U.S. ARMY OFFICER ARMY GREEN UNIFORM GARRISON CAP

Though the Army replaced the Garrison Cap with the Black Beret starting in 2001, we continue to carry it at the request of veterans and others seeking authentic headgear for the old Green Army Service Uniform (not to be confused with the Army Green Service Uniform introduced in 2018). Our Officer Garrison Caps for the "Army Greens" uniform are manufactured new in official shade 491 using Army-approved polyester, and the cord edge braid is synthetic metallic gold yarn intertwined with black polyester.

American Soldiers were first introduced to the garrison cap during World War I as a practical alternative to the campaign hat and the service cap, both of which were subject to being crushed when stowed away even though they took up considerable space. According to the official story found on the U.S. Army Web site, the “Army copied the French Bonnet de Police, an envelope-style fatigue headgear, and created the overseas cap,” so dubbed because it was issued overseas.

For some reason, the Army largely turned away from overseas cap following World War I, although it was revived for wear among Air Corps officers in the mid-1920s. With entry into World War II imminent, the Army began issuing overseas caps again, with company- and field-grade officers adopting a gold-and-black piping for the cord edge braid. This color scheme was retained with the introduction of the 1956 Class A Green uniform, with General Officers wearing solid gold cord edge, Warrant Officers wearing silver and black, and Enlisted and NCOs wearing caps that used no colors for the piping on the edge.