Senior Members and the Service Cap

[AlphaSigOU]

According to the AFI- all field grade officers must own one and wear it when in Service Dress.

Does CAP REQUIRE this of field grade officers?
This is one area where we should Mirror-Image our Parent Service. IMHO

I agree, but no they don't.

And you're almost guaranteed to have someone wind up getting the wrong kind of farts and darts on the visor. Believe me, I've seen that faux pas. Luckily, there weren't any RealAirForce® generals having kittens.

[ColonelJack]

[And you're almost guaranteed to have someone wind up getting the wrong kind of farts and darts on the visor. Believe me, I've seen that faux pas. Luckily, there weren't any RealAirForce® generals having kittens.

Back in the mid '80s, a fellow named Ralph Grady was CC of Georgia Wing, and his official CAP photo had him in a service cap ... with three farts and darts on each side of the visor.  How nobody caught that before the photo was published, I'll never understand.

I own a service cap and wore it regularly.  When I rejoin, I'll wear it regularly again.

I like it, that's why.

Jack

[Tim Medeiros]

According to the AFI- all field grade officers must own one and wear it when in Service Dress.

Does CAP REQUIRE this of field grade officers?
This is one area where we should Mirror-Image our Parent Service. IMHO

I agree, but no they don't.

If your saying no they don't in regard to the USAF requiring field grade officers to own the service cap, I have a few quotes from AFI36-2903 2 Aug 2006

Chapter 2 Figure 2.12 Note 4 (page 33 for those interested)

Service caps - Mandatory for majors and above to maintain.

Chapter 2 Table 2.1 Line 11 (page 54)

Service cap mandatory for majors and above;
optional for all others.

Chapter 2 Table 2.3 Line 13 (page 77)

Service cap mandatory
for majors and above; optional for
all others.

If thats not what you meant, then I need to read more carefully and hopefully some people have learned something, I know I did.

[Pylon]

I own one.  I've never worn is as a senior member, and doubt I'll find myself doing so at any point soon.  The flight cap works fine for all ranks of USAF members, it'll work just fine for me.

[mikeylikey]

I thought I read that the Service Cap will be mandatory for all AF Officers once the new jacket rolls out.  Perhaps I am just on crack.  As soon as I find it again I will post.   

[ddelaney103]

According to the AFI- all field grade officers must own one and wear it when in Service Dress.

Does CAP REQUIRE this of field grade officers?
This is one area where we should Mirror-Image our Parent Service. IMHO

I agree, but no they don't.

If your saying no they don't in regard to the USAF requiring field grade officers to own the service cap, I have a few quotes from AFI36-2903 2 Aug 2006

Chapter 2 Figure 2.12 Note 4 (page 33 for those interested)

Service caps - Mandatory for majors and above to maintain.

Chapter 2 Table 2.1 Line 11 (page 54)

Service cap mandatory for majors and above;
optional for all others.

Chapter 2 Table 2.3 Line 13 (page 77)

Service cap mandatory
for majors and above; optional for
all others.

If thats not what you meant, then I need to read more carefully and hopefully some people have learned something, I know I did.

You need to read more carefully.  The question asked was:

Does CAP REQUIRE this of field grade officers?
This is one area where we should Mirror-Image our Parent Service. IMHO.

and the answer was:

I agree, but no they don't.

CAP does not require the Service Cap.  It should stay this way because the field grade Service Cap is a lot of money spent for little effect.  I wore my enlisted Service Cap as a CAP Service Cap once or twice, but it went back to the hatrack when I made Major.  Haven't missed it.

[SAR-EMT1]

Aside from Field Grade, it is " Encouraged" for Unit Commanders of all ranks.

[DogCollar]

"Though I would prefer a beret to the flight cap as universal headgear... I have Euro tendencies.  "

Well, if you get one, I will take a box of the thin mints and two boxes of the peanut butter cookies! Do you really want to wear the hat of he people that invented surrender?

Well... the Froggies may not have invented surrender, but they've taken collaboration with the enemy when it suits them to a fine art!

The flight cap was also worn in WWII by the RAF and the Luftwaffe.

According to the American history that I took in school, we wouldn't have won the Revolution without considerable help from the French.  Their money and their navy made the difference against the British.  Everytime I think about criticizing the way "modern" France behaves with something akin to smug self-righteousness, I swallow hard and remember we might still be under British jurisdiction without the French.

[AlphaSigOU]

According to the American history that I took in school, we wouldn't have won the Revolution without considerable help from the French.  Their money and their navy made the difference against the British.  Everytime I think about criticizing the way "modern" France behaves with something akin to smug self-righteousness, I swallow hard and remember we might still be under British jurisdiction without the French.

True that, Padre... if it wasn't for the French cutting off the Brit reinforcements at sea, we would not have had a decisive victory at Yorktown. Modern French selfrighteousness has its origins around the time of Charles de Gaulle, and seems to be focused mainly in Paris. The French in Normandy still love Americans to this day. Unfortunately, we keep remembering the French by their actions today and not yesterday.

[JohnKachenmeister]

According to the American history that I took in school, we wouldn't have won the Revolution without considerable help from the French.  Their money and their navy made the difference against the British.  Everytime I think about criticizing the way "modern" France behaves with something akin to smug self-righteousness, I swallow hard and remember we might still be under British jurisdiction without the French.

True that, Padre... if it wasn't for the French cutting off the Brit reinforcements at sea, we would not have had a decisive victory at Yorktown. Modern French selfrighteousness has its origins around the time of Charles de Gaulle, and seems to be focused mainly in Paris. The French in Normandy still love Americans to this day. Unfortunately, we keep remembering the French by their actions today and not yesterday.

