Are the Red Berets still valid?

[SquireRick]

I have just gotten back involved as an adult leader with scouting and was wondering if the Red Beret was still a valid hat for uniform wear?

[eisely]

Don't think so.

[jmcquillan]

Well, valid or not, there are still many troops in the eastern Massachusetts area that wear them as part of the uniform.

[SquireRick]

So wear can they be bought, or is it just a Red Beret?

Is there a specific Scout emblem for it?

[OldGreyEagle]

I beleive the Red Berets with the scout inginia on them are still valid uniform parts. It is my understanding that an official BSA uniform part is never retired. If it says official BSA, you can still wear it.

 

Now, red berets without the scout insignia may be part of a class B uniform but not a Class A and that might be a topic of discussion for another thread.

 

And, while BSA no longer makes the red beret, you can usually find one on Ebay or similar place. My son has 4, and its become his trademark. The kids all know from a distance that its him when they see the red.

[OldGreyEagle]

By the way, as a part of this quesiton, does anybody know why the red berets were so short lived? I have a story I heard, but I would like to know what others were told.

[Rooster7]

A couple of thoughts to add:

 

1) I like the red berets and think they really make the uniform - just a personal opinion.

 

2) If I'm not mistaken [always a possibility], any Patrol [or even the Troop as a whole] can adopt the use of hats, even if they are not official and wear them with Class A uniforms. For example, in our Troop, one Patrol has black berets, another has baseball style caps with their Patrol patch affixed, and yet another is thinking about campaign style hats.

 

Has anyone else heard of Troops or Patrols adopting certain hats (with or without patches) as their official Class A uniform hat? I've seen whole Troops at camp with baseball style caps (with Troop number and other designs). Does BSA have heartburn over this? I always understood this to be acceptable.

 

[OldGreyEagle]

The best thing about this forum is to get other opinios and ideas.

 

yes Rooster, I have seen special hats troops have made up and the entire troop wearing them looks good. I was reminded that our Natl Jamboree troop had a special hat made up and we wore it with our class A's so I was wrong. You can wear a non-BSA approved hat with a class A

 

Campaign hats on a patrol? I love it, I have a campaign hat I only wear for SPECIAL occasions, can I be in your troop?

[eisely]

An interesting question. I too have seen a variety of specialized hats created by patrols, troops, and districts, so it would seem to be an acceptable practice. My initial response was based on the simple notion that the red beret is simply an outdated part of the uniform no longer officially considered to be part of the uniform.

 

Over the years I have seen a variety of older uniform parts in use. BSA is generous in its policy in this regard, allowing older uniform parts to be worn until outgrown or worn out. Since hats are optional, red berets may still be acceptable.

 

Never owned a red beret as a scout myself. That came in later. My opinion when the red beret was introduced was that BSA was trying to "modernize" its look a bit and make itself more marketable to urban youth. There were a lot of people touting berets as some kind of statement at that time, from the Black Panthers to the US Special Forces to Che Guevarra. If you own one, go ahead and wear it with pleasure and fond memories.

[scamp]

I heard that red berets are still available for purchase in Canada, but getting the BSA insignia on them is a different story.

 

Remember, the "official" field uniform (what most of us call Class A's) is what is in the Insignia Control Guide. Older "official" uniforms are still acceptable. Apparently specialized headwear is acceptable also, but it is not "official" and should not be worn if your group is representing the BSA at an official function -- such as a community flag ceremony or if your guys are training. In that case, they should wear only the "official" uniform.

[OldGreyEagle]

The story I heard on the Red Berets was they were introduced to be more hip and less military looking. Then Curtis Sliwa founded the Guardian Angels which was esentially a viglillante group that would ride subways with red berets on looking to "stop" or prevent crime.

 

BSA dropped the red beret so the scouts wouldnt be confused with an "angel"

[OldGreyEagle]

The story I heard on the Red Berets was they were introduced to be more hip and less military looking. Then Curtis Sliwa founded the Guardian Angels which was esentially a viglillante group that would ride subways with red berets on looking to "stop" or prevent crime.

 

BSA dropped the red beret so the scouts wouldnt be confused with an "angel"

[Stan Riddle]

As a Scout in the late 60's- early 70's, I well remember the red berets. And I hated them! My Troop adopted them around 70 or 71. As an adult, I think, "Yea, they look cool", but they were a pain to wear. They are hot. It's hard to get a group of boys to wear them the same way. They are bulky.

 

They would make a nice dress uniform accessory, but for anything else, give me a baseball cap style hat!

[shemgren]

I have the oportunity to talk to a lot of Scouters in my travels. I am veteran Scouter (30+ years), and when asked about older uniform items my answer is clear: as long as the older item is servicable ( not torn, stained, etc.) it can contunied to be worn with pride. While this question is usually connected with the green uniform shirt, the principle remains the same for all older style uniform items.

[RAYSNEED]

I would hope they are. It's the sharpest head gear the BSA ever had in my opinion. I still have mine, and wore it at Scout functions while I was an assistant Scout master locally. I am looking to purchase another one when I can find one.