Nathaniel Finley
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With all due respect, I've never met a beret yet that can stop a bullet, shrapnel, or flying debris. Berets are part of the garrison uniform. We never worn them in the field. A Kevlar helmet, a boonie for hot weather ops, or a watch cap for cold weather ops.
A boonie and watch cap aren't going to stop bullets, etc. either, and I could just as easily wear a beret under a Kevlar helmet. My point is that in the field I could also use a beret in multiple ways that a watch cap couldn't be used and a few ways that a boonie hat couldn't be used.
Just to clear, I used the word "combat beret" specifically to distinguish it from the berets that are issued to the U.S. Army. To my mind, those are parade items and have little practical value. Nor do I suppose that a commando would wear a beret into battle with identifying information on it.
The wikipedia article on military berets has a very brief historical discussion of the beret as a combat item. It's not fantastic, but then again it's wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_beret
My original comments were by no means from any kind of authority position, so I don't feel I have any respect due me - I just wanted to voice some ideas about using an actual beret in combat. Not being terribly invested in this topic I probably won't respond to any more discussion points, but I don't mind if you disagree with me. Your viewpoint is interesting and I wish you the best.