Military Berets and Special Forces

[UncleBill]

I will bow to EJsGirl’s brother’s personal testimony on the Green Beret/Ranger call, since I have been neither. But the guys who don’t seem to be listed on those webpages would take the cake. Delta selects the best of Special Forces and Rangers, above a certain seniority, as I recall.

The Air Force Spec Ops are bad asses in their own right, but their mission tend to get away from the “Locate, Close With, and Destroy the Enemy by Fire and Close Combat” missions and capabilities of the other folks. But if I were stuck in the bad guy’s backyard alone and wanted out, I’d call them first.

[PoorYorick]

Off the subject a bit, but I’ve always heard that Special Forces was a dead end to advancement. If you eventually wanted your stars, stay out of, transfer from, the Green Berets.

Is this true? If so, why?

[PoorYorick]

Make that: “If you eventually wanted your stars, stay out of or transfer from the Green Berets.”

[DWMarch]

@PoorYorick

Off the subject a bit, but I’ve always heard that Special Forces was a dead end to advancement. If you eventually wanted your stars, stay out of, transfer from, the Green Berets.

Is this true? If so, why?

IANAS (I am not a soldier) but from what I’ve gathered courtesy of Tom Clancy, it’s because the stuff special forces soldiers do is too secret for them to get any recognition…

[Rodd_Hill]

Hijack: what’s the significance of the maroon beret and airbourne troops? The British parachute regiment and the US airborne regiment both seem to wear one. Is it just coincidence or what?

No coincidence at all. Most of the US Special Forces were modelled, some quite directly, on British units. The British Commandos chose a green beret as their distinctive headgear (always an important thing in the British Army!), and the Royal Marine Commandos also adopted it.

An excellent article on the WW2 British Commandos here (also mentioning the 50 US Rangers who landed at Dieppe–their first action ever, IIRC): http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/British-Commando

Another page of the same website says this:

The U.S. Army Special Forces wear the green beret because of their links to the British Commandos of World War II. The First Ranger Battalion, commonly known as Darby’s Rangers, were formed in Northern Ireland during the summer of 1942. On completion of training at the Commando Training Depot at Achnacarry Castle in Scotland, those Rangers had the right to wear the British Commando green beret, but the U.S. Army disallowed this, and Rangers never officially wore their berets.

(Full page: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Green-Beret )

The US Delta Force was unashamedly modelled on the SAS, after US Colonel Charles Beckwith’s experience attached to the SAS in the early 1960s.

The British Parachute Regiment began wearing the red, or properly, maroon beret apparently at the whim of the commander, General “Boy” Browning.

http://www.parachute-regiment.com/history/n_africa_sicily_italy.htm

[hermann]

From 1972 to 1975 I was stationed in Germany with the 11th Amored Cav Regiment and we wore black berets, so it wasn’t unique to Special Forces prior to 2000.