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Culture > Green Beret
The soldiers of the U.S. Army Special Forces wear the green
beret - a distinctive headgear. The beret made its first
appearance in the early 1950s and was approved for wear in the
early 1960s.
The Green Beret was authorized for wear at Bad Tolz, Germany
by the 10th Special Forces Group commander (Col William Ekman)
on November 17, 1955. The Department of the Army did not
recognize the headgear as official - which caused all sorts of
cultural clashes between the Special Forces Soldiers and
conventional commanders and SGMs.
In October 1961 President John F. Kennedy visited Fort Bragg
where he met with Special Forces leaders. Kennedy was a champion
of unconventional warfare
and the Special Forces.
President Kennedy issued a Presidential Directive
recognizing the Green Beret as the "Symbol of Excellence" and
the Green Beret was then made the official headgear of Special
Forces. On April 11, 1962, JFK officially authorized the Green Beret for
U.S. Army Special Forces, calling it "a symbol of excellence...a
badge of courage."
In earlier days enlisted men who were Special Forces
qualified wore the group 'flash' and SF crest on the beret.
Those men non-SF qualified wore a 'candy stripe' with the crest.
Officers wore the flash with their rank on the flash.
References
October 10, 2023,
"How the green beret became the symbol of US Army Special
Forces", by Sara Sicard, Military Times.
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