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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Friday March 16 1:11 AM ET
Rangers Declare Win in Beret Battle
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Color matters. After months of wrangling with Army brass in
the Pentagon (news - web sites), the elite Rangers have won approval to
switch the color of their berets from black to tan.
Col. P.K. Keen, commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga.,
said Thursday that the Army's senior leaders approved the Rangers' request to
make the change.
Normally a fashion fuss inside the Army would not draw much outside
attention. But this is no ordinary fuss.
The Rangers raised a ruckus when Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki
announced in October that the black beret the Rangers wear proudly as an
exclusive badge of honor would become standard-issue headgear for everyone
from Army cooks and clerks to colonels and generals.
The Rangers considered it a slap in the face, a cheapening of their hard-won
right to wear an exclusive hat. They managed to stir interest in their cause
on Capitol Hill and even at the White House. On Thursday they declared
victory, although their initial efforts had been aimed, unsuccessfully, at
retaining the black beret instead of switching colors.
``The Ranger tan beret will represent for the Ranger of the 21st century what
the black beret represented - a unit that leads the way in our conventional
and special operations forces,'' Keen said.
The Army's decision to approve the Ranger color change appeared to settle the
major element of the controversy. However, the deputy defense secretary, Paul
Wolfowitz, is reviewing whether the Army erred in contracting with China and
other foreign manufacturers to supply the black berets.
For years, the black beret has been the exclusive headgear of the Rangers, a
small, elite force with a glory-covered history. Currently, only three Army
units are authorized to wear berets: Airborne units wear maroon berets,
Special Forces wear green (and are known famously as the Green Berets) and
Rangers wear black.
In their announcement Thursday evening, the 75th Ranger Regiment said the
Army had approved its request to change its beret color ``to maintain the
distinctiveness of the unit and reflect the legacy of more than two centuries
of Ranger history.''
``After studying several options, the Rangers decided on the Ranger tan
beret,'' the announcement said. It said Keen sent a memorandum to Shinseki on
March 9, requesting the change from black to tan.
Shinseki approved it Thursday.
``The decision to adopt the Ranger tan beret is based upon maintaining a
distinctive beret for our Rangers as the Army transitions to the black
beret,'' Keen said. He said the Rangers support the Army's decision to make
the black beret the standard headgear.
``Rangers have never been measured by what they have worn in peace or combat,
but by commitment, dedication, physical and mental toughness, and willingness
to lead the way - anywhere, anytime,'' Keen said. ``The beret has become our
most visible symbol. It will remain so.''
The Rangers were the first soldiers to scale the cliffs at Normandy's Omaha
Beach on D-Day. They parachuted into Panama in 1989 and went to Somalia in
1992-93. During that mission, 18 Americans - including six Rangers - were
killed in a failed attempt to capture a Somali warlord.
Still unresolved is the Army's decision to get a waiver of a legal
requirement to have the black berets manufactured in the United States. It
did so because of the rush to institute the black beret as standard headgear
for the Army on June 14, the Army's birthday.
When Shinseki made his surprise announcement in October, he said, ``When we
wear the black beret it will say that we, the soldiers of the world's best
army, are committed to making ourselves even better.'' He said the beret
would be a ``symbol of unity.''
The announcement drew immediate and lasting protests, mainly from retired
Rangers who felt Shinseki had cheapened their proud tradition by making the
black beret a common currency.
Under Shinseki's order, all soldiers - other than those authorized to wear
green, maroon or tan berets - will wear the black berets with dress or casual
uniforms, or with combat fatigues while in garrison. In the field, they will
continue to wear the baseball-style cap or Kevlar helmet.
The beret will replace the current fold-up ``overseas'' cap, the saucer-like
``service'' cap and the baseball-style cap.
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