The Army is pushing a plan to phase out the less efficient beret and pursue the reassignment of the patrol cap as the standard service cap.
According to materials submitted by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Seon-won, a member of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, on the 26th, the Army has, since on the last month, been piloting an expanded mixed use of berets and patrol caps. In 2027, it is pushing a plan to designate the patrol cap as the standard service cap and increase its supply.
The reason is that, while the beret has symbolic value, it is difficult to wear during increasingly intense summer heat waves, and in combat soldiers wear ballistic helmets, so it does not particularly help improve combat power.
In a survey conducted in January this year of 1,730 personnel in eight units including the 1st Division, 93% of service members responded that they prefer the patrol cap to the beret. The share who supported standardizing the service cap to the patrol cap was also as high as 65%.
There is also a budget issue. Wearing both the beret and the patrol cap is causing duplicate budget spending. A beret costs 6,830 won per unit, and a patrol cap costs 6,300 won. Last year's procurement amount for berets was 1.1 billion won.
The Army has steadily improved guidelines on wearing berets and patrol caps.
In Mar. 2020, to compensate for the drawbacks of the beret, it introduced the patrol cap as a "special service cap," and in Aug. of the same year, it allowed patrol caps to be worn on base on cloudy and rainy days. In Feb. 2021, it allowed patrol caps to be worn on and off base except during leave, outings, and overnight passes.
Even after these guideline improvements, complaints related to berets continued, so the Army decided to push a revision of the standard uniform centered on the phased abolition of the beret.
Starting in Sep. this year, as the first phase, it has been piloting mixed use of berets and patrol caps even during leave, outings, and overnight passes. Based on the pilot results through Nov., it plans to propose a revision to the Military Uniform Decree to the Ministry of National Defense.
As the second phase, after the 2027 standard uniform revision, it will push to increase the supply of patrol caps from one to two.
Park said, "Rather than forcing the wearing of an uncomfortable service cap, it is the appropriate role of the military to provide a cap that service members can wear comfortably," adding, "Reflecting practical difficulties, the beret should be abolished and a new cap that preserves the Army's symbolism should be prepared."