Navy Using Dont Tread on Me Again

The Gadsden flag, with its familiar coiled rattlesnake and the warning "Don't Tread on Me," is an iconic slice of American revolutionary symbolism. That logo has besides been strongly associated with the U.South. Navy and the state of war on terrorism since U.South. Navy Secretary Gordon England issued an education on 31 May 2002 authorizing the "rattlesnake jack" to replace the marriage jack equally the Navy'south official jack "for the duration of the Global War on Terrorism." The U.South. Navy began flight the new Navy Jack on 11 September 2002 (the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks), and the rattlesnake jack has been featured in a patch warn on the left shoulder by sailors and SEALs deployed in war zones.

On 1 November 2013, the Daily Caller published an opinion slice by Carl Higbie, a old Navy SEAL and Republican candidate for Congress, challenge that new regulations had been issued requiring Navy SEALs to discontinue wearing the "Don't Tread On Me" patch (the Showtime Navy Jack) on their uniform sleeves in favor of a U.S. flag patch:

ALL:

WARCOM and GROUP 2/Ane have pushed out the compatible policy for NWU 3 and any patches worn on the sleeve.

All personnel are only authorized to wear the matching "AOR" American Flag patch on the right shoulder. You are no longer authorized to clothing the "Don't Tread On Me" patch.

Again the only patch authorized for habiliment is the American flag on the right shoulder. Please pass the word to all.

That slice also suggested the regulation had been issued at the bidding of President Obama considering the Navy Jack was "too closely associated with radical groups" such equally the Tea Party, who utilize the similarly-themed Gadsden flag as an emblem:

I get-go wondered, 'why?.' Why would our leaders sell out our heritage? Why would they rob present and future sailors of our boxing cry?

When a friend of mine asked his leadership the aforementioned question, he was told, "The Jack is also closely associated with radical groups." We must presume that this thought policeman embedded in the SEAL community is speaking of the Tea Party, whose flag (which also dates from the American Revolution) depicts a snake with the aforementioned defiant slogan as The Navy Jack.

This begs yet another question: Who defines "radical group"? The last fourth dimension I checked, all war machine personnel are under oath to "support and defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." The Tea Party stands for constitutional rights and founding principles of civil liberties and limited government. Radical? Not unless you lot're a leftist hell-bent on destroying the foundations of our country. Or every bit the President has stated every bit the objective of his presidency, "to fundamentally transform" America.

However, the only documentation that article presented for these claims was a reproduction of an due east-mail message sent past a Senior Enlisted Advisor whose name was redacted, and a response from an unidentified "friend" of the writer (a quondam SEAL) he was said to accept received when he asked "leadership" about the reasons backside the regulation. And even if the presented electronic mail nearly the new regulation were genuine, the reasons behind its issuance that were proffered in the article amounted to little more speculation. (Others suggested less political reasons for the rumored change, such equally an attempt to standardize the appearance of the NWU Iii [Navy Working Uniform] across that service co-operative.)

A few days later the Navy Times published an article in response to the Daily Caller piece that quoted U.Southward. Navy sources as stating that the Navy was "unable to confirm the validity of the email," and that even if it had been issued, it was in error and authority for Naval Special Warfare personnel to wear the Starting time Navy Jack patch had actually been expanded, not curtailed:

The Navy is flatly denying claims that SEALs are no longer allowed to wear the First Navy Jack patch on their uniforms. In fact, the Navy recently expanded the article of clothing rules for the iconic "Don't Tread on Me" Patch.

A number of concerned readers contacted Navy Times to determine whether these claims were true.

The Navy has thus far been unable to confirm the validity of the email from the senior official. If it'south legit, then someone in the spec-ops community got their wires crossed.

"As of September 2013, all Naval Special Warfare personnel are authorized to wear the U.Southward. flag and the 'Don't Tread on Me' uniform patches," Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Flaherty told Navy Times. "In the past, NSW did not authorize wearing either patch unless one was deployed or in a piece of work-up bicycle. However, NSW recently sought special permission from the Chief of Naval Operations staff to vesture the patches within the continental United States."

The Navy Times followed up past reporting that the rumor had started with a senior enlisted crewman who had misinterpreted new compatible regulations:

A misunderstanding in the chief's mess is to blame for the widespread (and false) rumor that SEALs can no longer wearable the Navy Jack patch, a Navy official [said].

A senior enlisted sailor misinterpreted the Navy'south compatible article of clothing regulations for the Navy working uniform Type III, said the official, speaking on the status of anonymity. The mistake was attributed to a "game of telephone" between second- and 3rd-hand sources in the chiefs' mess.

In fact, eight months after the rumor about the supposedly banned "Don't Tread on Me" Navy shoulder patches broke, the U.S. Navy was seeking to purchase even more of them:

A military command that supplies U.Due south. Navy SEALs with new gear says information technology wants more shoulder patches emblazoned with "Don't Tread on Me," less than a year after a firestorm erupted after it was reported that the longstanding tradition could be ended.

U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command'south contracting role in Virginia Beach, Va., quietly announced their intent to buy more patches in a notice to industry published June 3 [2014]. Companies interested in supplying them must be able to prove they tin obtain the materials used in numerous kinds of Navy uniforms, including those with desert and woodland patterns. The U.S. flag will accept seven stripes that can be seen using infrared equipment, the command said.

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Source: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/don39t-tread-on-me/