The Combat Infantryman Badge

[patches]

Another Subdued Cloth Laurel Leaf CIB sighting, embroidered as we see on cotton sateen, probably on a late 70s early 80s tropical coat due to the jump wings, which appear to be on that poly blend ribbed material, plus the general shape of the canopy and wings.

[patches]

On 3/28/2020 at 4:54 PM, patches said:

A Laurel Leaf one, nice, just like this one without the Lt Blue background.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploads//monthly_03_2020/post-122639-0-24051500-1585409367.jpg

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploads//monthly_02_2020/post-34986-0-63272200-1582072103.jpg

 

 

[patches]

On 2/18/2020 at 5:54 PM, patches said:

An example of the late 50s Laurel Leaf Wreath on Khaki Twlll, on a late 50s fatique shirt.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploads//monthly_02_2020/post-34986-0-60431700-1582072015.jpg

 

 

 

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Three really nice ones in a row, patches! Here’s a Japanese-made Third Award CIB:

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Here’s the ‘mate’ of the above, a 2nd Award CIB:

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Kabul-made CIB in coin silver and lapis lazuli with a piece of lapis lazuli:

[Sivart]

Here are my Kabul made CIBs

[Cobra 6 Actual]

That top one is a beauty, Sivart! Here’s something a little different, a brass CIB die:

[MikeK]

12 hours ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

That top one is a beauty, Sivart! Here’s something a little different, a brass CIB die:

 

That's not the die, it's the planchet that was struck by the die. Interesting look at the production process though!

[patches]

On 4/15/2021 at 6:55 AM, Cobra 6 Actual said:

Here’s the ‘mate’ of the above, a 2nd Award CIB:

Cobra 6 Actual how are or would these two badges be applied to a uniform, do they have male-female snaps, or would they be gingerly sewn on?

[Cobra 6 Actual]

9 hours ago, MikeK said:

That's not the die, it's the planchet that was struck by the die. Interesting look at the production process though!

Thanks for that clarification, Mikie. 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

9 hours ago, patches said:

Cobra 6 Actual how are or would these two badges be applied to a uniform, do they have male-female snaps, or would they be gingerly sewn on?

I’ve seen several different methods, Patches: these two, just as you described, would be sewn own. I have other bullion CIB’s that have pinbacks. 

[rd12]

Sivart, the second Kabul CIB you posted is not a style I have seen before, very cool. 

[Reforger]

On 6/17/2020 at 4:26 AM, rd12 said:

I found two more examples of CIBs with unit insignia attached. The crest on top is still unknown to me. 

 

Crest on top is 62nd ADA and bottom is 8th ID.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks for that identification, Reforger! Just recapping on the similar CIB’s with unit identifiers that have been posted on here in addition to these two we’ve seen ones for the 1st, 3rd, 10th Mountain, 27th, 28th, 34th, and 36th.

 

On a different CIB subject there has been much discussion on this Forum about 4th Award CIB’s. The general consensus was that they were authorized but never awarded. Apparently, though, several companies went ahead and made them. Here’s one from Antaya in Sterling Silver:

 

 

Antaya was in business from 1948 to 1990. This is a clutchback with a tiny hallmark for “Antaya” and an equally tiny “Sterling” mark.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

And, here’s a 4th Award CIB in bullion:

 

The back of this badge had clutchback pins, but they had both been trimmed off so the badge could be mounted in a display.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Leather flight suit name plate:


If I have the correct guy he had a solid Army career then after retirement tried to murder his wife. Go figure.

As you would expect the back has Velcro. This is one of four of these leather name plates with CIB’s that I have now. They seem to be getting slightly more common.

[ItemCo16527]

7 hours ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

Leather flight suit name plate:


If I have the correct guy he had a solid Army career then after retirement tried to murder his wife. Go figure.

As you would expect the back has Velcro. This is one of four of these leather name plates with CIB’s that I have now. They seem to be getting slightly more common.

This really cool. I've never seen a CIB (or an EIB for that matter) on a leather nameplate before. It looks really good; I'm surprised this isn't more common.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, ItemCo16527. Here’s another:
 

 

I’ll see if I can find the other two and post them later.

[ItemCo16527]

That's a great one, too. I like how he has his service branch in place of "U.S. Army". Very unique!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, ItemCo,

 

Here’s another:

 

 

This looks a little nasty, but the photo is before I cleaned it up. The actual badge seems to have gone walkabout. This is a 3rd Award badge. In researching this earlier rd12 helped to turn up some important details that lead me to a fuller story. It turns out this LT ‘Monte’ was actually a former First Sergeant that got commissioned. His full name was Manuel Victor Montezoca. Rest in peace, Soldier!

[jmd62]

Great examples, thanks for posting them!

[rd12]

These are neat finds, I haven't come across one yet "in the wild". Its especially satisfying to be able to trace back to a veteran. These appear to be made by Military Uniform Supply, Inc.

You can customize your badge and the text to match your service.

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks for that information, rd12. In addition, it appears that flightjacket.com and militarynames.com both also make these for the different military services. In the distant past US Cav also made them. It’s now part of Galls, but doesn’t appear to be selling these any more.

 

Here’s a better photo of an unauthorized CIB that I posted earlier on this Thread as well as on the Unauthorized Combat Infantryman Badges Thread:

 

 

And, rd12, you have a slightly different version of this M-16 UA CIB, correct?

[rd12]

Yep, actually very similar to yours though. Could have been made by same person. Started as a C.P. Company CIB with separate rifle. Rifle was removed and an M-16 filed down from bar stock silver was applied. I'm still looking for the M1 garand variant.