The Army has authorized a new badge for soldiers who have earned both the Combat Infantryman Badge, or CIB, and an Expert Infantryman Badge, or EIB, the Army’s top enlisted leader announced on Tuesday. An equivalent top badge will be rolled out for combat veterans who also hold Expert Field Medical and Expert Soldier awards.
Dubbed the Master Combat Badge, the new decoration will signify that soldiers have received both a combat award and an expert badge for their military occupational specialty, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael R. Weimer said during the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington, D.C.
The new Master Combat Badge will mirror the existing combat badges, except the wreath will be gold rather than silver.
The new badge will solve a conflict that many combat-experienced soldiers face in preparing their uniforms. Badges awarded for combat experience — like the CIB — and those for expert skills are visually similar and worn on the same spot on a uniform — at the top of a soldier’s award ribbons. As a result, soldiers who qualify for both can only wear one.
In announcing the new badges, Weimer said that as a younger soldier, he admired soldiers who wore symbols that showed they had been in combat.
“I did look to the Panama guys,” Weimer said. “I did look to the Grenada guys, and we even still had a few Vietnam guys in my formation at that point in time. Whoever had a mustard stain on their jump wings, who had a Ranger scroll on their right shoulder, who had a CIB, it was motivating.”
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The three current expert badges are emblems of their jobs over a rectangle. The three combat badges add a wreath of laurel.
“The current policy doesn’t authorize Soldiers to wear both the Expert Badge and Combat Badge on their uniforms, even though they’ve earned them,” said Sgt. Maj. Eric Bassile, of the Army’s Policy Integrated Division. “They should be able to wear them with pride. That’s the idea behind the Master Combat Badge—a single badge that represents a Soldier’s sacrifice, hard work, and mastery of skills within their career management field.”
The CIB is given to soldiers in infantry or Special Forces who have served in direct ground combat — a testament that a soldier has faced the enemy in direct action. The EIB, which is also limited to infantry and Special Forces, is a skills badge awarded to soldiers who pass a rigorous series of tests on infantry skills, from marksmanship to land navigation.
Two other badges are awarded along similar lines to other MOSs: the Combat Medical and Expert Field Medical devices for medics; and the Expert Soldier and Combat Action awards for all other Army MOSs.
To cover all soldiers who have earned both awards, Bassile said, the Army will introduce three different versions of the Master Combat Badge: The Master Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Combat Medical Badge, and the Master Combat Action Badge.
The Army was prompted to authorize the new badge because leaders were opting to wear their CIBs in lieu of their EIBs, Weimer said on Tuesday.
“I’ll be honest with you, not all CIBs are equal,” Weimer said. “ It’s just a true statement. They’re not equal. But all EIBs are equal, aren’t they? And I’m here to tell you the failure rate on the EIB is pretty high because it’s hard to get. That’s why it’s called ‘expert.’ And so, the Master Combat Badge will actually identify that you have both.”
The Master Combat Badge will be worn in the same location on the Army uniform as both the EIB and CIB, an Army official said on Tuesday.
Mariner and Mountaineering Badges Approved
In addition to the Master Combat Badge, the Army has also approved the Mariners and Mountaineering Badge, Weimer said on Tuesday.
But the Mountaineering Badge will no longer look like the famous ram’s head device of military lore.
“Who remembers the goat head for the mountain [badge],” Weimer asked audience members. “Yeah. that’s not going to be the badge. Just so you know, for the record. They’re in the process of redesigning the badge that will come up for approval. But I didn’t want the process to slow down the righteous reason the badge was requested.”
The Army will issue a policy that lays out which soldiers are eligible to wear the Mountaineering Badge, he said.
Weimer also said that his decision to recommend the Army approve the Mariner badge was solidified after he visited soldiers with the 7th Transportation Brigade, who operated a floating pier so that food and other emergency supplies could be transported to Gaza.
“Any of you that worked with our Army mariners before, you know exactly what I’m talking about – the way that they get after it,” Weimer said. “And that is a badge they earned.”
UPDATE: 10/15/2024; This article was updated after publication with additional information about the Master Combat Badge’s design.
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