The ultimate mark of an infantryman
I guess the Infantry School is worried because the EIB has lost it’s “luster” since the war against terror began almost nine years ago. From the Stars and Stripes;
Since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the once- highly coveted badge has been overshadowed by its more glamorous battlefield counterpart, the Combat Infantry Badge.
Leaders at the Army’s infantry school in Fort Benning, Ga., hope that by revamping the test for the EIB, they can return some luster to the award.
A story in the January issue of the Army’s NCO Journal reminds soldiers “though mostly unseen during recent years of constant deployment, the simple blue rectangle and musket of the Expert Infantryman Badge has not gone away.”
It remains “the ultimate mark of an infantryman,” the article reads.
In five of the last eight years, the average number of EIBs awarded annually has dropped from pre-Sept. 11, 2001, levels, according to Army estimates. Between 1999 and 2001, approximately 6,500 soldiers earned the EIB per year, a number the Army hasn’t seen since.
Category: Military issues
Since I have the EIB, I can categorically state the following:
NO badge compares to the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. None.
The rest pale in comparison. And no spin can make it so. (And no, I do not have the CIB… although I wish I did… but I don’t rate one)
The ultimate mark of an infantryman is to close with the enemy, kill him, and live to tell about it.
While I think there is still a place for the EIB-after all, it is probably a better judge of a well rounded and highly skilled infantry soldier-it is a ‘training’ award.
The whole point of training is to get you ready for combat, and the EIB is the mark of a well trained soldier, but the CIB is the mark of a soldier who saw combat and did his job.
Maybe there should be a special version of the CIB for soldiers who have an EIB. Kind of like getting a CIB star? Since you can’t wear both awards, they should have some sort of combo patch instead.
I was pinned with My Fathers 1944 sterling silver CIB in Baghdad in 2005. My EIB though a ball breaker to get just doesnt compare to the same history.
For all the non 11b/18x guys who are so proud to “be like the infantry” and earn their CAB, perhaps they should make them really show they’re up to the challenge and require them to earn an EIB? More so just because I think most couldn’t and that would shut them up.
Typical 11B comment. Truth is, everyone is offered 11B when they enter service. You are not as elite as you wish to be. I have personally witnessed my 19D’s participate and pass the EIB. Many have met the standard…They just can’t wear the badge. Then again, many 19Ds don’t care much about trinkets, they just accepted the challenge!
HOLY resurrected ZOMBIE thread..Spoken like true PRC E8 Cav Scout with penis envy though. If Cav scouts don’t care much for “trinkets”, what’s with the spurs and stetson? Or how about the CAB they clamored for…
Now, now Woody, the argument on the CIB vs. the CAB is a little different. Yeah, you don’t have to be infantry to earn the CAB, however, the knock on the CIB is that you only had to serve in a combat zone for 30 days to earn it, whether you engaged with the enemy, or not, whereas the CAB you have to have engaged with the enemy in some capacity. Some non-infantry types were saying, before the advent of the CAB, that they had engaged in firefights with the enemy and got nothing, while some grunt that didn’t fire a shot got a CIB.
I’m not knocking either award, I just think there should be a little more of an explanation rather than dissing on the CAB.
Whoa now, where did this 30 days in combat zone come from? We had to engage the enemy and ied’s didn’t count, neither did rockets since we didn’t engage. Have things changed?
I have a lot of respect for the EIB and the EMB. It shows that you know your shit, but a CIB and a CMB show that you have used them.
I am an engineer and the only thing that we can get is CAB. There are a lot of people who have a CAB that don’t deserve it, but there are a lot of people out there that don’t have it and deserve it.
I just try to not let it bother me who has what. I didn’t get anything but a campaign ribbon for my time in Iraq. The medals don’t always make the soldier.
Hold on there OT. CIB’s are still awarded for direct contact with the enemy. I got mine for getting hit by an IED and then directing the pursuit of the triggerman, not for just showing up to Iraq for a moon.
