Obama wants Marines to wear ‘girly’ hats
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Shown here are the old Marine hats, left, compared to the new ones, right. (New York Post)
A change to the Marine Corps' uniform hats could leave hard-nosed Leathernecks looking a lot less macho.
According to the New York Post, President Obama's plan to create a "unisex" look for the Corps has officials on the verge of swapping out the Marines' iconic caps with a new hat that some have derided as so "girly" that they would make the French blush.
"We don't even have enough funding to buy bullets, and the DoD is pushing to spend $8 million on covers that look like women's hats!" one senior Marine source fumed to The Post. "The Marines deserve better. It makes them look ridiculous."
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The thin new hats have a feminine line that some officials think would make them look just as good on female marines as on males - in keeping with the Obama directive.
They have been dubbed the "Dan Daly" hat, after a sergeant from Long Island who won the Medal of Honor in World War I.
But some Marines love the old hat, which has been in use since 1922 and think the new hat is a glorified "porter's cap."
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This is not the first hat controversy for the military. During his tenure as Army chief of staff, Eric Shinseki, who is the current Veterans Affairs secretary, implemented the wearing of a black beret for all Army personnel. Prior to that policy, only U.S. Army Rangers could wear the black beret. After Shinseki's directive, Rangers moved to a tan beret.