"Vietnam Force Recon & Navy Seals & LRRP beret colour?" Topic

I have some Force Recon, LRRP, and Navy Seals to paint. There are berets on these figures, whether that is correct or not.

Did they all wear green berets as special forces (once that was authorised)?

I am confused because I understood that LRRP wore black berets of the rangers. I also spotted an auction for a US Navy seal dark blue beret.

There are three different services involved there! The collective term for all is "special operations forces"; Special Forces, the branch of the Army, are… well, special. Ask vojvoda!

- The Army's Special Forces were the "Green Berets" and that's what were worn (officially, from 1961).

- LRRPs were Army, and some did wear black berets, probably very rarely in the field.

- The Marine Corps' Force Recon were not authorized berets, but some had them made locally, often from camouflage material:

picture

- The Navy's SEALs (it's an acronym) sometimes wore camouflage berets, also:

picture

Here, they're looking very irregular, apparently finding dungarees more comfortable:

picture

But its a shame you have all those figures in berets. The boonie hat was the far much more typical headgear.

This is an interesting thread to peruse, by the way:

link

Allen

If you are going with the berets, I would make them black for Navy. And for USMC, Tiger Stripe. Mix and match. For a lot of Nam, almost anything is correct.
Weaselhoffen.

Did SEALs in Vietnam, besides those with the River Patrol Force authorized to do so, wear the black beret? I can't find any examples.

I'd also be interested in seeing a tiger stripe Force Recon beret being worn. Reproductions are sold, and I've seen mention of them, but the only camo berets I've seen are ERDL pattern.

Allen

Thanks Allen. It is difficult to unpick the post war reproductions from the real thing.

I spotted that thread yesterday. Some fantastic pictures. I wasn't sure if those cammo berets were really cammo, effects of light coming through trees, or fading.

I saw all sorts of things on sale in Saigon when I visited in 1994. A very pretty lady at the snappily named "Museum of American War Crimes" pressed me to buy an IR night site (working!) that she said were used by PAVN forces. I didn't think they even had them issued!

Allen,
I might be thinking repros, but I vaguely recall at least one foto with a tiger beanie.
The Brown water Navy--a really great bunch--wore the black beret. SEALs probably did not, but since Chortle has the figs
I would say black. The real problem with the beret was the heat. It was wool and the old triangular bandage was a simple cotton affair.
Weaselhoffen.

Berets, were really not as functional(or practical) as the boonie hat, Patrol Cap, or God forbide the helmet, in the bush. But they were worn sometimes, as we have seen in a number of photos. But as already mentioned, the beret was not typical … Some very cool links Allen …