Sorry OT, 30 days is your combat patch. Trading rounds with haji gets your CIB… no other way.
sorry- 30 days in a combat zone was the CIB, (combat patch is something different) back in the day. About the same time they came up with the CAB criteria they modified the CIB criteria to match- in action against the enemy only.
Funny thing is- back in the W W 2 the CIB was created to show that infantrymen were a breed apart, and those who had served in combat even more so. The EIB was created a bit later to give the joes who did get to fight a twisty-widget to wear. Bill Mauldin even had a couple of cartoons about it.
There is nothing that out-hoahs a CIB, but today a CAB shows that you’ve been there, done that- even if you aren’t a graduate of the Chattahoochi Boy’s Club.
Just my thinking;
To qualify, you must earn the EIB before getting the upgrade to the CIB.
See if you were in the Marines all you need is a Eagle Globe and Anchor!!!
You silly Army people and all your bobbles and trinkets.
Kidding!!!
Lol….
Woody,
In Iraq now, our CSM has directed that we start training for the EIB test that will occur on our return. So we’re having monthly competions (yeah I know, things are a little slow here nowdays).
In the first comp (with 2 days notice) my company swept all 5 events. In the second comp, my company took 3 out of 5 events.
And we’re a BSB company. And it was mainly girls in the group competing against the grunts from the line companies……
but what do I care, I’m a DAT 😉
The criteria for the CIB is that the Soldier “must be personally present and under fire while serving in an assigned Infantry or Special Forces primary duty, in a unit engaged in active ground combat to close with and destroy the enemy with direct fires.” To be awarded the CAB, one “must be personally present and actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy.” Abuses are made of the system, but the intention of the CIB has always been to recognize only those who have been in direct combat. Reading the criteria at the link below, however, it looks like it did change effective 18 September 2001. http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Badges/CombatInfantrymanBadges.htm http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/badges/combatactionbadge.htm As for the EIB, it was established at the same time as the CIB and both could be award for actions in combat initially, though the EIB soon became solely a proficiency badge. I earned my CIB in 2003 and EIB the following year. My stick found it odd when I told them I was much more worked up about going into the last station blade running than I ever was in Iraq. The CIB requires only that you perform satisfactorily in action against the enemy. Easy enough, training and teamwork kick in and you don’t have time to worry about much. The EIB requires memorization of Skill Level 1 tasks and the ability to do them under pressure from the stopwatch and the graders. Those tasks are much harder when you are used to doing things the field way instead of using the Task/Condition/Standards of the book. The EIB is a rare sight nowadays. The primary reason I was able to earn mine is the fact that The Old Guard tests at least annually and sometimes twice a year. The Rakkasans tested in 2004 as I was PCS’ing and one of my buddies told me that out of 15 testers from his platoon two made it. A couple of months later in TOG, my stick started with 12 and 5 of us were pinned. Then again, we stayed at AP Hill with mandatory study halls and no family or outside… Read more »
The CIB and EIB were created at the same time, and initially the EIB could be awarded for performance in combat as well as proficiency. As for criteria for being awarded the CIB and the CAB they are as follows: CIB: “A Soldier must be personally present and under fire while serving in an assigned Infantry or Special Forces primary duty, in a unit engaged in active ground combat to close with and destroy the enemy with direct fires.” CAB: “Soldier must be personally present and actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy, and performing satisfactorily in accordance with the prescribed rules of engagement.” http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Badges/CombatInfantrymanBadges.htm http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/badges/combatactionbadge.htm There are abuses of the system, but the CIB has always been intended only for those who are actively engaged in combat. I earned my CIB in 2003 during the Invasion of Iraq and my EIB the following year. The CIB will always take precedence, but I was much more nervous going in my final station blade running than I ever was under fire. In combat training and teamwork kick in and you don’t have time to worry. EIB testing is an individual task pitting you against a stopwatch and a grader. All the tasks are Skill Level 1 but they must be conducted to the Task/Condition/Standard way of the book, not the way you mastered them in the field. Old Guard Soldiers have a couple advantages when it comes to earning their EIB. One, the Regiment tests at least once a year. Two, training is conducted at Fort AP Hill, where you stay in open bay barracks for ten days, study halls are mandatory, and there are no distractions of any sort, to include family. Pre-reqs are conducted starting a few months before testing and Soldiers are given every opportunity to qualify for EIB testing with multiple road marches, APFTs and weapon qualifications. I’ve heard some people claim that TOG hands out EIBs, but that has never happened that I have seen. The Rakkasans tested in fall 2004, my buddy’s platoon had 15 testers and 2 that earned the badge. When I… Read more »
Shee-it; This damned computer made me double post. I spent an hour formatting the first post, hit “submit” and it never posted. Spent another 30 minutes retyping the same thing, hit “submit” and now I have two posts.
