The New Army Hat

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pvitari
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The New Army Hat

Post by pvitari »

We were just talking about Western hats over in the Ben Johnson thread, and lo and behold...

Shades of John Ford cavalry movies...

The Army has declared the Stetson to be the new official headgear!

http://www.army.mil/-news/2011/04/01/54 ... -headgear/

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What's next, the cavalry gives up tanks for horses?
klondike

Re: The New Army Hat

Post by klondike »

Cool!
Should be strongly reminiscent of Lancaster's staff sergeant chapeau in From Here to Eternity.
As for cavalry, the US Army reactivated that term in Viet Nam to specifically designate its new rapid deployment helicopter strike force brigades - their official insignia is a stallion's head & neck in silhouette dexter on a yellow shield with a black bend sinister.
Remember Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now?
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning . . it smells like victory."
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pvitari
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Re: The New Army Hat

Post by pvitari »

No, Lancaster's hat was more of a Smokey the Bear/Forest Ranger style.

The buzz is that the Army is changing headgear styles (yet again) in order to help with recruiting, that they think the kids will think the cowboy hats are cool. That's why they changed the hats a few years ago to beret style, but that infuriated the Special Forces and Rangers who up to then stood out from the everyday troops with their green and black berets. Now the cavalry units, which wear the Stetson style for ceremonial dress, are infuriated that THEIR special headgear is now going to be worn by everyone.

It will cost millions to make the switch -- good thinking when budgets are being slashed, right? Well, the hat manufacturers will be happy, I guess.

Bring back the garrison cap!
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Lzcutter
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Re: The New Army Hat

Post by Lzcutter »

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Lynn in Lake Balboa

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klondike

Re: The New Army Hat

Post by klondike »

When I was a Ranger, I was the only guy in my unit who actually, personally liked the look of our berets - all the rest would pack along those stupid bucket hats (which a lot of us called "planters", 'cause we thought they'd look better with flowers growing in 'em), and cram 'em on whenever we had down-time, or were ground-bound long enough to hang around in 'tigues.
Any of us above the rank of 2nd lieutenant (at that time) could requisition a visored dress hat, usually referenced as an "officer's lid", but by Ranger culture, that was often viewed as stuck up, or apologetic, or weak, as the beret (preferred or not) was more representative of what we actually did.
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pvitari
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Re: The New Army Hat

Post by pvitari »

AGGGGHHHH! Who said the Army didn't have a sense of humor?

NBC has reported that the Army's Stetson hat press release is an April Fool's joke.

http://www.wireclub.com/Forums/ViewTopi ... Id=1227079

That stuff on my face -- and hubby's face and our best friend's face -- is egg. Really, I should have known given the date!
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Re: The New Army Hat

Post by MichiganJ »

pvitari wrote:NBC has reported that the Army's Stetson hat press release is an April Fool's joke.
Bummer. Now I wonder if my order from SHOUT! Factory for their collectible edition of the complete Guiding Light set was a joke, too. 72 years in one 3,959 disc set.
Too good to be true, I guess.
http://www.shoutfactory.com/browse/384/ ... z1INW2vDQJ
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Rita Hayworth
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Re: The New Army Hat

Post by Rita Hayworth »

I understand that this was an April Fool Joke by the United States Army - and I understand it was.

To me, the Institution as great as the United States Army - making this as an April Fool's Joke - to me its loses its credibility in the first place. This may have an impact on recruiting - because it is a cool hat to wear and because of that I feel hurt by all this ... to me, knowing how much history that United States Army has - I have several friends in the United States Army and they had asked me via e-mail concerning this prank that US Army did - they are very disappointed in this - and they are seriously asking for a honorable discharge - because they do not want any part of this.

One of them is a Full Bird Colonel and he consider this prank - very disgusting. He and I went to college together and we maintained a good relationship all these years and he felt really sick about it. He has four more years before his 30 years of Service together and thinking about getting out because of this stunt by the US Army. He shared his feelings via e-mail.

I have many friends in the Armed Forces - and I valued their sacrifice that they do for our Country ... many of them - I consider them BFF - Best Friends Forever. I also have a friend in the the Army who is a three star general - Lieutenant General - and I haven't from him yet. Knowing him quite well - I bet he shared the same feeling as the Colonel in my previous paragraph here. He is also another BFF.
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pvitari
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Re: The New Army Hat

Post by pvitari »

Among other April Fool's jokes... a Criterion release of Disney's Song of the South. :)

By some miracle, I did NOT see an announcement that London After Midnight had been found. :)

The weird thing about the Army Stetson hat prank is that... THE ARMY pulled it. I wonder who is going to get a letter of reprimand in his (her?) personnel jacket about this. :)
klondike

Re: The New Army Hat

Post by klondike »

kingme wrote:I also have a friend in the the Army who is a three star general - Lieutenant General [/b]- and I haven't from him yet. Knowing him quite well - I bet he shared the same feeling as the Colonel in my previous paragraph here. He is also another BFF.
Respect him & admire him, but do NOT play poker with him!
From Saigon to Pearl, the biggest pots I ever lost were to Oak Leaves, or better - something about their political diplomacy training!
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Rita Hayworth
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Re: The New Army Hat

Post by Rita Hayworth »

klondike wrote:
kingme wrote:I also have a friend in the the Army who is a three star general - Lieutenant General [/b]- and I haven't from him yet. Knowing him quite well - I bet he shared the same feeling as the Colonel in my previous paragraph here. He is also another BFF.
Respect him & admire him, but do NOT play poker with him!
From Saigon to Pearl, the biggest pots I ever lost were to Oak Leaves, or better - something about their political diplomacy training!
I have not for money - but for fun ... he always wins! He has the best poker face I ever saw in my whole life. He had political diplomacy training and ACES it. In 1999 he was a Lieutenant Colonel - 11 years later in August of 2010 ... Congress approved his appointment to the rank of Lieutenant General - on a joint recommendation from the Executive Branch and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fast tracker - very highly intelligent officer. He is a year older than me. Not bad for a 53 year old man ... its took him 32 years to go from 2nd Lieutenant to Lieutenant General - he will be forced out at 55. He is thinking about shifting gears afterwards. He and I are World War II bluffs and we play checkers a lot when we were in College. He and I get together on an annual basis in August - his parents live in the Pacific Northwest ...
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