To Settle Beret Fray, Army Lets Rangers Opt for Tan

In a concession to the elite Rangers, the Army has approved their request to switch the color of their distinctive beret--to tan from the black that is going to be the standard-issue beret color for most of the rest of the Army starting in June.

The decision appeared to settle the major element of a controversy that has drawn the attention of key members of Congress and even President Bush, who recently asked Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld to look into the controversy over beret fashion in the Army.

As a result of Bush’s request, the Pentagon is still studying whether the Army erred in contracting with Chinese and other non-American 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 as the Green Berets) and Rangers wear black.

In an announcement Thursday evening, the 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Ft. Benning, Ga., said the Army had approved its request to change the regiment’s 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 Col. P.K. Keen, the regiment’s commander, sent a memorandum to the Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric 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.

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.