It’s a good thing Post a Reply to a Blog is not an EIB task!!!!!! 🙂
fm2176; actually the links in your first comment sent the comment to “spam” and I pried it from the jaws of the spam folder (at great personal risk) and posted it.
To clarify what I said earlier: I’m going by the argument that was presented at the time of the discussion on awarding CAB’s. The argument I read was that there were individuals who were awarded the CIB who had not engaged with the enemy. I’m not saying they were correct, I’m pointing out what they were arguing. What I was taking issue with was Woody’s apparent dissing of the CAB as though those being awarded it weren’t worthy, that’s all.
They had no such award in my day, whether you swapped spit with the enemy, or not, unless you were infantry MOS, you didn’t get a badge for engaging the enemy. My dad has the CIB, Purple Heart, etc., so I’m not attempting to take anything away from anyone, but I think there should be some fairness in the discussion of what is happening in the current wars. A very good friend of mine was arty, however, during his first 2 tours in Iraq, he was doing foot patrols, same as infantry, engaged in firefights, same as infantry, etc. So, I was just surprised to see someone bagging on the CAB, that’s all.
Jonn,
Okay, thanks. My computer was acting funky this morning so I figured it was that. Those spam folders can be vicious.
Old Trooper,
Unfortunately, both the CIB and the CAB are sometimes awarded to those who shouldn’t meet the criteria. I’ve heard of Soldiers being awarded the CAB for a IED detonating 1/4 mile away and when I was in Iraq I saw the CIB awarded to new guys who hadn’t even been on a patrol as well as to the guys who had been attached to Aviation as door gunners for the entire deployment. Sometimes people slip through the cracks and sometimes an officer is looking to punch his ticket. Some of my peers who had already earned their EIB continued to wear that when we got back as they felt the CIB had been cheapened. Those of us that earn our bells and whistles know that we did.
Some people amass their trinkets differently than others. A couple of the aforementioned door gunners had Ranger contracts but bailed out of (or before) RIP. By the end of the deployment they were two-year Specialists sporting Parachutist Wings they’d earned after OSUT en route to the Ranger assignment they never saw, Air Assault Wings earned when the Air Assault School deployed and consolidated into a 5-day course lacking the road marches and obstacle course, Aviation Crewmember Wings earned rightfully as they had been on aircraft the entire deployment, and CIBs given to them because they were still technically part of the unit. Most of us came back sporting our first and only badge, the CIB, knowing that our uniforms spoke more about our service than any four-badge wonder.
What about a ‘gold wreath’ for those who have earned the EIB as well as the CIB? Denotes another ‘step’ or extra effort made by the soldier-
Just a thought.
And yeah, I was with guys for over TWO YEARS in B-dad, they got CAB and I didn’t cause I had no unit (I was augmentee) to put me in for one, even tho I did 100x the things they did and far more action. FAR more. Including runs and missions into Fallujah and following the Black Flags of the Mahdi Militia into Sadr..
Wolf
Wolf I feel your pain…
You Army dogs and your fancy uniform ornaments.
You guys ought to think about streamlining things with one award for receiving contact or engaging the enemy for everyone. You know, kinda like how us stupid jarheads do it.
EIB is a peacetime garrison award, doing pushups and other physical fitness events will never overshadow the CIB’s getting shot at for a month by actual bad guys and managing to survive. No. F*cking. Way.
