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Combat Medical Badge

The Combat Medical Badge is an award of the United States Army
Combat Medical Badge
which was first created in January 1945. Any member of the Army Medical
Department, at the rank of colonel or below, who is assigned or attached to
a ground combat arms unit of brigade or smaller size which provides
medical support during any period in which the unit was engaged in
ground combat is eligible for the CMB. According to the award criterion,
the individual must be performing medical duties while simultaneously
being engaged by the enemy; strict adherence to this requirement and its
interpretation (e.g., distant mortar rounds vs. direct small arms fire) will Awarded by United States
vary by unit. As of 3 June 2005, Special Forces medics are no longer Army
eligible for award, but may now receive the Combat Infantryman Badge.[2]
Type Badge
A revision has allowed aviation medics to be eligible for the CMB.[3] The
non-combat proficiency equivalent is the Expert Field Medical Badge.
Eligibility An army medic
supporting a
ground combat
arms unit brigade
Contents or lower.
Appearance Restricted to
ranks of colonel
History
and below at time
See also
of award.
References
Awarded for Performing
External links
medical duties
while being

Appearance engaged by the

enemy
The Combat Medical Badge is one inch tall and one and a half inches
Status Currently awarded
wide.[4]
Statistics
First awarded 6 December 1941
History (retroactive)
The Combat Medical Badge is retroactive to 6 December 1941. The original Last awarded Ongoing
decoration was considered a one-time decoration, however this directive
Precedence
was rescinded in 1951 allowing for multiple awards of the Combat Medical
Badge denoted by stars encircling the decoration.[5] According to the US Next (higher) Combat
Army Medical Department Regiment, to date there have been only two Infantryman
soldiers that have earned the Combat Medical Badge with two stars: Henry Badge
Jenkins and Wayne Slagel.[6] The directive was again altered in 1969 to Next (lower) Combat Action
specify that only one award of the Combat Medical Badge is authorized for Badge[1]
service in Vietnam, Laos, the Dominican Republic, South Korea Related The Army Expert
(subsequent to 4 January 1969), El Salvador, Grenada, Panama, Southwest Infantryman
Asia, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan regardless of whether an individual Badge and Expert
has served in one or more of these areas. Field Medical
Badge

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In 1947, a policy was implemented that authorized the retroactive award of the Bronze Star to soldiers who had
received the Combat Medical badge during the Second World War. The basis for doing this was that the Combat
Medical Badge was awarded only to soldiers who had borne combat duties befitting the Bronze Star Medal and also
that both awards required a recommendation by the commander and a citation in orders.

The CMB is authorized for award for the following

qualifying periods:[7][8]

1. World War II (7 December 1941 to 3

September 1945).
2. The Korean War (27 June 1950 to 27 July
1953).
3. Republic of Vietnam Conflict (2 March 1961
to 28 March 1973), combined with qualifying
service in Laos (19 April 1961 to 6 October Second award
1962). Third award
4. Dominican Republic (28 April 1965 to 1
September 1966).
5. Korea on the DMZ (4 January 1969 to 31 March 1994).
6. El Salvador (1 January 1981 to 1 February 1992).
7. Grenada (23 October to 21 November 1983).
8. Joint Security Area, Panmunjom, Korea (23 November 1984).
9. Panama (20 December 1989 to 31 January 1990).
10. Southwest Asia Conflict (17 January to 11 April 1991).
11. Somalia (5 June 1992 to 31 March 1994).
12. Afghanistan (Operations Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan and Freedom's Sentinel, 5 December 2001 to a date
to be determined).
13. Iraq (Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn, 19 March 2003 to 31 December 2011).
As of 2005 the rules for eligibility were changed to allow any medical department soldier in a brigade or lower unit to
be eligible so long as they are engaged in actual ground combat and performed medical duties. This now includes
Soldiers assigned to aviation units. Additionally, in 2008, IED/VBIEDs can now be considered direct contact with the
enemy.

As of June 2011, the badge and its sew-on equivalent may be worn on the Army Combat Uniform (ACU).[9]

See also
Military badges of the United States

References
1. Army Regulation 600-8-22 Military Awards (24 June 2013). Table 8-1, U.S. Army Badges and Tabs: Orders of
precedence. p. 120 (http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/r600_8_22.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20
131017045050/http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/r600_8_22.pdf) 17 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Sec. 578.69 2008 Combat Infantryman Badge" (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2008/julqtr/32cfr578.69.htm).
3. MILPER MESSAGE NUMBER : 08-190 (http://www.penfed.org/usawoa/downloads/MILPER2008-190+RevCriteri
aAwdCombatBadges.pdf)
4. "ASSIST-QuickSearch Document Details" (http://quicksearch.dla.mil/qsDocDetails.aspx?ident_number=4089).
Quicksearch.dla.mil. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
5. "U.S. Army Uniforms" (https://www.army.mil/uniforms). www.army.mil.
6. "Army Medical Department Regiment" (http://ameddregiment.amedd.army.mil/heraldic/triple.html).
Ameddregiment.amedd.army.mil. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
7. "Sec. 578.70 Combat Medical Badge 2008" (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2008/julqtr/32cfr578.70.htm).
8. "HRC Homepage" (https://www.hrc.army.mil/NotFound). www.hrc.army.mil.

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9. Secretary of the Army, Army Directive 2011-11, June 11, 2011 (http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/TIOH/docs/Cha
nges%20to%20Wear%20of%20Army%20ACU.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20120510011151/http://
www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/TIOH/docs/Changes%20to%20Wear%20of%20Army%20ACU.pdf) 10 May 2012 at
the Wayback Machine

External links
578.70 Combat Medical Badge (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2008/julqtr/32cfr578.70.htm)
Army Times: New combat badge rules (http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/army_combat_badges_080408
w/)

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This page was last edited on 4 July 2019, at 02:52 (UTC).

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