campaign hat

A campaign hat (also campaign cover, drill instructor cover, drill sergeant hat, lemon squeezer, Montana Peak, Mountie hat, ranger hat, sergeant hat, Scouts hat and Smokey Bear) is a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, with a high crown, pinched symmetrically at the four corners (the "Montana crease").

It is associated with the New Zealand Army, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the World War I ground forces of the United States Army, contemporary U.S. military drill instructors, US state police forces, park rangers (and from them, their logo-cartoon and mascot Smokey Bear), Boy Scouts, and others.

Although the campaign hat is occasionally referred to as a Stetson, this is from its common manufacture in the late 19th century by that company. It should not be confused with the quite different Stetson hat type with a different brim and crease, commonly known as the cowboy hat, and which is more commonly meant by the term "Stetson" today. The campaign hat also should not be confused with a slouch hat.

Several U.S. state police services (for example, the Utah Highway Patrol), and federal agencies (for example, the United States Border Patrol) wear campaign hats. These state troopers are responsible for state and interstate highway safety, and in this capacity are variously referred to in different states as State Police, Highway Patrol, State Patrol, and State Highway Patrol. So common is use of the campaign hat among state highway police that they are sometimes referred to as "smokey bears" or "smokeys," after Smokey Bear the famous logo-character of the U.S. Forest Service. The only State Police agencies that do not employ the “smokey bear hat”, are the New York State Police, Connecticut State Police, New Jersey State Police, Texas Highway Patrol, Maryland State Police, New Mexico State Police, and the Michigan State Police. There is no direct association between the cartoon bear and the Highway Patrol; they both derive their hat styles ultimately from the U.S. Cavalry.

Many other police agencies, including numerous county sheriffs' services including the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, use campaign hats. Some local police use it for particular duties or divisions; for example, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department's and Chicago Police Department's mounted units employ the hat, and deputy sheriffs assigned as cadre of the Cook County Sheriff's Boot Camp wear campaign hats.