Editing Balaclava (clothing) (section)

===Military and police===
[[File:Afghan National Army Soldier MOD 45152324.jpg|thumb|upright|Afghan soldier wearing a balaclava]]

In [[South Asia]], balaclavas are commonly referred to as '''monkey caps''' because of their typical earth tone colours, and the fact that they blot out most human facial features. Monkey caps sometimes have a small, decorative, woollen [[pom-pom]] on top. They are commonly worn by troops on [[Himalaya]]n duty for protection from the cold.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ghosh |first=Subir |date=November 19, 2005 |url=https://www.rajibroy.com/2008/09/10/thanda-legey-jabey/ |title=Thanda lege jabey |newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]] |location=[[New Delhi]] |via=Rajib Roy |access-date=July 16, 2021 |archive-date=July 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716052856/https://www.rajibroy.com/2008/09/10/thanda-legey-jabey/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2006, the [[United States Marine Corps]] began issuing balaclavas with hinged face guards as part of the [[Flame Resistant Organizational Gear]] program.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/pmice/News/Clothing/Fire-safe%20fabrics_Sep%202006.pdf |title=Nothing "Sheepish" About Fire-Safe Fabrics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029084623/http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/pmice/News/Clothing/Fire-safe%20fabrics_Sep%202006.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2012 |date=September 2006 |magazine=[[Leatherneck Magazine]] |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/pmice/InfoPapers/Clothing/FROG.pdf |url-status=dead |title=Flame Resistant Organizational Gear |date=August 24, 2007 |website=US Marine Corps: Program Manager Infantry Combat Equipment |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916065851/http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/pmice/InfoPapers/Clothing/FROG.pdf |archive-date=September 16, 2012}}</ref>

In the [[Soviet Union]], the balaclava became a part of standard [[OMON]] (special police task force) uniform as early as the [[Perestroyka]] years of the late 1980s. The original intent was to protect the identity of the officers to avoid intimidation from [[Russian organized crime]]. Because of increased problems with organized crime of the 1990s, TV shots of armed men in black balaclavas became common. Armed Russian police commonly conduct raids and searches of white-collar premises (typically in Moscow) while wearing balaclavas. Such raids have therefore come to be known in Russia as "[[Mask|maski]] shows", an allusion to a popular comic TV show of the 1990s.<ref name=aknyt>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/business/global/bp-russia.html?nl=afternoonupdate&emc=aua22 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |first=Andrew E. |last=Kramer |title=Memo to Exxon: Business With Russia May Involve Guns and Balaclavas |date=August 31, 2011 |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 26, 2017 |archive-date=October 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016125712/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/business/global/bp-russia.html?nl=afternoonupdate&emc=aua22 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Balaclavas are often used by police battling drug cartels and gangs in [[Latin America]] to conceal their identity and protect their families.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/its-so-dangerous-to-police-ms-13-in-el-salvador-that-officers-are-fleeing-the-country/2019/03/03/e897dbaa-2287-11e9-b5b4-1d18dfb7b084_story.html |title=It's so dangerous to police MS-13 in El Salvador that officers are fleeing the country |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |last=Sieff |first=Kevin |date=March 3, 2019 |access-date=March 5, 2019 |archive-date=March 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305141146/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/its-so-dangerous-to-police-ms-13-in-el-salvador-that-officers-are-fleeing-the-country/2019/03/03/e897dbaa-2287-11e9-b5b4-1d18dfb7b084_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34863049/why-anti-terror-officers-wear-different-clothes |title=Why anti-terror officers wear different clothes |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=November 18, 2015 |access-date=March 5, 2019 |archive-date=March 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306051646/http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34863049/why-anti-terror-officers-wear-different-clothes |url-status=live }}</ref>