U.S. Marine Corp Drill Instructor Hat

So you decide to enlist into the Marine Corps, congratulations you are enlisting in the most challenging military program of the entire Armed Force. From boarding the bus to boot camp, to filling out paperwork complete, receiving haircuts, are issued uniforms and gear, undergo medical evaluations, and take the Initial Strength Test to ensure they are prepared for training for the first week of boot camp. To the then 12 long weeks of boot camp, to the 54-hour final training exercise, called the Crucible, to prepare for the next Marines. One person will remain constant, the Drill Instructor. The ultimate symbol of authority at boot camp, from the constant shouting to many disciplinary exercises, to their bespoke authoritative and hostile demeanor, these are some of the last people you want to cross. Arguably one of the most iconic parts of their uniform which we have one display is the is the U.S. Marine Corp Drill Instructor Hat, the ultimate symbol of excellence, leadership, discipline, and US Marine Corps tradition

Called the Campaign hat, sometimes called campaign cover, it is a broad-brimmed felt with a high crown and pinched symmetrically at the four corners. The origins of the hat can be traced to the 1840s when U.S. Army mounted troops posted to the far-west sometimes wore wide-brimmed civilian hats which provided protection from the elements. During the Spanish-American War, some of the soldiers wore this style of hat and during this was the Marine Corps first began wearing a campaign hat similar to the Army's as they valued the hat for its wide brim for sun and rain protection.

From 1922 to 1942, the Campaign hat was used as a field hat in combat and in training, partially seeing action in a series of conflicts that consisted of military occupation, police action, and intervention by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean, coquille named as the Banana Wars. The field hat was discontinued during World War II due to its expense and impracticality for wartime use. However, after the Ribbon Creek incident, where a junior drill instructor at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, marched his assigned platoon into Ribbon Creek, a swampy tidal creek, and six of the recruits drowned. It was brought back in 1956 as the official cover specifically for drill instructors and some rifle range personnel, becoming a symbol of their distinction and prestige.