I was always proud to sport my EIB as a young PFC. I recall our brigade commander giving us our first day of testing pep talk. “This is the badge you really earn. All I had to do for my CIB was show up and get shot at.” It was a sad day when ACUs came along and I couldn’t wear it anymore (pin on awards were discouraged). The EIB on my chest gave everyone the illusion that I knew what I was doing.
I’m dual qual’ed. Got my CIB for ODS. As proud as I am of it, it was something of a gimme.
My EIB (which I earned later) was something I had to work for. I had the EIB on about half my BDUs and as a recruiter, I’d just wear either the EIB or the CIB according to what I felt like that morning.
Back in the 1980’s at Bragg, friends in the 82nd who got CIB’s for Grenada insisted that the EIB was of course much harder to get than the CIB they had just been awarded. The thing took on a new nickname: “the Caribbean Infantryman Badge”.
One of the few, maybe the only general officer who both coveted and deserved the CIB was Gen Joseph Stilwell. He was awarded the CIB on his deathbed when he passed away from liver cancer, by special order.
Coming back home in one piece is better than any crap hanging off your chest.
If I had a subdued pin-on EIB I’d wear it from time to time, all I have are some sew-on EIBs, though. In my recruiting company there is only one other Soldier who has earned it, and he is a 79R now. The other three 11Bs have not yet earned theirs. It kinda sucks that the CIB was earned first, because I have rarely worn the EIB, a notable exception being PLDC at Fort Knox when my class had some obnoxious 1st ID Mech guys. No badge, medal or other trinket is worth dying for, but the CIB was originally conceived as a means to distinguish the Infantryman from the more glamorous branches of the era. Pounding dirt and sleeping in mud has never appealed to too many people, especially when they could be a tanker or join the Air Corps. With the Army being by far the largest branch it is hard to group every Soldier into the one “Warrior” category the Army likes to throw around nowadays. Especially in today’s wartime volunteer Army, few people want to join solely to become Infantrymen (or other combat skills) and I have seen prior service guys walk off the floor at MEPS rather than come back in with an 11-series MOS (one was a Cav Scout who said he’d rather hang himself with the blue cord than wear it). For what little it’s worth, my opinion is that only the Infantry and a few other frontline Soldiers deploy expecting combat. Until the CAB was adopted our FOs and Combat Engineers were SOL for recognition as combat Soldiers. It is also nice to recognize the support guys and girls that see some action. Regardless of what they joined for, in today’s conflicts many Soldiers are exposed to enemy actions. The Army is not the Marine Corps, and though I for one admire the mentality of every Marine being a Marine first and foremost, the Army cannot operate that way. For the most part, cooks expect to cook, mechanics expect to fix things and supply guys expect to account for materiel. Few of… Read more »
this discussion is like if i walked into a boy scout meeting and scouts are talking about how to make their patches cooler.
Scout 1: You know what would be awesome? If the snake patch had like red eyes, and like super fangs!
Scout 2: Yeah! And like way cool jagged stripes!
Scout 3: You guys are gay.
Semper Fi, army dogs!
Except that your combat “badge” is hidden in a ribbion rack.
EIB = peacetime garrison badge that shows not only that you are prepared for war, but that as an Infantryman you are willing to go to war.
CIB = combat award that shows you have not only prepared for war, but that you willingly risked your life for our country.
Let’s focus of the “I” part of the badge.
Infantry means a lot more that skill level 1 testing or getting shot at.
Infantry means living in the mud and ice while laughing at the 88M’s (truck drivers) who are complaining and crying (literally) that the water crossings are closed due to ice and so they have to stay the night out in the field.
Infantry means moving TOWARD the enemy, not avoiding them. Not because there is no other route into a city or a FOB, but because that’s what you get paid the big bucks to do.
The CAB is kind of like the Purple Heart. It is more of an incidental award, kind of like…
OHH, no, we got ambushed. Or, oh man I hope we don’t get shot at on the way to FOB Durka Durka.
