Originally Posted by DWB

That really isn't strange. Such a thing begins in kindergarten when we're given gold stars for answering the right questions, and continues throughout a worker bee's entire life. Humans, for whatever reason, respond well to silly rewards like stars, badges, awards, or in this case, berets. It makes them feel special and is motivating. Proud (and elite) soldiers are probably going to be the first to run into harms way, so it makes perfect sense the Army does this, along with everything else they do. They are a well oiled, highly researched and thought out, machine. They have to be. Even their logos, fonts, and designs have to be a certain way to relay a certain message. If you want to have your mind boggled, look up the US ARMY design manual.