BDU COVER ROLLS

[Stonewall]

It comes out as stiff as a board.

Why would you want that?

[jb512]

It comes out as stiff as a board.

Why would you want that?

For the same reason that I starch my BDUs for meetings...

[Robert Hartigan]

He is an Air Force Combat Weatherman assigned to the 101st Airborne.   You often see them with the 82nd patch also.

The US Army does not have its own meteorologists. USAF and ANG meteologists are assigned as Army support. Most of the ANG weather units perform some form of Army support. As for uniforms, you may wear the unit patch while assigned and in a support role. You can really deck out your BDU's with the ACC patch, Unit patch, AFSC badge, jump wings, and then your customer's patches and tabs. I suspect that the TSgt is also airborne, air assault and most likely ranger qualified so he can wear his hat however he likes! My personal opinion is that USAF or ANG meteorlogist that support the Army are just bad ass troops! I might be a little bias though...

[Stonewall]

I suspect that the TSgt is also airborne, air assault and most likely ranger qualified so he can wear his hat however he likes!

Ranger School = allowed to roll hat?  Interesting.  Didn't know that.

Actually, if he did have a Ranger tab, he'd probably have it on with his 101st patch.

My personal opinion is that USAF or ANG meteorlogist that support the Army are just bad ass troops! I might be a little bias though...

I went to SERE with an ANG Combat Weather guy who was assigned to an NG Special Forces Group deploying to A-Stan.  He was at his second try at SERE and had already failed jump school once.  He was going again after he made it through SERE, which he did.  Not sure if he made it through jump school second time around.

There are bad-asses in all walks of life.  I've learned the hard way that just because someone has a specific job or wears a cool badge doesn't make them a bad-ass, let alone trustworthy or dependable.

For me, I think the cooks are hooah, just as the mechanics and tank drivers are.  I've seen dudes that "roll" their hat fall out of 6 mile ruck marches, while the geeky kid with zits and glasses carrying the M-60 led the way.  It's not the hat, or the way someone wears the hat; nor is it the badge on their chest or tab on their shoulder.  It's what's in their heart.

My favorite bad-ass was a platoon sergeant of mine who simply sported the EIB and Air Assault Badge.  He was meritoriously promoted by a 2-star on the spot, at NTC in Ft. Irwin for taking charge of a company and defeating a battalion, all the while he was really injured (although it was training) and his company was surrounded and out-numbered.  The 2-star was the Division Commander of the aggressors in which he defeated.  The promotion stuck as soon as he completed ANCOC.

[RogueLeader]

I went to SERE with an ANG Combat Weather guy who was assigned to an NG Special Forces Group deploying to A-Stan.  He was at his second try at SERE and had already failed jump school once.  He was going again after he made it through SERE, which he did.  Not sure if he made it through jump school second time around.

There are bad-asses in all walks of life.  I've learned the hard way that just because someone has a specific job or wears a cool badge doesn't make them a bad-ass, let alone trustworthy or dependable.

For me, I have think the cooks are hooah, just as the mechanics and tank drivers are.  I've seen dudes that "roll" their hat fall out of 6 mile ruck marches, while the geeky kid with zits and glasses carrying the M-60 led the way.  It's not the hat, or the way someone wears the hat; nor is it the badge on their chest or tab on their shoulder.  It's what's in their heart.

My favorite bad-ass was a platoon sergeant of mine who simply sported the EIB and Air Assault Badge.  He was meritoriously promoted by a 2-star on the spot, at NTC in Ft. Irwin for taking charge of a company and defeating a battalion, all the while he was really injured (although it was training) and his company was surrounded and out-numbered.  The 2-star was the Division Commander of the aggressors in which he defeated.  The promotion stuck as soon as he completed ANCOC.

Hooah

[floridacyclist]

It comes out as stiff as a board.

Why would you want that?

""I began revolution with 82 men. If I had do it again, I'd do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action."

[Rangersigo]

My Army regulation, rolling that hat is not allowed but accepted when assigned to a Ranger Unit, and many Infantry units where the commander's are Rangers.  Her is a picture of my Ranger Graduation photo.  I am the far top left.  As you can see, most PCs are rolled.

Kurt

[SarDragon]

What I see here is rolled brims, not rolled tops. I think that is the area addressed in the regs. I have found it almost impossible to wear a round hat/cap/cover on my oval head, as do many others.

YMMV.

[Short Field]

"I began revolution with 82 men. If I had do it again, I'd do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action."

He who shall not be named's buddy?

[Stonewall]

Found this from a Ranger School graduation...

[O-Rex]

Ranger Rolls in CAP: don't do it.

having a sharp-looking BDU Hat:

Got this tip from a Marine when I was TDY at GTMO.

