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Officers With Marksmanship Badges On Their Dress Uniforms 1930s-Early 1970s


patches
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There's no "taboo", it's just not commonly practiced by Army officers (as compared to their Marine counterparts). Photos from this Command and General Staff College yearbook show that it was common practice to wear marksmanship badges at the time...or that it was the local command policy / requirement. The newer photos posted above show former enlisted and reserve component officers who are more frequently found wearing them. My CGSC yearbook (1994-1995) shows no marksmanship badges being worn. Annual qualification on one's personal weapon is (or at least used to be) a requirement.

 

In my career I had NCOs who "made" me wear my marksmanship badge because it set the example for our Soldiers. Not wearing one, in their opinion, sent the message that marksmanship was not important.

 

In Armor/Cavalry/Mech Infantry units the appropriate "award" for qualification gunnery is a marksmanship badge with a "Tank Weapons" or equivalent bar. Yet I never served in a unit that issued them upon qualification. (Though I did as a Troop Commander to all of my crews.)

 

It's an odd part of Army officer culture that ought to be changed (in my opinion), but the uniform is pretty cluttered with other stuff these days I suppose.

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The modern approach that officers take to wearing bolo badges as that it isn't important, and in some circles absolutely not done. I think the tone is usually set by the senior officer. You will see the ones who qualify as Distinguished will absolutely wear their badges, but it really isn't common to see them being worn by officers on a regular basis.

 

As an aside, the Warrant Officer in post #37 appears to be wearing a driver badge and not a bolo badge.

 

Allan

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There's no "taboo", it's just not commonly practiced by Army officers (as compared to their Marine counterparts). Photos from this Command and General Staff College yearbook show that it was common practice to wear marksmanship badges at the time...or that it was the local command policy / requirement. The newer photos posted above show former enlisted and reserve component officers who are more frequently found wearing them. My CGSC yearbook (1994-1995) shows no marksmanship badges being worn. Annual qualification on one's personal weapon is (or at least used to be) a requirement.

 

In my career I had NCOs who "made" me wear my marksmanship badge because it set the example for our Soldiers. Not wearing one, in their opinion, sent the message that marksmanship was not important.

 

In Armor/Cavalry/Mech Infantry units the appropriate "award" for qualification gunnery is a marksmanship badge with a "Tank Weapons" or equivalent bar. Yet I never served in a unit that issued them upon qualification. (Though I did as a Troop Commander to all of my crews.)

 

It's an odd part of Army officer culture that ought to be changed (in my opinion), but the uniform is pretty cluttered with other stuff these days I suppose.

You can say that again with your closing remark, never seen so much stuff, bet the coats weigh a ton :lol:

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The modern approach that officers take to wearing bolo badges as that it isn't important, and in some circles absolutely not done. I think the tone is usually set by the senior officer. You will see the ones who qualify as Distinguished will absolutely wear their badges, but it really isn't common to see them being worn by officers on a regular basis.

 

As an aside, the Warrant Officer in post #37 appears to be wearing a driver badge and not a bolo badge.

 

Allan

Yeah I think your right there Allan, hard to make out without close study, I guess because it's a modern never shine chromed type, and lacks some of the definition that one might see in the older types that have be antiqued.

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I just wondered if I had missed something. I always wore my bolo badges and I wore the appropriate qualification for that year. Yeah, the other platoon leaders gave me grief about it but my attitude was as 12A54's; you as a leader sets the example.

Just a few cents worth!

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The last time I wore any qual badges was as an ROTC cadet. Upon commissioning I never wore them again, even as an Armor officer. I later transitioned to QM and none of the officers wore any of these badges. I think the attitude is that officers must qualify as experts in everything that they do, so wearing a badge for it is irrelevant. I'm not saying that makes it right, I just was never in units that required officers to wear them.

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Whoops here's the one, was saying why on earth would he have an WWII German badge :lol:

 

post-34986-0-19841600-1459400768.jpg

 

This one here must be an early Post 1955-1960s badge, a new design of the monogram, as there is a DeNazified version of the WWII type for wear of former Wehrmacht personnel.

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Spathologist

The last time I wore any qual badges was as an ROTC cadet. Upon commissioning I never wore them again, even as an Armor officer. I later transitioned to QM and none of the officers wore any of these badges. I think the attitude is that officers must qualify as experts in everything that they do, so wearing a badge for it is irrelevant. I'm not saying that makes it right, I just was never in units that required officers to wear them.

I always wore mine, and got crap for it. When I would note that the crap-talkers had earned something less than an Expert badge for their assigned weapons they usually shut up.

 

Officers didn't wear them because most couldn't qualify as Expert and anything less was embarrassing as a leader, then used peer pressure to stop others from wearing them so the absence wouldn't stick out.

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ANND A One ANND A Two.

 

post-34986-0-14412700-1459564747.jpg

The CO of D Company 1st Infantry 6th Infantry Division, 1955, got look for info on this officer, he looks Filipino, 2nd Award CIB, Hmm maybe a Bataan Philippine Scout survivor right!

 

 

 

post-34986-0-27961800-1459564688.jpg

And Officers, two of which wear their badges. 1956, just after the 9th Infantry Division was sent to Fort Carson Colorado to be reorganized as a Full Combat Division, prior to this it was a Fort Dix New Jersey as a cadre strength Training Division. We see that Major Felix Stanley again, we talked about him awhiles back on the fact that he may be wearing Nationalist Chinese Para Commando Wings.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/173693-unknown-foreign-jump-wings-1950s-wornnationalist-chinese/

 

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