Green beret
U.S. Special Forces wear the green beret as a distinction of excellence and uniqueness within the Army.
Special Forces (United States Army)
Their new headdress was first worn at a retirement parade at Fort Bragg on 12 June 1955 for Lieutenant General Joseph P. Cleland, the now-former commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Onlookers thought that the commandos were a foreign delegation from NATO. In 1956 General Paul D. Adams, the post commander at Fort Bragg, banned the wearing of the distinctive headdress, (although members of the Special Forces continued to wear it surreptitiously). This was reversed on 25 September 1961 by "Department of the Army Message 578636", which designated the green beret as the exclusive headdress of the Army Special Forces.