Green beret

For other uses of the phrase, see Green Berets.

The green beret is the official headgear as part of the uniform of several military forces.

List of military forces that wear the green beret as part of their uniform

Europe

UK

A large number of UK units wear green berets, in various shades of green.

• Commando Green - All Commando Qualified personnel serving in 3 Commando Brigade and SBS (Army, RAF and RN personnel with some minor exceptions give up the beret on posting out)
• Rifle Green - Gurkhas
• Cypress Green - Intelligence Corps
• Bright Green - Adjutant General's Corps (except Royal Military Police, who wear scarlet; Army Legal Services Branch, who wear black; and Military Provost Staff, who wear navy blue)
• Rifle Green - The Rifles
• Lovat Green - Special Reconnaissance Regiment
• Rifle Green - Essex Yeomanry

Other

• Irish Army Rangers Wing
• Finnish Coastal Rangers (marines)
• Royal Swedish Amphibious Corps
• Cyprus Special Forces
• 1st Raider/Paratrooper Brigade (Greece)
• Swedish Coastal Rangers / Kustjägarna
• Royal Norwegian Jeger Battalion (Rangers)
• Norwegian Border Battalion on the Norwegian-Russian border
• Commando units of the Belgian Paracommando Brigade
• Russian Border Guards Paratroopers
• Dutch Royal Korps Commandotroepen
• French Foreign Legion and Naval Commandos
• Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Infantry of the German Army (except mountain and airborne infantry)
• Infantry of the Swiss Army
• Portugal (two shades of green)
  • Paratrooper Forces
  • Special Operations Forces
• Spanish Army Special Operations Forces
• Spanish Navy Special Operations Unit (UOE)
• Infantry of the Austrian Bundesheer (except paratroops, guard and Commando units)
• Special Operating Forces and Commando units of the Georgian military
• Latvian special forces (Speciālo uzdevumu vienība)
• Croatian Special Operations Battalion and 2nd Guards brigade
• In the Royal Danish Army, a green beret is the mark of combat support units, i.e. combat engineers, logistics, artillery and communication/EW. This is opposed to the black beret of the regular combat units.
• Romanian Mountain Troops (Vânatori de Munte)

Americas

• Canadian Forces Land Force Command - All army personnel, excluding those in the RCAC, CANSOFCOM, Canadian Forces Military Police , and jump units.
• United States Army Special Forces
• Brazilian Army - All army personnel, excluding paras, armor, jungle troops, aviation, special forces, students of Military's Colleges (Colégio Militar) and army formation's schools.
• Venezuelan Army - Jungle troops, counter-insurgency, and special forces.

Asia and Australasia

• Australia:
  • 1st Commando Regiment
  • 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, a special forces unit of the Australian Army

• Bangladesh:
  • East Bengal Regiment,the premier infantry regiment of Bangladesh Army
  • Bangladesh Infantry Regiment of Bangladesh Army wear green berets with red piping

• Israeli Intelligence Corps and Border Police wear a dark green Beret while the Nahal Brigade wears a light green beret.
• Infantry branch of Indonesian Army included the Raider units (except Special Forces)
• Commando Green Beret - Malaysian Special Force Army
• Dark Green Beret - Malay Infantry Army excluded Paratroopers, Malaysian Infantry Army excluded Paratroopers, and Malaysian Intelligence Army
• New Zealand Army
• Infantry of the Singapore Army

United States Army Special Forces

US Army Special Forces

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. Special forces wear it because of a shared tradition which goes back to the British Commandos of World War II. Although it is unusual for American units to wear distinctive head gear, it is the norm in the British Army, where most regiments wear headdress which reflects regimental history. The Special Forces beret is officially designated "beret, man's, wool, rifle green, army shade 297."

The U.S. Army Special Forces wear the green beret because of their link to the British Commandos of World War II. The first Ranger unit, commonly known as Darby's Rangers, was 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 it was not part of the regulation uniform at the time and was disallowed by the U.S. Army.

