Marksmanship badges (United States)

Starting in the late 19th century, the U.S. Army began awarding marksmanship qualification badges to its soldiers who met specific weapon qualification standards. In the early 20th century, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy began awarding marksmanship qualification badges as well. The Marine Corps began by awarding Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges but eventually developed its own badge design, based on the original Army designs from the early 1900s. The Navy developed its own marksmanship qualification badge but retired it after only ten years in lieu of awarding marksmanship ribbons and medals. For U.S. civilians, the Office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship—now known as the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearm Safety (CPRPFS)—and the NRA began promoting civilian marksmanship in 1903. The CPRPFS's CMP awards Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges to civilians who meet U.S. Army weapon qualification standards as well as its own badges to youth for air rifle marksmanship. The NRA began awarding its own marksmanship qualification badges to civilians in 1918 and today has two primary marksmanship proficiency programs, the Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program and the Explorer Service Handgun Qualification Program. Additionally, the NRA supports numerous other firearm proficiency programs throughout the United States, such as those found within various U.S. law enforcement organizations. U.S. Army The U.S. Army awards Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges to its soldiers, U.S. Army uniformed civilian guards, and foreign military personnel, while the CMP awards these same badges to U.S. civilians who qualify at three different qualification levels (highest to lowest): expert, sharpshooter, and marksman. Suspended from the badge are Army Weapon Qualification Clasps that indicate the type of weapon the individual has qualified to use. The following list of Army Weapon Qualification Clasps are currently authorized under U.S. Army Pamphlet 670-1: The level at which one qualifies is dependent on the weapon, firing range, and the course of fire. For example, to earn an Army Marksmanship Qualification Badge for Pistol at the Combat Pistol Qualification Course, one must have a combined hit count of 26 out of 30 for expert, 21 out of 30 for sharpshooter, and 16 out of 30 for marksman on firing tables one through five. Regardless of the soldier's overall score, everyone must have a minimum hit count of three out of five while wearing a gas mask for the chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear firing table and two out of four while shooting at night for the night firing table. Each of these firing tables test the shooter on different aspects of combat pistol shooting (shooting from a concealed position, speed loading, shooting on the move, etc.) while engaging human silhouettes at varying distances within an allotted time. Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges are not permanent awards. When a soldier re-qualifies with their weapon at a different level, the soldier replaces their qualification badge with a new badge that reflects their current level. Only three Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges are authorized for wear on U.S. Army service uniforms and each may have no more than three Army Weapon Qualification Clasps. Although these badges are awarded to both officers and enlisted soldiers alike, as a matter of U.S. Army tradition, only non-commissioned officers and enlisted soldiers are expected to wear these badges on their service uniforms in most units, although policy is set by the commander of each unit. Former Army qualification badges The Army began using marksmanship qualification badges in 1881 starting with the Marksman Button. That led to a variety of different U.S. Army branch specific marksmanship badges until 1897 when the Rifle Marksmanship Badges were implemented Army wide. The U.S. Army's Pistol Marksmanship Badges were implemented ten years later in 1907. Clasps were added to the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Badge and Expert Marksmanship Badge to indicate the year(s) a soldier requalified as a sharpshooter or expert. Up to three years were denoted on a single clasp. Upon earning the badge a fourth time, another clasp was added and that new clasp was used to denote up to three additional years of requalification; there was no limit to the number of clasps that could be hung from these badges. In 1915, the U.S. Army changed the design of the Expert Pistol Qualification Badge's pendant by replacing the revolvers with M1911s; this pendant lives on in today's Marine Corps Expert Pistol Qualification Badge. Additionally, the U.S. Army had a short-lived series of Artillery Qualification Badges from 1891 through 1913. In 1921, the pistol and artillery badges were combined into today's Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges through the addition of the Pistol Clasp and Field Artillery Clasp. Prior to 1951, the names of the qualification levels for the current Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges were known as (highest to lowest) expert, sharpshooter or first-class gunner, and marksman or second-class gunner. Also, prior to 1972, the Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges had many different types of weapon qualification clasps. According to The Institute of Heraldry, the