Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: Why do the Special Forces wear green berets?
U.S. Special Forces wear the green beret as a distinction of excellence and uniqueness within the Army.
In the U.S. armed forces, the green beret may be worn only by soldiers awarded the Special Forces Tab, signifying they have been qualified as Special Forces (SF) soldiers. The Special Forces beret is officially designated "beret, man's, wool, rifle green, army shade 297".
The black beret is a type of headgear. It is commonly worn by paramilitaries and militaries around the world, particularly armored forces such as the British Army's Royal Tank Regiment (RTR), the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (RCAC), and the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC). Notable non-armored military units to wear the black beret include the Russian Naval Infantry (and formerly Soviet) and Russian OMON units, the United States Air Force (USAF) Tactical Air Control Party (TACP), Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) members, and the Royal Canadian Navy ("navy blue"). It was also worn by the United Kingdom's Royal Observer Corps (ROC) with their Royal Air Force (RAF) uniform, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
Black berets are also worn by navies. In some navies, the naval color called black is officially "very dark blue". The Dutch Navy and Marines wear dark navy blue berets; a silver anchor for the Navy and a gold or dark brown (field duty) anchor on a red background for the Marines. The Portuguese Marines and San Marco Regiment, the Marines of the Italian Navy also wear a dark blue beret. The Royal Norwegian Air Force also use a dark blue beret. Finnish Marine Infantry wear a dark blue beret with the Navy insignia.(Finnish Coastal Jaegers - marine commandos - part of the same Nylands Brigade, wear the green beret).
The FDF international forces' beret is the standard FDF ground forces' green beret, but instead of wearing a silver pin depicting a roaring lion, the international beret features a roaring "golden" lion wearing a "crown".
In 1966, the US Air Force authorized the wear of the maroon beret by Pararescuemen. Initial wear of the beret followed the trend of the US Army Special Forces who wore their Parachutist Badge over the wearer's left eye acting as the beret's flash. Historical photographs have shown graduates of the US Air Force Pararescue School wearing the Pararescueman Beret Flash on their newly earned berets in a Fall 1975 class photograph; however, it is unclear when the Pararescueman Beret Flash became an official part of the uniform.
Army officers, NCOs, and enlisted personnel generally wear gray service uniforms. For tropical areas they wear gray-green service uniforms. Army fatigue uniforms are olive green, and combat uniforms consist of US woodland pattern camouflage and Desert pattern camouflage. The standard headgear for enlisted personnel is the beret bearing the national colors red, yellow and green. Armored troops are distinguished by black berets, and paratroops also by black berets. Special forces wear distinctive camouflage uniforms with green berets.
In the United Kingdom all Royal Marines who have passed the Commando Course wear the green beret. Personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force volunteering for service with 3 Commando Brigade undertake the All Arms Commando Course, completion of which allows individuals to wear the headdress. Commando-qualified Royal Marines always wear the green beret, with the Globe and Laurel cap badge and commando-qualified personnel from other armed services wear the beret, with their own cap badge, when serving with commando units unless otherwise authorised.[6] The Special Boat Service (SBS) also wear the green Commando beret but with their own unique cap badge consisting of a sword with two blue waved lines with the words "by strength and guile"
Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) policy from 1973 through 1979 permitted local commanders to encourage morale-enhancing distinctions. Airborne forces chose to wear the maroon international parachute beret as a mark of distinction. However, due to the variety to headgear utilized at unit level, such as the Stetson being used in cavalry units, this permission was rescinded in 1979 when the army introduced a policy of standardized headgear. Exceptions were allowed for the continued wearing of the black beret (changed to tan in 2001) for the 75th Ranger Regiment & Ranger Training Brigade, and the green beret for Special Forces. On 28 November 1980 permission was given for airborne organizations to resume wearing the maroon beret. Most American paratroopers refer to it as a red beret, which history and tradition mandates, out of respect for their World War II British allies.
The Venezuelan National Guard is the fourth component of Venezuelan Army Force (Army, Navy, Air Force and National Guard), responsible for all military operations (Land, Air, Sea) that secure the public order including antidrug operation, administrative police (customs police and cooperation with SENIAT), external security of jail, public security, citizen security, environment police, and the cooperation with the army, navy and air force for military operations in the defense of the nation. They have one Unit of Special Forces (Grupo de Acciones de Comando) involving many military special operations alongside law enforcement duties. All personnel of the National Guard wear maroon berets.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy authorized them for use exclusively by the U.S. Special Forces. Preparing for a 12 October visit to the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the President sent word to the Center's commander, Colonel William P. Yarborough, for all Special Forces soldiers to wear green berets as part of the event. The President felt that since they had a special mission, Special Forces should have something to set them apart from the rest. In 1962, he called the green beret "a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom".
