Posted on Jun 11, 2023
What regulation covers the use and wear of the color unit patches/SSI for formal, ceremonial purposes?
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Is there any specific regulation pointing to the use and wear of the color unit patches/SSI for formal, ceremonial purposes?
DA Pam 670-1
Dress Uniform
Drill and Ceremony
Change of Command
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
Suspended Profile
For what it's worth, I think you'll need to search through the related ALARACTS (All Army Activities) on armypubs.army.mil. DA Pams are instructional so, IMO, don't waste time looking at those regarding the color of SSI worn. I've seen small varied standards based on the installation/MACOM; e.g. the definition of "ceremony" and "special occasion" to include every Friday, payday activities, and even recognition ceremonies.
CPT (Join to see)
Agreed sir. I looked into a few units blue book/standards but nothing army wide
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MSG Thomas Currie
Reality is that whoever is the ranking 'commander' in any large unit can (and regularly will) do whatever they feel like regardless of any regulation or other guidance. We have all seen this many many times. It happens a bit more blatantly OCONUS because installations in CONUS are more likely to have multiple units that don't share a single chain of command.
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It is a post/unit policy. When I was in the 82nd and now in the 101st we will wear color patches for ceremonial events. Commander can prescribe the unit for events like change of commanders. This has widely been accepted and most of the time it is done so without an official policy. I attached a page out of CAM PAM 600-100. Paragraph "E" covers our use of the patch.
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You mentioned the DA PAM (and I assume you also know about the regulation) ... Is there something specific you're looking for as the ceremony shouldn't affect it - only the uniform you're wearing (such as the Dress Green uniform).
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CPT (Join to see)
I’ve just seen nothing in the AR or DA PAM about color patches in OCPs. I see them used for changes of command, patching ceremonies, schools graduations, etc. but I haven’t found anything in doctrine.
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COL Randall C.
CPT (Join to see) - So, I finally tracked down the (mostly) "ground truth" as I was interested and kept digging. In June 2021, the Army G1 released an ALARACT (056/2021) which gave permission to Brigade level commanders to authorize the wear of the full-color SSI on the ACU and IHWCU for special occasions with the prohibition that the full-color SSI would not be worn outside the area the ceremony/special event was conducted.
The ALARACT was released in anticipation of an upcoming change to DA PAM 670-1, however the issue is that the change did not come out in a timely manner and the ALARACT has expired (gone inactive), which as far I was I was able to find, was not extended or replaced with subsequent guidance (subsequent ALARACTs
TECHNICALLY the authorization doesn't exist for those commanders to approve the changes as they don't have the inherent authority at their level based on the existing guidance. HOWEVER, this is almost certainly an oversight by the Army G-1 Uniform Branch (extending the ALARACT or issuing a new one) as it is likely the pending changes to DA PAM 670-1 will still be implemented (I contacted a few of the POCs I had for clarification).
It's a bit in Limbo, but in this situation I would go with the inactive ALARACT as the reason for it hasn't changed.
COL Dan Ruder CPT (Join to see)
The ALARACT was released in anticipation of an upcoming change to DA PAM 670-1, however the issue is that the change did not come out in a timely manner and the ALARACT has expired (gone inactive), which as far I was I was able to find, was not extended or replaced with subsequent guidance (subsequent ALARACTs
TECHNICALLY the authorization doesn't exist for those commanders to approve the changes as they don't have the inherent authority at their level based on the existing guidance. HOWEVER, this is almost certainly an oversight by the Army G-1 Uniform Branch (extending the ALARACT or issuing a new one) as it is likely the pending changes to DA PAM 670-1 will still be implemented (I contacted a few of the POCs I had for clarification).
It's a bit in Limbo, but in this situation I would go with the inactive ALARACT as the reason for it hasn't changed.
COL Dan Ruder CPT (Join to see)
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