Men who chose to live a hard life, with the promise of harsh times and possibly death earn the right to wear both the CIB and the EIB.
So, is the CIB better that the EIB? Yes, that’s the way they set it up. That’s why you used to get extra pay for having a CIB. Look at who the greatest military leaders were and are; they are all combat veterans.
Do I have an EIB? No. I had obligations that prevented me from testing when our Battalion tested.
Do I have a CIB? Yes. I spent a year in constant peril. When a convoy thought a route wasn’t clear my squad and I put on the old LPC’s and cleared it. That’s what I did to earn mine. On a daily basis I willingly endangered my life to fight the enemy. Even if I hadn’t gotten into a fire fight I would have deserved to wear it.
Been busy so I am late to the show on this thread.
I have the EIB, but no CIB, mostly due to the luck of the draw. For Grenada I was in Germany, Somalia I was 1st Cav but working BN and Div HQ’s so while parts of unit deployed I didn’t. Panama, I can’t even remember when it happened but my unit didn’t get called. For Desert Shield/Desert Storm I was on recruiting duty, and dammit I should have gotten a CIB for that! Anyway I was always at the wrong place at the wrong time, or right time according to the spouse.
I earned my EIB when the standards were one NO-GO and you were out of there. When I left the Army in ’99 they allowed you 3 NO-GO’s with retests.
It took me 3 times to get my EIB which means I walked 36 miles for that hunk of metal.
Anyway always been proud of my EIB, and several Vietnam vets always joked about how it was easy to get a CIB. All you had to do was get shot at.
BS to OldTrooper and all you people that say you just have “show up” to get the CIB…The CIB requires you actually engage the enemy. Read the frakin’ AR 600-8-22…BEFORE you open your mouth!
Section II
Combat and Special Skill Badges
8–6. Combat Infantryman Badge
a. For award of the CIB a Soldier must meet the following three requirements:
(1) Be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties.
(2) Assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat.
(3) Actively participate in such ground combat. Campaign or battle credit alone is not sufficient for award of the
CIB.
b. The specific eligibility criteria for the CIB require that
(1) A Soldier must be an Army infantry or special forces officer (SSI 11 or 18) in the grade of colonel or below, or
an Army enlisted Soldier or warrant officer with an infantry or Special Forces MOS, who subsequent to 6 December
1941 has satisfactorily performed duty while assigned or attached as a member of an infantry, ranger or special forces
unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size during any period such unit was engaged in active ground combat.
Eligibility for Special Forces personnel in Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) 18B, 18E, 18F, and 18Z (less
Special Forces medical sergeant) accrues from 20 December 1989. Retroactive awards of the CIB to Special Forces
personnel are not authorized prior to 20 December 1989.
Here is more. It differs quite significantly from the CAB. According to Army Regulation 600-8-22: “The Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) was established by the War Department on 27 October 1943. Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, then the Army Ground Forces commanding general, was instrumental in its creation. He originally recommended that it be called the “fighter badge.” The CIB was designed to enhance morale and the prestige of the “Queen of Battle.” Then Secretary of War Henry Stinson said, “It is high time we recognize in a personal way the skill and heroism of the American infantry.” Originally, the Regimental Commander was the lowest level at which the CIB could be approved and its award was retroactive to 7 December 1941. There was a separate provision for badge holders to receive a $10 per month pay stipend, which was rescinded in 1948. Several factors led to the creation of the CIB, some of the most prominent factors are as follows: a. The need for large numbers of well-trained infantry to bring about a successful conclusion to the war and the already critical shortage of infantrymen. b. Of all soldiers, it was recognized that the infantryman continuously operated under the worst conditions and performed a mission which was not assigned to any other soldier or unit. c. The infantry, a small portion of the total Armed Forces, was suffering the most casualties while receiving the least recognition. d. General Marshall’s well-known affinity for the ground forces soldier and, in particular, the infantryman. All these factors led to the establishment of the CIB, an award which would provide special recognition of the unique role of the Army infantryman, the only soldier whose daily mission is to close with and destroy the enemy and to seize and hold terrain. The badge was intended as an inducement for individuals to join the infantry while serving as a morale booster for infantrymen serving in every theater. In developing the CIB, the War Department did not dismiss out of hand or ignore the contributions of other branches. Their vital contributions to the overall war effort were… Read more »
I want to point out to all of you that my badge is often mistaken for jump wings. The criteria for awarding is even MORE strict than either the CIB or the CAB. Either one you can receive for simply getting shot at, the regs don’t say you have to actually ENGAGE the enemy. Often you’ll get blanket orders for both awards, combat arms favored a bit more for the CAB than REMFs.
