It is particularly fitting that The Institute of Heraldry approved an organizational flash—more commonly called a “beret flash” because it is worn that type of headgear—for personnel assigned to the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center (JFKSWC). President Kennedy was a major proponent not only of the development of Special Forces, but also of the official authorization to wear the green berets that Special Forces personnel had begun wearing—without Army approval—in 1953.
The day after a visit to the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg (renamed Fort Liberty in June 2023) in North Carolina on 12 October 1961 during which he specifically remarked on the green berets, Kennedy penned a message to the Center’s Commander, General William P. Yarborough, in which he stated that “I am sure that the green beret will be a mark of distinction in the trying times ahead.”
Soon after, Kennedy approved added funding for Special Forces training—and authorized the wearing of the green beret on which this flash is worn, centered on the stiffener of the beret. Officers wear the nonsubdued rank insignia centered on the flash, while all Enlisted personnel wear the JFKSWC Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI) in the same manner.
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Chapter 22-16 (b) , "Wear of nonsubdued combat and special skill badges and special skill tab metal replicas," of the January 2021 edition of DA PAM 670-1.