following is a list of previously awarded Army Weapon Qualification Clasps: U.S. Marine Corps The U.S. Marine Corps award two types of Marine Corps Marksmanship Qualification Badges, one for the service rifle and one for the service pistol, to all Marines who qualify at one of three different qualification levels (highest to lowest): expert, sharpshooter, and marksman. These qualification badges are suspended beneath a brooch which bears the name of the type of weapon (rifle or pistol) and the qualification level earned. Some of these badges are different in appearance, depending on the type of weapon and qualification level. U.S. Marine Corps Marksmanship Qualification Badges may be worn on U.S. Marine Corps dress and service uniforms for the remainder of a Marine's military career, or until a different level of qualification (higher or lower) is achieved. Typically, all Marines qualify with the rifle on an annual basis. The most recent qualification score determines the badge that is worn. If a Marine achieves the qualification of expert multiple times, a clasp is hung between the brooch and the pendant of the appropriate badge denoting the number of subsequent awards. The Army Rifle Marksmanship Badges were replaced by the current Marine Corps Rifle Marksmanship Qualification Badges in 1958. That same year, the U.S. Marine Corps adopted the U.S. Army's 1915 design of the Army Expert Pistol Qualification Badge and created its own Marine Corps Pistol Qualification Badges, which is still in use today. The Marine Corps Basic Badge remained in use until 1968 when it was declared obsolete. The Navy Sharpshooter's Badge was made of antique bronze with a rectangular brooch that had the word "SHARPSHOOTER" embossed in its center with circling serpent bookends. Below the brooch hung two types of clasps, an Expert Qualification Clasp and a Qualification Year Clasp. From those clasps hung the badge's pendant. The Expert Qualification Clasp is identical in design to the brooch but with the word(s) "EXPERT," for the service rifle, or "EXPERT PISTOL SHOT," for the service pistol. Each time a shooter requalified as expert, another Expert Qualification Clasp was hung from the badge. If no Expert Qualification Clasp was suspended from the badge, then the shooter qualified as a sharpshooter with the service rifle and/or service pistol. The Qualification Year Clasp is different in design from the brooch which incorporated three ovals along its length for the placement of Year Disks. The Year Disk was made of silver and embossed with the year the shooter qualified/requalified. On the fourth requalification year, another Qualification Year Clasp was hung from the badge with a fourth Year Disk embossed with the year of requalification. There was no limit to the number of clasps that could be hung from the badge. Hanging from the clasp(s) was the badge's pendant, which was the design basis for today's U.S. Navy marksmanship medals. The only difference between the pendant of the Navy Sharpshooter's Badge and the Navy Expert Rifleman Medal or Expert Pistol Shot Medal is the metal color (from antique bronze to gold), the deletion of the crossed rifles from behind a replica of a rifle target, and the addition of the words "EXPERT RIFLEMAN" or "EXPERT PISTOL SHOT" embossed above the rifle target. Sailors who qualify on a small arms qualification course with another military service may wear the appropriate Navy ribbon or medal corresponding to that service qualification. Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) and the CMP have established a JROTC Rifle Marksmanship Training and Award Program to increase a cadet's knowledge and skill in handling rifles safely and proficiently. JROTC cadets who participate in rifle marksmanship training are eligible to earn a JROTC Rifle Qualification Badge, representative of one of three qualification levels (in ascending order): Marksman, Sharpshooter, and Expert. These badges signify that the cadets who wear them, have demonstrated the knowledge and skill necessary to handle rifles safely, and to achieve their required scores in the relevant qualification firing tests. The CMP have set standards that apply to the conduct of weapon qualification events. All qualification events must be done with sporter-class air rifles, such as the Daisy M853/9753/953 pneumatic rifles or Daisy M887/888 rifles, that were awarded through the military supply system. Qualification tests must be conducted at a distance of . Qualification tests may be done on either the basic marksmanship course (BMC) targets or AR-1 competition targets. During qualification tests, a sling, glove, and kneeling roll may be used. To receive a qualification badge, cadets must attain the following scores that is supervised or observed by a qualified instructor: History of the Winchester/NRA badges The Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program was established in 1926 when the Winchester Junior Rifle Corps and the NRA Junior Marksmanship Program were combined. American youth remained the target audience focusing on firearm safety and marksmanship. The newly combined program used the original Winchester Junior Rifle Corps qualification levels until 2002 when the NRA added the marksman first-class qualification, increasing the number of qualification levels to six. In the early 21st century, the pendant of the original NRA marksmanship qualification badges changed from a circular wreathed pendant to a unique shield design with the words "Junior Division" removed from the pendant; the same was done with the original design of the NRA Distinguished Expert Badge but both the brooch and pendant were completely redesigned. These changes likely occurred when the NRA revamped the Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program to be more inclusive; the program now includes 11 different courses of fire for both youths and adults. ==Marksmanship competition badges==