Here’s the kicker, to get the CMB you have to ACTUALLY TREAT someone, and have documentation of such, WHILE getting shot at. the numbers are also telling. There are less than half the number of CIBs or CABs, together they dwarf the number of CMBs.
As for the difficulty of the EFMB, I can not speak for how hard the EIB is, but I know the failure rate of the EFMB is staggering. There’s a MASCAL section that gigs so many people because you have to “fight” your way to it first, THEN you have to assess, treat, call in a 9-line, etc. Sounds easy, that’s out job right? Well its kinda like getting asked math questions after morning PT.
I get that the EIB is physically demanding, I’ll grant that there is a mental aspect to it too. But I am so tired of the Infantry acting like they’re the only branch that matters. I slept in the same holes pissed in the same piss tubes, burned the same shit, and fought the same fight. What makes me different is an MOS identifier, and a large bag on my back that said “shoot me I’m a medic”. Worse still, when I lost a buddy, and really wanted to GET the SOB that did it to us, I had to stay where i was treating guys, with dick all for cover. For that i get a badge that is 1″ by 1 1/4″ that looked like a black blob on the BDUs, and i get the “what’s up with the funny Jump wings” question from Privates fresh out of Boot.
I have never seen that, but I have see it confused for a EFMB. But also consider that the number of eligible for the CMB is smaller compared to those who can recive the CIB or CAB. Plus that medics can recive the CAB. Also SF medics recive the CIB and not the CMB. So the numbers for the CMB will be in lower numbers.
When I did it it was divided into three lanes done on separate days. NBC, Evac and combat lane. We got to see the lane during train up and could go to the lane any time we wanted to in our off hours. Because it was in July in Alaska there was no night land nav.
I think that the comment that the Combat badges against the Expert badges is that when you have a chance to meet the requirements every day for a year against one week a year.
#34 Ken
Before calling BS on Old Trooper, take it from someone with a CIB 2d Award & an EIB. There are the regs and there is real life.
Most CIB’s are rewarded in mass on unit orders. A company will list all members on a single order and believe me there can be a number of Grunts who were there and didn’t fire a round. In other situations the award is submitted for individuals for a single combat action. Earned my EIB as a PFC and was damned proud of it, but both my CIBs are truly dear to my heart.
That is odd because the regulations that I have seen states that combat badges cannot be given as a blanket award. That a individual write up for each person must happen or it will be rejected. I can email you the supporting documents tomorrow.
Nope, my CIB orders have the names of myself and nine or ten other Soldiers. An individual write-up would have been nice, but it didn’t happen. Soldiers in the 101st were awarded the CIB in 2003 based on their MOS and not their actual actions. I knew too many (a few) who were assigned to Aviation or who had just arrived in country and were given a CIB as opposed to earning it.
That is odd but then again I have messed up award orders too. Like my AAM being listed as a second ARCOM with a LtCol as the final approval.
It seems that even today that if you hold a certain MOS that you can only get one type of Combat award. Was told by someone at HRC that because I was a medic I could only recive a CMB and engineers are combat arms. After I convinced them otherwise my CAB was approved ten days later.
There is a PowerPoint presentation from the National Guard that list mass write ups as a leading cause for awards to be rejected or kicked back.
#41, Sporkmaster, I have two GCMs I was never supposed to get. I hate to say it but pretty much ALL badges are blanket orders. I’ve seen CMBs, CABs, and CIBs all blanket orders. I don’t know how NG does it but AD tends to do it that way.
