both. Other links -> http://olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_clothing_boonie_hat.php http://olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_clothing_cap_field_hotweather.php http://olive-drab.com/od_military_gear.php
I used to like the Cuban fatigue hat, the olive green one with the red star in the middle. I don't know what they called it, and it doesn't have anything to do with my politics, but I thought it was 'fierce'.
The ridgeway looks good in the field for sure...very military looking. The boonie could be considered slovenly, but as a practical cover in the field, it did a good job at protecting the head from sun exposure as the brim covered 360 degrees. As I say, as a civilian my boonie is perfect for fishing, I've got a velcro band to hold lures and the brim provides 360 cover from the sun. I do agree the front brim military cover looks military with the added practical value the brim provides actual protective cover from the elements. The flight cap is strictly decorative in that regard, but then again it's not cover typically worn in the field.
The blue cowboy Stetson is just Army Cavalry tradition. During the Vietnam War some officers in the Air Cav would be seen on base wearing the blue cavalry Stetson. To the best of my knowledge they never went out in the bush wearing one except in the Hollywood movies.
The boonie provided some decent protection from the hot sun beating down on the back of your neck. In Vietnam most grunts went out in the bush with a sweat towel. It was an olive drab towel you wore over your neck, mostly for wiping the sweat from your face when you were humping and grunting and when you came across a water source you wet it down and put it back over your neck to help cool you down. But it also protected the back of your neck from the sun.
Haha Army scouts. Yeah we always make fun of them for wearing those hats around too. I don't know what the actual regulations are regarding wearing the Stetson as a scout but I see them walking around with them on occasion. I remember one time the scouts were doing a road march or something and the guy out front was wearing the stetson, spurs on his boots, and the saber on his hip. We just rode by laughing. Scouts only look cool to themselves, everybody else laughs at them lol. Then again at the time I was a tanker so I was automatically required to laugh at scouts via protocol.
These 'Obama Hats' aren't really that new a style, apparently ... They don't look much different than this early one.
The old Marine Corps "Jar Head" cover was before women served in the Marine Corps. When women started serving in the Marines during WW ll they were authorized to wear a cover that was based upon the old "Jar Head" cover and where to be known as girly hats. It was the Obama's administration in the name of social engineering who tried to force all Marines, male and female to wear the girly hat. Marine Corps HQ's said it wasn't our idea, that it came from higher ups. The Obama White House lied and said it was Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus idea but everyone knows that Mabus takes his orders from Obama's Senior Adviser, Valerie Jarrett since Obama appointed Valerie to be in charge of the social engineering of the U.S. military.
Salvation Army makes the best war hats: https://www.google.com/search?q=mil...ch&q=salvation+army+hat&imgrc=B8XNUl_ny75fzM:
How does Obama want women Marines to wear girly hats? IIRC the female marines wore those things long before Obama was in office....
The Obama White House wanted all male Marines to wear the girly hats. Remember when Obama or it might have been Valerie Jarrett who violated the military chain of command and issued an unlawful order for male Marines at the White House to violate their own regulations and carry umbrellas ?
I wasn't arguing for or against, I don't have a dog in that fight, just ran across those two pics and noticed the comparison, but I do see no point in Obama and co. changing the styles. Apacherat is the authority on that issue's history. My favorite 'military hat' is that big fuzzy black thing the Buckingham Palace guards wear.
I was damn happy when I got out of basic and went to the JSA. We wore patrol caps. Soldiers down in Yongsan used to get pissed about that. After that though, it was that damn beret. On the bright side my buddy looks like a Hispanic revolutionary when he wears it.
