Editing Special Forces Tab (section)

==Description and history==
The Special Forces Tab was created in 1983 and is an embroidered quadrant patch worn on the upper left sleeve of a military uniform. The cloth tab is 3{{frac|1|4}}&nbsp;inches wide, 3/4-inch high, and is teal blue with gold-yellow embroidered letters. A metal Special Forces Badge is authorized for wear on mess/dress (1" wide) and class-B uniforms (1{{frac|9|16}}" wide). The metal badge is teal blue with a gold edge and gold letters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum: Special Forces Tab |url=http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/airborne/sf_tab.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20000510192433/http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/airborne/sf_tab.htm |archive-date=10 May 2000 |website=[[U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum]]}}</ref>

At the time of its creation, the Special Forces Tab was retroactively awarded to any Army soldiers previously [[United States Army Special Forces|Special Forces]]-qualified. In addition, as set forth in Army regulations, veterans of certain categories of former wartime service are also eligible for retroactive awards of the tab. Among these are:<ref name="AR600-8-22" />

* Personnel who served with a Special Forces unit during wartime between 1942 and 1973 and were either unable to or not required to attend a formal program of instruction but were awarded the proper [[Military Occupational Specialty|Special Qualification Identifier]] by a competent authority. U.S. Army Warrant Officers are excluded.
* Personnel with at least 120 days' wartime service prior to 1955 in certain units, including the [[1st Special Service Force]], [[OSS Detachment 101]], [[Operation Jedburgh|OSS Jedburgh teams]], [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]] Operational Groups, and the [[Alamo Scouts|Sixth Army Special Reconnaissance Unit]] ("Alamo Scouts") and [[United Nations Partisan Infantry Korea|8240th Army Unit]].
* Officer or Enlisted personnel of rank O-3 and below awarded the [[Combat Infantryman Badge]] or [[Combat Medical Badge]] while serving at least 120 consecutive days between 1955 and 1975 in a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha (A-Team), Mobile Strike Force, SF Reconnaissance Team or SF Special Project Unit. Does not apply to U.S. Army Warrant Officers. 

[[File:SP4 Keith Campbell-11th SFG-KIA 1967.jpg|thumb|185px|A non-special forces qualified paratrooper with the 11th Special Forces Group wearing green beret with the [[1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)|1st Special Forces Regiment]] DUI and unit recognition bar, {{circa}} 1967<ref name="Kampbell Memorial">{{Cite web |title=Keith Allen Campbell |url=http://www.virtualwall.org/dc/CampbellKA01a.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010222140113/http://www.virtualwall.org/dc/CampbellKA01a.htm |archive-date=22 February 2001 |website=Virtual Wall Vietnam Veterans Memorial}}</ref>]]
Before the creation of the Special Forces Tab, [[US Army Special Forces|Special Forces]] qualification was indicated by wearing a full-size unit specific [[US military beret flash|beret flash]] on their [[green beret]]. A support soldier (such as military intelligence, signals, parachute riggers, vehicle mechanics, etc.) assigned to a Special Forces unit wore a 1/4" high recognition bar (nicknamed a "half flash," "striker bar," or "candy stripe") below the Special Forces [[Distinctive Unit Insignia]] (DUI), officer rank insignia, or chaplain branch insignia on their green beret. The bar was designed to matched the colors and design of their unit's full-size beret flash.<ref name="Recognition Bar">{{Cite book |last=Rottman |first=Gordon L. |title=US Army Special Forces, 1952-84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLPvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT65 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |year=1985 |isbn=978-1-78200-446-2 |location=London |oclc=813846700 |author-link=Gordon L. Rottman}}</ref><ref name="AR670-1 1981">{{Cite web |date=1981 |title=Wear and appearance of Army uniforms and insignia AR 670-1 1981 |url=http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm/ref/collection/p4013coll9/id/602 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327001641/http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/utils/getdownloaditem/collection/p4013coll9/id/600/filename/612.pdf/mapsto/pdf/type/compoundobject/cpdtype/monograph/show/600 |archive-date=27 March 2019 |publisher=[[United States Department of the Army|Department of the Army]]}}</ref><ref name="AR614-200">{{Cite web |date=25 January 2019 |title=ENLISTED ASSIGNMENTS AND UTILIZATION MANAGEMENT AR 614-200 |url=https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN14314_AR614-200_FINAL.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812045338/https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN14314_AR614-200_FINAL.pdf |archive-date=12 August 2022 |publisher=[[United States Department of the Army|Department of the Army]]}}</ref> After the creation of the tab in 1983 and until January 1993, all personnel in a Special Forces unit wore the same beret and beret flash. Today, only Special Forces-qualified soldiers wear the green beret with support soldiers wearing [[maroon beret]]s, making the need for the recognition bar moot.