Members of Gerak Khas wear the Green Beret, a common symbol among the commando and special forces community. The '"Harimau Berjuang"' cap badge is worn with the green beret.
With all the interest in the men of the Green Berets, a film version seemed a long time in coming. Columbia Pictures had bought the film rights to Robin Moore's book before publication, using the title, "The Green Berets", for a screenplay about the training of an SF Team and their deployment in Southeast Asia, but dropped the idea, because of the U.S. Army's many conditions and the U.S. public's dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War. Producer David L. Wolper then bought the rights to "The Green Berets", and dropped the idea for reasons like Columbia Pictures. A screenplay was written by George Goodman who had served with the Special Forces in the 1950s as a military intelligence officer and had written a 1961 article about the Special Forces called "The Unconventional Warriors" in Esquire Magazine. Columbia sent Goodman to South Vietnam to research the screenplay. Wolper later produced "The Devil's Brigade" (1968) with Utah-based National Guard SF soldiers as extras, wearing attractive, but imaginary red berets.
Each corps in the Israel Defense Forces has a beret of a different color and/or a different beret pin worn by its soldiers, independent of rank and position. Israel Defense Forces soldiers wear berets on their heads only on formal occasions, such as ceremonies and roll calls. The beret is placed beneath the left shoulder strap while wearing the service uniform (alef), but not while wearing the combat/work (bet) uniform in the field. On base it is left to the unit's discretion whether to wear berets or field hats. Air force and navy officers, military orchestra soldiers and military police law enforcement soldiers wear combination caps. Formerly, male soldiers of all ranks wore combination caps, while female soldiers wore the garrison cap. In the 1950s, the beret was adopted as the default headgear for the service uniform. The color of the air force beret was blue-gray; armored corps, artillery, and special operations personnel wore a black beret. Paratroopers, following the pattern of the British Army, wore maroon, all other infantry wore olive drab. Combat engineers wore a gray beret. For all other army personnel, except combat units, the beret for men was green and for women, black. Women in the navy wore a black beret with gold insignia while men wore the traditional white sailor cap like that of the US Navy.
In 2018, the US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) authorized the wearing of the brown beret to airman assigned to the 6th and 711th Special Operations Squadrons who specialized as CAAs within the US military. Although not authorized by the US Air Force, these squadrons are authorized to wear the beret while on AFSOC installations. The beret is worn with a US Army style blue and green cloth beret flash but with no unit or AFSC crest.
Several berets in alternate colors to the Army standard black beret are also used. Personnel assigned to units trained and equipped for parachute infiltration, known as airborne forces—such as the 82nd Airborne Division—are authorized to wear the maroon beret while paratroopers assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment wear tan berets. Soldiers who graduate from the Special Forces Qualification Course are authorized to wear the green beret. The Army's newest units, the Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFABs), are authorized to wear a dark-brown beret.
In the Spanish Air Force, the black beret is worn by the Paras: EZAPAC, Escuadrilla de Apoyo al Despliegue Aero (EADA) and SEADA as well as by Military Police Units. Members of EZAPAC also wear a Green Beret with their battle dress, to denote their Special Forces specialization. Traditionally black berets were used to denote para units, the custom originating in the Spanish Air Force, although its now used also by other, non-para units in the Army and the Air Force.
The beret was first introduced in the Portuguese Armed Forces in 1956, when the Air Force Paratroopers adopted the green beret. The Portuguese Army adopted the brown beret for its "Caçadores Especiais" special forces in 1960, generalizing its wear to all units in 1962.
Army officers, NCOs, and enlisted personnel wear generally gray or, for tropical areas, gray-green service uniforms. Army fatigue uniforms were olive green, and combat uniforms were of US woodland pattern camouflage. The standard headgear for enlisted personnel is the beret bearing the national colors of red, yellow and green. Paratroops "(paracaidistas)" were distinguished by black berets, and Special Forces by green berets.
Gendarmerie General Command personnel wears green beret.
Police Special Action teams of General Directorate of Security wears dark green beret.