Even deployment awards go the same way. On the orders for my second ARCOM I’m listed with I think three other guys. My first tour there WERE individual awards, but that was because that jackass MG Batiste decreed that only 30% of junior enlisted “deserved” awards. So only one e-4 in my company got anything. I got an AAM for a deployment AND my various actions in and around Schofield.
sorry to say but apparently the people fighting are too busy actually fighting to actually write the awards these days. for the people that aren’t. . .well I guess they’re just writing up their own BSM awards. for meritoriously never leaving the FOB
Ouch and I thought I had it rough. Because were I am now people said that they got a ARCOM as a PCS award. But one thing that is funny is that I have a single GCM but with two PERM order numbers.
I get that I am using the “should” word but I figure that with that I am in a MEDCOM unit so I have time to help people get the awards they deserve.
The awards system (and who deserves what) would drive us all crazy if we tried to make sense of it. My “love me book” is at work, but I think the CIB is the only award with blanket orders I’ve received so far. The EIB (original subject of this thread) as well as Air Assault netted me a pretty little certificate and individual orders (with ASI for the latter). We got ARCOMs coming back from Iraq that were pretty much a blanket award but everyone got their certificate.
Speaking of messed up awards, Recruiting Command and their now replaced Incentive Awards Program is the most messed up system I’ve seen. Points have to be calculated based on contracts, shippers, quality, etc. Then we earn Gold Stars (just like Kindergarteners!) for our basic badge before earning a Gold Badge and Sapphires. Needless to say, without a person determining points (one would think they’d have created an automated system) subsequent awards are not made. I received my second Gold Star earlier this year and the date on it precedes my first one. Also, my first points were counted towards my basic Recruiter Badge, unlike those of everybody else. Fortunately, those are gone now, replaced by the Master Recruiter Badge. Still, there is a part of me that wants to hound my CoC to have the points calculated. I might have a Gold Badge (actually prefer the way the Silver one looks, especially on the ACU) and know that once I leave USAREC my chances of actually being awarded it are slim to none.
On the subject of the EIB can you take a look at the EIB entry on Wikapedia? I have been trying to bring the awards section up to speed but I am unsure how to best use the reference material I have on hand.
Got my CIB in Baghdad in 2003 once we took the city. They only had enough full color metal ones to do a company at a time, so they had us line up and did the pin on ceremony and then after it was over they collected them all up and took them with them to the next company and did it over again til they covered the whole battalion. I was in 3/3 ID, ‘the green patch brigade”. Our BC did square us away and got a bunch of green cloth CIBs and hired some Iraqis with sewing machines and had them sew one on for all the grunts who were awarded. That was pretty cool of him.
Great days to be a Battle Boar.
I wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Stars & Stripes back during my deployment in 2004. It was right before the CAB became an award. Basically what it stated was that the CIB had a long and distinguished history and that if any MOS other than 11/18 series wanted to receive one then they needed to reclass to 11/18 series and earn it the same way the people who wore a CIB did. Become an Infantryman or an SF trooper.
Little factoid that I was not aware of until my 1SG told me was that my BNCDR and BNCSM both read that same letter to the editor when it was published a few days later with my name and rank at the bottom. LOL
Dont let the dogfaces talk crap about our shiny stuff guys. The jarheads get a combat action ribbon for the same parameters roughly as our CIB. I have a Navy commodation medal for my service in Iraq from the Marines though I was Army. 1MEF/1/9 506th
But who were do you think that the Navy got the idea for that medal considering that the ARCOM is older then the NCOM by a year?
A lot of guys say a lot of interesting things on here.
I have been awarded three CIBs, and are Damn proud of each engagement that I will never forget. Infantry leads the way, and we are some cocky sons of bitches, truth is, if your not 11B, your supporting us. Nothing wrong with that! You chose your job, we chose ours. Medics are awesome, all Line companies love their medics and they get a lot of respect. I served with the Rakkasans ( best unit in the Army) and will never forget the relationship to that unit!