Campaign Hat Will Soon Be Worn By Male And Female Army Drill Sergeants

Female USMC drill instructors already wear the campaign hat, and soon too will their U.S. Army counterparts (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Since 1964, United States Army drill sergeants have worn the distinctive “Campaign Hat” to visually distinguish themselves from recruits. The same hat was first reintroduced by the United States Marine Corps about eight years earlier, and it continues to be worn by drill instructors, primary marksmen instructors, and even members of the shooting teams.

However, there is a caveat to note—namely that while female Marine drill instructors have worn the campaign cover since 1996, women drill instructors in the United States Army have worn a “Slouch Hat” or “Bush Hat.” Designed by Brigadier General Mildred C. Bailey, it was introduced in 1971. Originally beige, the color was changed to the current dark green in 1983.

Beginning next year, all drill sergeants from both active duty and Reserve components will wear the campaign hat.

According to a Task & Purpose report citing a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, “The change was prompted by difficulties with vendors meeting Army standards for quality when producing the female drill sergeant hat.”

Greater Uniformity

This change has been coming for some time, and the Army conducted two separate surveys in 2023 and 2024, respectively, which found that female drill sergeants strongly favored adopting the iconic campaign hat because it would provide greater uniformity. Some respondents further suggested it had a more professional look than the bush hat.

The wearing of the campaign hat by female drill sergeants is related to any changes introduced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

History Of The Campaign Hat

Often compared to the “Smokey the Bear” hat, and also known as the “Montana Peak Hat,” the drill sergeant hat evolved from the 1883 campaign hat of the mid-19th century, but it featured flat brim rather than an upturned one. It was officially adopted by the U.S. Army in 1911 but retired from service in 1942.

The Army reintroduced the campaign hat in 1964, following the USMC’s lead, which adopted it in 1956.

“What we call the ‘campaign hat’ or ‘campaign cover’ in the U.S. military can likely trace its roots to the mid-nineteenth century, and in particular, the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War, when soldiers found a broad-brimmed hat provided more protection from sun and rain than the small, Army-issued forage cap,” explained military historian John Adams-Graf, editor of History in Motion.

“Half a century later, the U.S. Army issued what we now recognize as the ‘drill sergeant’ hat,” added Adams-Graf. “While it remained as standard issue into WWII, drill sergeants took ownership of the iconic headwear in the 1960s—regardless, I think it was Hollywood that embossed the hat into collective appreciation, placing it on the likes of Sergeant Carter in Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., and Gunny Sgt. Hartman, played by R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket.”

Even as the Army makes the change, the bush hat will continue to be worn by the other services. Today, male United States Air Force and U.S. Space Force military training instructors wear a dark blue campaign hat, but female MTIs with the Air Force and Space Force continue to wear a blue Australian-style slouch hat.

However, both male and female United States Coast Guard recruit training company commanders each wear a navy blue version of the campaign hat with a black cord.

Finally, the United States Navy remains the only branch of the United States military that does not employ a campaign hat, and USN recruit division commanders wear the prescribed cover.