I thought this might be an interesting conversation. The US military (USA/USAF/USN/USMC) all have very rich traditions and depending on their job might have some special allowances not afforded to other branches in the same service.
To start the discussion off- I was a Cavalry Scout in another life. We had some traditions with our 'Stetsons' which for everyone else is the "cowboy hat" you might recall. Whelp- there's some variance on in the Cavalry branch on who is 'authorized' to wear a Stetson (it's not an official US Army headgear) but there is a nuance to the 'cord' around that hat. Typical enlisted will have a Cavalry Stetson with a gold colored "hat band" ending with 'acorns' on either end of the cord. One of the 'honors' is the way that cord is 'looped' in the front in what is called a 'combat knot' in the Cavalry (a distinction which is supposed to be 'earned'). Officers will have a similar band but their's are a 'black & gold color' with the 'combat knots' following the same rules.
Should there be an Infantry component attached to a CAV troop- they'd be identified by a blue cord and again- 'combat knots' being something needing to be 'earned'.
It may come across as silly here in 2024 but one of the most revered Cavalry traditions that bucks Army uniform regulations is the addition of 'spurs'. As I understand it- this tradition goes back 200 years or so because it comes to horsemanship and for a young Cavalry trooper- the addition of spurs to their boots would only exacerbate their mastery of riding their horse. Additionally, the metal required to produce spurs was rather expensive about 200 years ago and to prioritize which cavalrymen would be provided spurs was dependent on them demonstrating their abilities in that profession.
Fast forward to modern day. The spur tradition still carries on in the US Cavalry but is broken down into two categories. First off- there's 'gold' spurs (which are typically made of brass). To 'earn' those spurs, there's some variance, but typically it mirrors the same requirements of performing Cavalry duties and engaging the 'enemey' the same way that the infantry earns their 'CIB'.
The other type/color of spurs is silver, and those are earned by completing what's called a 'spur ride'. This also has some semblance to what the infantry has for their 'EIB' requirements. In my case, we had a mortar platoon (11C) that went through a partially shared effort during my Spur Ride. I completed/satisfied the requirements for both but was only authorized to wear silver spurs as the EIB was only allowed to be worn by the 11 series MOS's regardless if we met or exceeded the requirements.
So I've got the Stetson w/ 'combat knots', earned my gold spurs during deployment and afterwards was one of the select few to complete the spur ride earning the silver spurs and also meeting the EIB requirements too.
Anyone else have similar stories?
-LD
To start the discussion off- I was a Cavalry Scout in another life. We had some traditions with our 'Stetsons' which for everyone else is the "cowboy hat" you might recall. Whelp- there's some variance on in the Cavalry branch on who is 'authorized' to wear a Stetson (it's not an official US Army headgear) but there is a nuance to the 'cord' around that hat. Typical enlisted will have a Cavalry Stetson with a gold colored "hat band" ending with 'acorns' on either end of the cord. One of the 'honors' is the way that cord is 'looped' in the front in what is called a 'combat knot' in the Cavalry (a distinction which is supposed to be 'earned'). Officers will have a similar band but their's are a 'black & gold color' with the 'combat knots' following the same rules.
Should there be an Infantry component attached to a CAV troop- they'd be identified by a blue cord and again- 'combat knots' being something needing to be 'earned'.
It may come across as silly here in 2024 but one of the most revered Cavalry traditions that bucks Army uniform regulations is the addition of 'spurs'. As I understand it- this tradition goes back 200 years or so because it comes to horsemanship and for a young Cavalry trooper- the addition of spurs to their boots would only exacerbate their mastery of riding their horse. Additionally, the metal required to produce spurs was rather expensive about 200 years ago and to prioritize which cavalrymen would be provided spurs was dependent on them demonstrating their abilities in that profession.
Fast forward to modern day. The spur tradition still carries on in the US Cavalry but is broken down into two categories. First off- there's 'gold' spurs (which are typically made of brass). To 'earn' those spurs, there's some variance, but typically it mirrors the same requirements of performing Cavalry duties and engaging the 'enemey' the same way that the infantry earns their 'CIB'.
The other type/color of spurs is silver, and those are earned by completing what's called a 'spur ride'. This also has some semblance to what the infantry has for their 'EIB' requirements. In my case, we had a mortar platoon (11C) that went through a partially shared effort during my Spur Ride. I completed/satisfied the requirements for both but was only authorized to wear silver spurs as the EIB was only allowed to be worn by the 11 series MOS's regardless if we met or exceeded the requirements.
So I've got the Stetson w/ 'combat knots', earned my gold spurs during deployment and afterwards was one of the select few to complete the spur ride earning the silver spurs and also meeting the EIB requirements too.
Anyone else have similar stories?
-LD