Buy a USMC aluminum "cover block" at AAFES, MCS or NEX 

They are manufactured by Ken Nolan, Inc., which sells other cool stuff, but I can't find the website anymore,

or get a big coffee can, about the size of your hat (you can cut the can with metal shears, and expand it to fit  (just be careful: most CAP members aren't allowed sharp objects)

Wet or wash hat, stretch over cover block or coffee can, and if you have a 'sweater rack' for your clothes dryer, use it, or use a hair-dryer

works like a charm...

[floridacyclist]

"I began revolution with 82 men. If I had do it again, I'd do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action."

He who shall not be named's buddy?

Exactly. Don't those severely squared-off hats remind you of him?

Ranger Rolls in CAP: don't do it.

Exactly...it is simply verboten

Got this tip from a Marine when I was TDY at GTMO.

Looking at the pics above, now we know where he got it from LOL

[Grumpy]

Another good way to shape up your hat:

Fashion some kind of shaper out of a sturdy material.  I use the sheet metal kind of tubing for a drier vent.  Completely soak the hat in heavy starch and then slide it down over your shaper, making sure to smooth out the wrinkles.  Tie a string to the shaper, stick it in the drier with the string hanging it against the inside of the door so that it won't move and hit high heat until it's dry.  It comes out as stiff as a board.

Wouldn't it be easier just to go back to the old Ridgeway?

[Grumpy]

Ranger Rolls in CAP: don't do it.

having a sharp-looking BDU Hat:

Got this tip from a Marine when I was TDY at GTMO.

Buy a USMC aluminum "cover block" at AAFES, MCS or NEX 

They are manufactured by Ken Nolan, Inc., which sells other cool stuff, but I can't find the website anymore,

or get a big coffee can, about the size of your hat (you can cut the can with metal shears, and expand it to fit  (just be careful: most CAP members aren't allowed sharp objects)

Wet or wash hat, stretch over cover block or coffee can, and if you have a 'sweater rack' for your clothes dryer, use it, or use a hair-dryer

works like a charm...

NO WONDER I HAD A HEAD ACH!  I was wearing my cover with the metal still in it!

[flyguy06]

Ok, i know WIWAC that we always got yelled at to take the "ranger roll" out of ou BDU covers.  Does anyone know if that was an official CAP thing, or just some personal peve of the cadets in charge back then at my squadron.   I think its looks better and makes the cover look more squadred away.. something about the cover sitting down low and looking floppy just looks 8-Up to me...

Believe me, soldiers like to "ranger rol" thier covers as well, and I get on to them about it. It is not authorized. People think it looks col or sets them apart which is does, which is bad. We need to be uniformed. Meaning everyone look alile

[jb512]

Another good way to shape up your hat:

Fashion some kind of shaper out of a sturdy material.  I use the sheet metal kind of tubing for a drier vent.  Completely soak the hat in heavy starch and then slide it down over your shaper, making sure to smooth out the wrinkles.  Tie a string to the shaper, stick it in the drier with the string hanging it against the inside of the door so that it won't move and hit high heat until it's dry.  It comes out as stiff as a board.

Wouldn't it be easier just to go back to the old Ridgeway?

Sure.  I just prefer to wear something that doesn't look like you used it as a snot rag in your back pocket.

[Gunner C]

The BDU cap (it's not a cover) was designed similarly to the patrol cap (PC) that was in use in some units in the 1970s/80s (mostly Ranger and SF).  The BDU cap was designed so you could put in your cargo pocket and not be crushed.  The old fatigue cap was fairly useless - the stiffener and bill would lose its shape about 3 minutes after purchase.

We used to make fun of the folks who "shaped" their PCs - it was derisively referred to as a "staff crush".  If you had time to make the hat look like that, you must have been a staff weenie somewhere rather than a combat guy.

The folks who used shapers were required to remove them, those who starched their BDU caps were sent straight to the nearest mop sink.

Times change...As one of my bosses told me "It's not how you play, it's how you look."

[jb512]

Guess times have changed.  Floppy hats and wrinkled BDUs lean more toward the "unprofessional" look.

[O-Rex]

Depends on who/where you are and what you're doing: If you're "downrange" someplace hot & sandy where bullets & bombs fly, rumpled is not a fashion-statement, just a matter of practicality.  Garrison is another matter entirely.  Good soldiers can transition from one to the other with relative ease and still keep the edge.

The "battleworn" look is not something a CAP member should even attempt.

It's about as cheesy as "There I was, WW-Squadron meeting: whining cadets to the left, complacent seniors to the right, and I was all out of Prozac. . . . ."

[Dad2-4]

And yet I've seen the roll more than once at encampment, or the ball cap crush, even seeing it mandated by cadets in charge to other cadet staff.