Tung M. Nguyen wearing his Army Interservice Competition Badge (gold) (left) and Army EIC Pistol Shot Badge (bronze) (right) on the U.S. Army Service Uniform The 1996 U.S. federal law established the CPRPFS with the authority to promote practice and safety in the use of firearms through the conduct of competitions and the awarding of prizes, trophies, badges, and other insignia to high performing competitors, which it carries out through the CMP. This authorization carries with it the responsibility to administer the CPRPFS's distinguished marksmanship programs. The CMP maintains records of points earned by shooters and presents appropriate prizes to those who earn them while the U.S. armed forces award service specific competition marksmanship badges to serviceman based on the CMP's records for points earned. The CMP has a point system that competitors use to work their way towards "distinguished status." Starting in 2015, the CMP began awarding achievement pins based on the score one earns at a given match. For example, to earn a bronze, silver, or gold CMP .22 Rimfire Pistol Achievement Pin, one must achieve a score of 235–249, 250–264, or 265+ respectively in the authorized excellence category of competition. Also in 2015, the CMP established minimum cut scores that must be achieved for a given weapon in the authorized excellence category of competition before one can earn credit points (also referred to as "leg points") towards a distinguished marksmanship badge. Once the minimum cut score has been achieved or exceeded (260-300 for .22 rimfire pistol, 250-300 for service pistol, and 455-500 for service rifle), the shooter becomes eligible to earn leg points. The number of leg points that can be earned are based on the number of competitors, one's score, one's ranking, and you must fall within the top 10% of all match shooters regardless of your minimum cut score. Typically, the highest one-sixth of the top 10% earn ten leg points, the next highest two-sixths earn eight, and the remaining three-sixths earn six. Depending on the awarding organization, competitors must earn between one and six leg points to be awarded their first excellence-in-competition (EIC) badge. Everyone must earn at least 30 leg points to reach "distinguished status" and be awarded one of the distinguished marksmanship badges. Leg points accumulate throughout a competitor's lifetime until "distinguished status" is attained. Thus, leg points earned as a member of the U.S. armed forces will transfer toward "distinguished status" as a civilian, and vice versa. Similarly, the NRA has like programs which use similar ranking systems as the CPRPFS's distinguished marksmanship programs where a shooter must work their way up to "distinguished status" by demonstrating repeated excellence in marksmanship. The NRA's distinguished marksmanship programs focus on areas not covered by the CPRPF. However, the NRA's newest program, the NRA Distinguished Air Gun Program, is in competition with the CPRPFS's Junior Distinguished Program as they both focus on air gun proficiency among American youth. Distinguished marksmanship programs EIC badges The U.S. armed forces award EIC badges to their members based on the CMP's records of leg points earned at a rifle and/or pistol match and in accordance with that member's service regulation(s). For example, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps awards their Bronze EIC Badges when a sailor/Marine earns six leg points when competing in an authorized excellence category of competition, their Silver EIC Badges when eight leg points have been earned, and their Gold EIC Badges when ten leg points are earned. The U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard award their Bronze EIC Badges when a soldier/Coast Guardsman earns their first leg points when competing in an authorized excellence category of competition. However, the Army Silver EIC Badges and Coast Guard Silver EIC Badges are awarded differently; the U.S. Army will award their Silver EIC Badges when 20 leg points have been earned and the U.S. Coast Guard will award their Silver EIC Badges when a Coast Guardsman has earned their second set of leg points regardless of the number of points earned. The U.S. Air Force awards Bronze EIC Badges (without wreath) to airman who rank in the top 10% of competitors at a U.S. Air Force-approved competition; these competitions do not have to be CMP sanctioned. The Air Force Bronze EIC Badges with Wreath are awarded when six leg points have been earned in an authorized excellence category of competition and their Silver EIC Badges with Wreath when 20 leg points have been earned. The following is a list of current EIC badges that are awarded by the CMP and the U.S. armed forces to their members; these EIC badges are listed in order of precedence by organization: When the U.S. Marine Corps authorized their first Marine Corps marksmanship competition badges in 1908, they used the pendant of the U.S. Army's 1907 designed Team Marksmanship Badges; however, the Marines used a unique brooch that had the name "MARINE CORPS" etch within it to help set it apart