In a previous article about Blue Light, America’s first dedicated counter-terrorism unit, one of the Green Berets assigned to the outfit was named Gregory Dailey.  He not only re-designed the Blue Light emblem but also went on to design the HALO jump wings which are still in use by the Army to this day.

The following is a e-mail sent to SOFREP by the daughter of Greg Dailey, which we share with her permission:

Good afternoon. My name is Kalani and I am the daughter of Gregory A. Dailey. I got a phone call, yesterday, from one of my “uncles” saying that my dad was mentioned in an article in The DROP. I was excited to read the article on Blue Light. I can’t thank you enough for mentioning his artwork for Blue Light. Never in a million years did he, or anyone else from Blue Light, ever think that the symbol would have carried on through SF, all these years. I believe Taffy Carlin was also behind the request for a new symbol for Blue Light. He has the symbol on a flag, not sure if it is the original from BL or not. When my husband and I got stationed at Bragg in 2012, I was happy to see the symbol still being used. I had no idea. It’s like a little piece of my dad is still with SF.

I have been to the BL compound as a kid, but only knew it as my dad’s office in the woods. I remember driving out there in the middle of the night to pick up my dad and being stopped by guys armed with guns. They came running out of the woods, asking what in the heck we were doing out there. My mom damn near had to give up her unborn child to pass. Good times! My dad and “uncles” sure knew how to have a good time off duty. Oh, the stories we could tell.

The Blue Light flag after being re-designed by Greg Dailey. The original flag can be seen in the background of this article's featured image.
The Blue Light flag after being re-designed by Greg Dailey. The original flag can be seen in the background of this article’s featured image.

As far as the MFF badge in concerned, my father had no idea that it would be made official until after the fact. Long after the fact. I remember being at his house in Yuma, years ago, and we were watching a documentary about HALO school. It showed his HALO wings being pinned on the guys and my dad was a little emotional. I don’t think it was until that moment that he fully realized that his design had become a reality. The original sketches are on notebook paper! He scribbled and drew on anything he could get his hands on. I have so many little pieces of paper with designs on them that I can’t possibly throw away.

I have attached pictures of the HALO sketches, my dad with Col “Ram” Mountel, and the plaque that the HALO school made for him when he passed. Again, thank you for giving credit to my father for his contributions to the SF community through his artwork. Our family misses him dearly.