Air Force Honors EOD Community with ‘Visible Recognition’ of New Beret

Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians and officers will soon join an exclusive club of troops allowed to sport a beret marking their special community and service.

On Oct. 2, through a virtual message, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David R. Wolfe told the first graduating class of EOD techs from a revamped training course at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., that they’ll earn a brand-new rust-colored beret with their EOD flash insignia.

The honor, part of a decadeslong push within the Air Force’s EOD community, recognizes their “specialized combat arms mission and contributions to the joint force,” according to a USAF release.

“As you prepare to deploy and take on one of the Air Force’s most demanding missions, carry forward the pride and combat identity you have earned,” Wolfe said in the release. “The EOD beret will stand as a visible recognition of that identity and your service to the joint force.”

The class Wolfe was addressing was graduating from a course called Project MAMBA, for Multi-domain Airmen for Modern Battlefield Application—it’s a redesigned pre-deployment training pipeline for Air Force EODs.

News bounced around the small but dedicated cadre of current and former EOD techs.

“I am ecstatic that Air Force EOD is getting a beret,” Master Sgt. Rebecca Anderson, with the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “The beret signifies a career field that has high levels of training and faces extreme hazards. EOD has exemplified this since its inception.”

For her, the beret honors the sacrifice of the community’s fallen.

A total of 344 EOD techs across the services died in the line of duty during the Global War on Terror; 20 of them were in the Air Force.

“I am humbled by the honor to wear a beret, and I will do so with pride knowing it helps carry on their legacy,” she said.

Enlisted personnel with specialty code 3E8XX and officers with code 32E3H will wear the beret and flash.

“The beret will be mandatory garrison headwear for those personnel and optional for EOD-qualified officers serving outside EOD positions,” a senior EOD program manager told Air & Space Forces Magazine in an email. “Final wear, transition, and procurement guidance will be released through official Air Force channels.”

Retired Master Sgt. Micah Price, who now serves as president of the USAF EOD Master Blaster nonprofit, founded in 1992, echoed Anderson’s sentiment.

“It’s a dangerous mission. It’s demanding,” Price said. “It’s that deserved symbol of pride and recognition for what all of our guys and gals have been doing.”

The Beret

The rust color is historically associated with explosive hazards. The metallic flash featuring spread wings, a leaf circle, the globe, two crossed lightning bolts, and a bomb represents the community’s “global mission, technical expertise, and legacy of sacrifice,” according to the release.

The wings are a nod to Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold, the only five-star General of the Air Force and considered the architect of the modern Air Force.

The lightning bolts represent the destructive power of explosive ordnance, and the courage and professionalism EOD Airmen bring to reducing hazards.

The wreath around the flash represents the EOD community’s achievement, ingenuity, and devotion in reducing explosive hazards and memorializes fallen EOD personnel.

With the beret distinction, the EOD tech’s uniform now aligns with its designation as a “specialized conventional combat arms career field and recognizes the community’s role in delivering combat capability at the tactical edge,” according to the release.

Members of the EOD community helped developed the design, aided by Headquarters Air Force’s directorate of civil engineers and other stakeholders responsible for uniform policy and implementation.

Chief Master Sgt. Steven Harris, EOD career field manager, said in the release that the beret “recognizes [EOD Airmen’s] combat-arms identity, honors the community they represent and reflects the capability they will continue to deliver wherever the mission demands.”

The decision is also part of a Department of Defense Combat Arms Standards directive that “called for greater distinction of combat-arms occupations and specifically recognizing EOD technicians as a specialized occupation with unique mission requirements,” the program manager wrote.

“The beret is a visible recognition of that operational identity, the standards expected of the EOD community, and the heritage of Airmen who have carried out this mission across generations,” the program manager wrote.

Beret Background

Berets are rare across the military services. Though the Army briefly authorized the black beret for all soldiers, historically they’ve been limited in the U.S. military to select groups such as U.S. Army Special Forces Soldiers, known as the Green Berets.

The Green Berets were the first modern U.S. military members to receive official sanction to wear a beret as part of their uniform.

An estimated 2,144 personnel across the Air Force are eligible to wear the rust-colored beret: 1,984 EOD technicians and 160 EOD-qualified officers, the program manager wrote.

There are six other groups of Airmen authorized to wear berets:

Dark Blue: Security Forces
Maroon: Pararescue and Combat Rescue Officers
Scarlet: Combat Control and Special Tactics Officers
Black: Tactical Air Control Party
Pewter Gray: Special Reconnaissance and Weather Parachutists
Pewter Green (Sage): Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Specialists

Source: DAFI 36-2903

When he was new to the ranks, Price, 45, remembers spotting one of the colored Air Force berets on other Airmen.

“The beret is one of those things when you see it, it stands out,” Price said. “You know that person put forth some effort.”

Though Price and his fellow EOD veterans served after the beret was authorized, he sees it as a symbol of the community’s legacy and is thinking about getting one, if only to put it alongside his other service mementos, perhaps on the mantle.

Price keeps in touch with fellow Airmen still serving and does his best to lend an ear to up-and-coming EOD techs. There’s a bit of buzz in the community after the recent beret news.

“They’re super excited. I told them, you wear it with pride because that’s on the backs of a lot of guys and gals that made a lot of sacrifices,” Price said.