from the U.S. Army's 1907 version. Slowly, the Marine Corps's marksmanship competition badges took on their own distinctive characteristics. Between 1910 and 1930, the pendants started to be modified with the word "DIVISION" or the eagle, globe, and anchor replacing the letters "U.S." to signify winners of unit or service/national level competitions respectively. These marksmanship competition badges live on as the Marine Corps's EIC badges. The U.S. Air Force used to award Silver and Gold Elementary EIC Rifle and Pistol Badges and Gold National EIC Rifle and Pistol Badges to its competition shooters. The EIC badges without wreaths were originally known as `non-national EIC badges' while those with wreaths were known as `national EIC badges'. With changes in U.S. Air Force instructions (AFI), the term non-national was replaced with elementary. In today's AFI, the elementary EIC badges are formally known as Bronze EIC Badges while the national EIC badges are formally known as either Bronze or Silver EIC Badges with Wreath. However, U.S. Air Force competitors still refer to these badges using their old designations (Elementary and National). Distinguished marksmanship badges In 1884, the United States Secretary of War authorized the establishment of the "distinguished class" of marksman. In 1887, the Secretary authorized the first Distinguished Marksman Badge to recognize the shooters who achieved this distinguished class of marksman with the rifle, carbine, revolver, or any combination of the three. This continued until the establishment of the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge in 1903 and the Distinguished Rifleman Badge in 1959. However, the Distinguished Marksman Badge is still awarded to distinguished rifle shooters of the sea services (U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard). These two badges were the U.S. armed forces' highest awards for rifle and pistol marksmanship until 1962 when the CMP established the Distinguished International Shooter Badge. In 2001, the Junior Distinguished Badge was established for junior air rifle competitors while the CMP's newest distinguished program, the .22 Rimfire Pistol Distinguished Badge (authorized in 2015), has been established for adult and junior shooters alike. Today, the Distinguished International Shooter Badge is the highest award for marksmanship within the U.S. followed by the Distinguished Rifleman/Marksman Badge, the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge, the .22 Rimfire Pistol Distinguished Badge, and the Junior Distinguished Badge. As with all distinguished badges, a shooter must earn 30 leg points to be awarded the Distinguished International Shooter Badge. However, the means by which one earns these leg points is very different. International leg points are awarded based on a shooter's placement at international marksmanship competitions; specifically the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the World Clay Target Championships, the World Cup Finals, the World Cup, the Pan American Games, the Championship of the Americas, the World Junior Championships, and the Americas Junior Championships. Depending on where a shooter places in these games, individually or as a team, will dictate the number of international leg points earned. NRA's newest distinguished program is their Distinguished Air Gun Program which was established in 2010. This program mirrors the NRA Distinguished Smallbore Rifle Program where four step certificates must be earned in order to be awarded the Three Position Precision Air Rifle Badge or the Three Position Sporter Air Rifle Badge. The Double Distinguished Air Rifle Badge is awarded when a shooter has earned four step certificates in both precision and sporter matches. The NRA established the Law Enforcement Distinguished Marksmanship Program in 1973 with the introduction of the Law Enforcement Distinguished Revolver Badge. In 1990, the NRA amended the program by introducing the Law Enforcement Distinguished Semi-Automatic Pistol Badge. The Distinguished Action Pistol Badge and Conventional Pistol Distinguished Badge were established for U.S. civilian competitors in 1985 and 2005 respectively. Just like the CPRPFS programs, a 30 leg point system is used to earn these NRA distinguished badges and similar rules apply for how leg points are earned. Former distinguished badges According to articles from American Rifleman Magazine and the U.S. Navy's Firing Regulations for Small Arms from the early 1900s, the U.S. Navy use to award a Navy Expert Team Rifleman Badge to U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps personnel who qualified as expert rifleman numerous times and excelled in official rifle marksmanship competitions. The badge was designed "to encourage team competitions and to distinguish a class of officers and men who have shown superior skill in team competitions." To earn the Expert Team Rifleman Badge, a shooter must have qualified as expert with the service rifle four times and have high placement at three official rifle marksmanship competitions. In the U.S. Marine Corps's uniform regulation of 1922, the Navy Expert Team Rifleman Badge ranked between the Distinguished Marksman Badge and the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge in precedence. It is not known when this badge was retired, but the badge did appear in the October 1943 edition of National Geographic Magazine, suggesting it was still an authorized decoration during World War II. From 1930 through the late 1940s, the