The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) had many veterans of World War II and Korea in their ranks when it was formed in 1952. They began to unofficially wear a variety of berets while training, some favoring the red or maroon airborne beret, the black Ranger beret, or the green commando beret. The commandos eventually began to work on a standard uniform that would mark them as unique but still show a smart and professional look. In 1953, after extensive research, a rifle-green beret based on the Canadian Army pattern was chosen.

Their new headgear was first worn at a retirement parade at Fort Bragg on 12 June 1955 for Lieutenant General Joseph P. Cleland, the now-former commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Onlookers thought that the commandos were a foreign delegation from NATO.

In 1956 General Paul D. Adams, the post commander at Fort Bragg, banned its wear, though it was worn on the sly when deployed overseas. This was reversed on 25 September 1961 by Department of the Army Message 578636, which designated the green beret as the exclusive headgear of the Army Special Forces.

When visiting the Special Forces at Fort Bragg on 12 October 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Brigadier General William P. Yarborough to make sure that the men under his command wore green berets for the visit. Later that day, Kennedy sent a memorandum which included the line: "I am sure that the green beret will be a mark of distinction in the trying times ahead". By America's entry into the Vietnam War the green beret had become a symbol of excellence throughout the US Army. On 11 April 1962 in a White House memorandum to the United States Army, President Kennedy reiterated his view: "the green beret is a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom." Previously, both Yarborough and Edson Raff had petitioned the Pentagon to allow wearing of the green beret to no avail, but the President did not fail them. As a side note, while popularly known as the Green Berets, US Army Special Forces soldiers do not refer to themselves as such - they refer to themselves as Special Forces, the beret is just the head piece, not the title.

The Royal Marines (British)

A Royal Marine recruit wears a blue beret with a red semi-circular badge backing for the corps badge. They are only allowed to wear the green beret once they have passed the Commando Course. Personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force volunteering for service with Commando Forces undertake the All Arms Commando Course. Commando-qualified Royal Marines always wear the green beret, but commando-qualified personnel from other services only wear it (with their own cap badge) when serving with commando units and sometimes when serving at Training Establishments; the commando badge of a fighting knife on a tringular patch is worn on the sleeve in perpetuity by those who have passed the course.

Finnish Army

An olive green beret is used by most Finnish military units as standard parade headgear. In some regiments, as the Finnish Coastal Jaeger regiment, one must take part in a "beret march" to qualify to wear a beret. This beret is a lighter green than the regular beret. The Finnish Air Force uses a blue beret, as do military musicians, navy uses a dark blue beret close to black and armoured forces uses a black beret.

As of special forces, Finnish paratroopers are allowed to wear a red beret after their first parachute jump.

Green Berets of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Main article: Zelene beretke

Green Berets were also the gear of choice and the name of a Bosnian, initially paramilitary, force during the Bosnian War from 1992-1995. They were integrated into a newly founded Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the second part of 1992. The Green Beret as a gear of choice and name was selected both as a reference to United States Army Special Forces (although no actual relation existed) and as a color associated with the predominant ethnic group that composed the unit, namely Bosniak Muslims. Bosnian Green Berets were mostly active during the war in the early part of 1992 in northern and central Bosnia.

Swedish Rangers

There are two hues of green within the Swedish armed forces. The army ranger battalion in Arvidsjaur, the airmobile battalion (LBB), ISTAR battalion, military police and royal ceremonial guards all wear rifle green berets, like those worn by light infantry units in Canada and Great Britain. Soldiers attached to the airbase ranger school also wear the rifle green beret.

Soldiers attached to the 1st Amphibious Regiment at Berga wear the commando green beret like the Royal Marine Commandos and the Finnish Coastal Jaegers.

Other uses

Green Beret was another name for Rush'n Attack, an arcade game.

See also

• United States Army Special Forces in popular culture
• Beret
• Black beret
• Maroon beret
• Tan beret
• Red beret