It took me a bit, but I knew I recognized the beret flash and unit crest this guy is wearing.

It’s that of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, of the 82nd Airborne Division. But I knew it was a real paratrooper beret the moment I saw it; it’s folded correctly – which civilians never do, as no one ever tells them how to – and the unit crest and beret flash is correct, and it exhibits the proper wear berets get when they are worn daily and also put into pockets (as one does in the army).

Incidentally if you haven’t figured it out, the back colorful portion is called the “beret flash” and the front metallic portion is the “unit crest.”

I served in these units as a paratrooper:

Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 82nd Airborne Division

3rd Battalion of the 504th Infantry Regiment, 82nd ABN DIV (attached)

49th Public Affairs Detachment, 82nd ABN DIV (was attached to the 82nd at the time)

I went on quite a few training missions with the 505th PIR in the course of my army job. Funny to see relics from my past coincidentally out in the world, and out of context.

For comparison this is what my beret flash looked like:

And this is what my unit crest looked like (since we were the head unit, we got the full division’s unit insignia):