Badges & Insignia Of The Elite Force

In denning the term 'elite military units' one always finds certain confusion. In Great Britain, for example, many would class any of the Guards Regiments as elite, while in France, the Meharistes who galloped across the Sahara on their camels are considered elite. For purposes of this book, however, I have considered as elite those units that are parachute-qualified, or that have been trained as Commandos, Rangers or long-range patrollers. In some cases I have also included anti-terrorist units which, when military, definitely fall within these parameters and when police probably do.
Although as originally conceived this work would have covered such elite units from their genesis during the Second World War until the present, the fact that Second World War insignia have already been covered in some detail elsewhere and the necessity to limit space have caused me to start in the post-war period and end at about the Falklands War. Due to the availability of the excellent works on parachute badges by Bragg and Turner, I have also not included para­chute badges (or brevets) but have instead concen­trated on beret badges or flashes, shoulder sleeve insignia, pocket patches, collar insignia, distinctive insignia, and other types of qualification badges.
It would be naive on my part to claim completeness for this work since many insignia worn by elite units are produced in extremely limited numbers and in great variety. It probably would have been possible, in fact, to write an entire book on US insignia alone, and certainly it would be possible to do just that for French insignia. But having had to be selective, I have sought to choose those most likely to be encountered or those of particular interest.
Leroy Thompson St. Louis, Missouri