During the 2011 campaign, "The Philadelphia Daily News" reported that Oh's claim that he served in the U.S. Army Special Forces, commonly known as the Green Berets, was a stretching of the truth. Oh criticized the paper for publishing the tabloid-styled piece and for confusing military uniform and terminology of 1991 with that of 2011. He noted that he did indeed serve as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Army National Guard. He also stated that the reporter had official documentation that his MOS (military occupational specialty) was changed from 11-A, "Infantry Officer", to 180-A, "Special Forces Technician", and that he was assigned a green beret which he had full authority to wear during his time of service. Oh himself did not, however, complete Special Forces training. He defended his military service” but issued an apology not being aware of the uniform changes since 1993 and for any confusion that may have resulted. Several veterans and related groups stepped-forward to defend Oh, including the Green Beret officer who recruited him to join the U.S. Army Special Forces. Veterans criticized the "Daily News"' original story, including the front cover picture of Oh with a green beret photoshopped onto his head, as misleading. As a result, the United Veterans Council of Philadelphia endorsed Oh and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Society made him an honorary member.
The Special Task Force of the Sri Lanka Police wear green berets. Sri Lanka Army Commandos wear a maroon beret while special forces wear a black beret.
At the time of its creation, the Special Forces Tab was retroactively awarded to any Army soldiers previously Special Forces-qualified. In addition, as set forth in Army regulations, veterans of certain categories of former wartime service are also eligible for retroactive awards of the tab. Among these are:Before creation of the Special Forces Tab, Special Forces status was indicated by wearing a full-size unit flash on the green beret. A support soldier (military intelligence soldiers, signal personnel, parachute riggers, clerical and administrative personnel, etc.) assigned to a Special Forces unit wore a 1/4" high bar (nicknamed a "Candy Stripe") below the Special Forces Crest on their green beret. The bar matched the colors of the unit's flash. This was not, however, the norm during the Vietnam war, when all soldiers assigned to 5th Special Forces wore identical unit flashes. After the creation of the tab in 1983 and until January 1993, all personnel in a Special Forces unit wore the same beret and flash. Today, only Special Forces-qualified soldiers may wear the green beret, making obsolete the unit bar under the flash. Each Special Forces Group has its own unique beret flash, which is worn by all members assigned to the unit; Special Forces-qualified soldiers wear it on the green beret while support personnel wear it on the maroon beret.
On 12 October 1961, Kennedy visited the U.S. Special Warfare Center, where his aide, Major General Chester V. Clifton (and friend of the SWC Commander, BG William P. Yarborough) informed Yarborough that the President was keen on the Special Forces — but would not visit the SF base unless they were wearing their green berets. The Army, having previously forbidden the green beret, allowed the soldiers to wear them, lest JFK not visit. The Special Forces displayed their capabilities, impressing the President; so often, in the next years, that they referred to it as "Disneyland." President Kennedy's visit was topped with a Bell Aircraft pilot (dressed in Army fatigues) flying with a rocket belt to the President, and saluting him.
The green beret was authorized for wear by Col. William E. Ekman, the group commander, in 1954, and it became group policy. By 1955, every soldier in the unit wore a green beret as part of the uniform. However, the Department of the Army (DA) did not recognize the beret as headgear. The DA banned the wear of the beret, but it was later restored by President Kennedy, a major champion of the Special Forces.
Among a few well-known historic examples are the Scottish soldiers, who wore the blue bonnet in the 17th and 18th centuries, the "Volontaires Cantabres", a French force raised in the Basque country in the 1740s to the 1760s, who also wore a blue beret, and the Carlist rebels, with their red berets, in 1830s Spain. In World War Two, British officer Bernard Montgomery ("Monty") took to wearing a black beret given to him by a corporal, and it became his trademark. In the 1950s the U.S. Army's newly conceived Special Forces units began to wear a green beret as headgear, following the custom of the British Royal Marines, which was officially adopted in 1961 with such units becoming known as the "Green Berets", and additional specialised forces in the Army, U.S. Air Force and other services also adopted berets as distinctive headgear.
The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) had many OSS World War II veterans in their ranks when it was formed in 1952. They began to unofficially wear a berets of varying colour while training. The color green became favored because it was reminiscent of the World War II British Commando-type beret.[9] The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) deployed to Bad Tolz, Germany in September 1953. The remaining cadre at Fort Bragg formed the 77th Special Forces Group. Members of the 77th SFG began searching through their collections of berets and settled on the Rifle Green colour of the British Rifle Regiments (as opposed to the Lovat Green of the Commandos) from Captain Mike de la Pena's collection. Captain Frank Dallas had the new beret designed and produced in small numbers for the members of the Special Forces.[10]