A couple of points:

Yes, the French did, in fact, move their fleet to bottle up the British at Yorktown.  And for that ONE action at the end of a 6-year war, we are grateful.  Merci. 

Frenchmen in Normandy are not French.  The region is a part of France, but is populated by persons of Nordic (Viking) heritage.  The region was surrendered to the Vikings in exchange for a promise to stop raiding the rest of France.  "Norman" is a shortened version of the English-language word, "Norseman," and refers to persons of Scandanavian genetic stock.

In 1066 the Normans attacked and conquered Saxon England.  You didn't really think Frenchmen could have done that, did you?

[ddelaney103]

According to the American history that I took in school, we wouldn't have won the Revolution without considerable help from the French.  Their money and their navy made the difference against the British.  Everytime I think about criticizing the way "modern" France behaves with something akin to smug self-righteousness, I swallow hard and remember we might still be under British jurisdiction without the French.

True that, Padre... if it wasn't for the French cutting off the Brit reinforcements at sea, we would not have had a decisive victory at Yorktown. Modern French selfrighteousness has its origins around the time of Charles de Gaulle, and seems to be focused mainly in Paris. The French in Normandy still love Americans to this day. Unfortunately, we keep remembering the French by their actions today and not yesterday.

A couple of points:

Yes, the French did, in fact, move their fleet to bottle up the British at Yorktown.  And for that ONE action at the end of a 6-year war, we are grateful.  Merci. 

Frenchmen in Normandy are not French.  The region is a part of France, but is populated by persons of Nordic (Viking) heritage.  The region was surrendered to the Vikings in exchange for a promise to stop raiding the rest of France.  "Norman" is a shortened version of the English-language word, "Norseman," and refers to persons of Scandanavian genetic stock.

In 1066 the Normans attacked and conquered Saxon England.  You didn't really think Frenchmen could have done that, did you?

I don't think either the Normans or Saxons wore the Service Cap - or was this off topic?

[mikeylikey]

I don't think either the Normans or Saxons wore the Service Cap - or was this off topic?

But their descendants do.  Easy there.  Did it really hurt your brain to learn some history.  Didn't think so!

[ddelaney103]

I don't think either the Normans or Saxons wore the Service Cap - or was this off topic?

But their descendants do.  Easy there.  Did it really hurt your brain to learn some history.  Didn't think so!

The low level, stilted version of history excreted here?  Dang right it hurt my head!

French support: military, naval, financial and diplomatic, was vital for the success of the revolution.    The French probably spent themselves into ruin supporting us, for little return.  To blow off their support as "one naval victory" is right up there with "fighting the British by hiding behind rocks and trees" as examples of replacing history with American mythology.

Unfortunately, still off topic.  Again, Service Caps are an expensive folly with which to saddle our members, especially when we decide to have another set of hardware for the TPU version.

The fewer versions of something we have - hats, epaulet slides, nametapes - the closer we get to uniform.  More choices just makes us look less alike.

[Eclipse]

French support: military, naval, financial and diplomatic, was vital for the success of the revolution.    The French probably spent themselves into ruin supporting us, for little return.  To blow off their support as "one naval victory" is right up there with "fighting the British by hiding behind rocks and trees" as examples of replacing history with American mythology.

Yep - although I think we pretty much evened the score about 65 years ago.

[0]

Personally I prefer the service cap.  I find it more professional looking.  I only wear my flight cap with my flight suit or with my cdu. 

[SoCalCAPOfficer]

I may be dating myself, but when I was in the Air Force in the early 60's we thought the flight cap was nerdy we called it by another name not to be spoken here.  To be cool we liked the Service cap with a special bendable band to give it a sort of 50 mission crush look.

[ColonelJack]

I may be dating myself, but when I was in the Air Force in the early 60's we thought the flight cap was nerdy we called it by another name not to be spoken here.  To be cool we liked the Service cap with a special bendable band to give it a sort of 50 mission crush look.

That held through the mid-70s, too, Captain.  My BMTS fellows preferred the service cap too.  (And we all know the nasty name the flight caps carried!)

Jack

[ColonelJack]

Correct me if I'm wrong ... but isn't the Army also reinstating their version of the service cap, now that they're transitioning to the Army Blue uniform?  Does it mean the end of the beret as regular headgear?  (One can only hope.....)

Jack

[mikeylikey]

Correct me if I'm wrong ... but isn't the Army also reinstating their version of the service cap, now that they're transitioning to the Army Blue uniform?  Does it mean the end of the beret as regular headgear?  (One can only hope.....)

Jack

Partly correct.  The Service Cap has always been the prescribed headgear for the Army Blue uniform.  The beret only replaced the Green Service Cap on the Army Green Uniform.  Now that we are getting rid of the greens and mandating One uniform (Blues) as the as the only Dress Uniform, the beret is not following from what I understand.  The Service Cap will be worn with the blues.  Honestly, it is far better than wearing the beret! 

I can't wait, as the Army Blue uniform is SO MUCH better than the Green Uniform, both historically and esthetically.

[Camas]

I may be dating myself, but when I was in the Air Force in the early 60's we thought the flight cap was nerdy we called it by another name not to be spoken here.

Amen to that, I wore the service cap in the AF back in the 60's as well with blues, 505's and 1505's.  I've never understood the animosity towards service caps I've seen on these forums to begin with.  Those flight caps are worthless and silly-looking.  But yes, I wear them 'cause everyone else does.