The Army’s nearly 3,000 active-duty Rangers are about to get a tan - beret, that is.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki approved a measure on Friday that will change the color of the Rangers’ distinctive berets from black to tan.

The move comes after Shinseki’s Oct. 17 announcement that all Army personnel would don the black berets effective June 14. The black headgear has been the symbol of the elite Rangers for more than 50 years.

Fisheries and wildlife senior William Green, who served with the Rangers from 1992 until 1996, said he isn’t happy with the compromise.

“I think it really stinks,” he said. “This is the first time in U.S. military history that a unit’s heraldry has been stripped from them while they were still an active unit.”

Green wore his beret as a sign of protest and to raise awareness for the issue from Feb. 10 until Shinseki’s announcement on Friday.

“The fight’s over,” said Green, now sporting a red baseball cap. “There’s a fine line between sticking up for what’s right and