U.S. Army awarded the Distinguished Automatic Rifleman Badge to those who had earned the U.S. Army's Team Marksmanship Badge for BAR with sufficient points to qualify for "distinguished status." When marksmanship competitions resumed after World War II, the U.S. Army limited competitions to the rifle and pistol. Thus, the Distinguished Automatic Rifleman Badge was retired, along with the U.S. Army's Automatic Rifle Team Marksmanship Badge. U.S. Marine Corps specific competition badges When the U.S. Marine Corps began its marksmanship qualification program in the early 20th century, it also establish a marksmanship competition program to help further advance the skills of its expert shooters. In the summer of 1908, the U.S. Marine Corps instituted the Distinguished Marksman Badge to recognition winners at the national marksmanship matches. That same year, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps authorized the first U.S. Marine Corps-wide match by providing for four division matches. As a result of these early matches, the U.S. Marine Corps began to award competition specific marksmanship badges. Today, these badges are awarded alongside trophies and other prizes that are presented to the top performing Marines at U.S. Marine Corps competitions. The following are U.S. Marine Corps competition badges not associated with the CMP: • Lauchheimer Trophy Badges (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) • Marine Corps Rifle Championship Badge (McDougal Trophy) • Marine Corps Pistol Championship Badge (Walsh Trophy) • Inter-Division Rifle Competition Badge • Inter-Division Pistol Competition Badge • Fleet Marine Force (FMF) Combat Infantry Trophy Match Badge • Annual Rifle Squad Combat Practice Competition Badges (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) • Rifle Team Match Badges (San Diego, Wharton, Elliott, Wirgman, Lloyd, and Smith Trophies) • Pistol Team Match Badges (Holcomb, Edson, Shively, and Pacific Trophies) Of the 24 Marine Corps competition badges (not counting metal color/level), seven are part of the CMP while the 17 listed above are awarded for high placement at Marine Corps specific competitions. Of those 17 badges, one is truly unique as it is not solely focused on marksmanship but on a Marine Corps rifle squad's proficiency by demonstrating their capability for employment in combat. The Annual Rifle Squad Combat Practice Competition Badge is awarded to the top performing rifle squads within each Marine Corps infantry regiment or division. Each rifle squad is evaluated on their offensive tactics, defensive tactics, patrolling, marksmanship, and physical fitness. Each rifle squad can be accompanied by a U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman, making this badge awardable to U.S. Navy personnel. These badges are onetime decorations and may be worn on service uniforms for the remainder of a Marine's or sailor's military career. These badges may be worn simultaneously with Marine Corps marksmanship qualification badges as well as other authorized marksmanship competition badges not to exceed a total of three badges. Subdued and miniature versions are not authorized. The Army Interservice Competition Badges are onetime decorations and may be worn on U.S. Army service uniforms for the remainder of a soldier's military career. These badges may be worn simultaneously with the Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges as well as other authorized marksmanship competition badges not to exceed a total of three badges. However, only one Army Interservice Competition Badge can be worn at a time. Subdued and miniature versions are not authorized. The Chief's Fifty Marksmanship Badge is a gold-plated circular medal, 1 1/8th inches in diameter suspended from a gold-plated multi-tiered rectangular brooch embossed with the words "NATIONAL GUARD." The medal is embossed with the words "Winston P. Wilson Rifle and Pistol Championships," the National Guard Bureau Branch Insignia, and the Minuteman on its face. At the base of the medal is a gold scroll embossed with the words "CHIEF"S 50." The Chief's Fifty Marksmanship Badge was made official in 1978 and made retroactive to 1971. Some states have marksmanship badges that are awarded by their State Adjutant General, such as the Missouri National Guard Adjutant General's Twenty Combat Badge. This circular badge is awarded to those guardsmen who place in the top twenty competitors at the state's annual combat matches for the rifle/pistol championships. Some 100 shooters compete in the annual state matches and participants compete against other Guardsman who have already received the award; thus there might only be one or two new recipients of the badge each year. Former competition ranking badges Starting in 1926, the U.S. Army Air Corps began awarding distinguished aerial badges. The Air Corps held three gunnery matches; one for pursuit pilots, one for observation and attack pilots, and one for observers. They also held two bombing matches, one for heavier-than-air craft and one for balloons. Winners of these matches received either the Distinguished Aerial Gunner Badge or the Distinguished Aerial Bomber Badge. These matches were suspended in 1932; thus, it is assumed these badges were retired sometime after that date. In 1903, the 57th U.S. Congress created the National Marksmanship Competition Matches which provided for the creation of the National Match (Dogs of War) Trophy. Winners of the National Match (Dogs of War) Trophy were also awarded an antique bronze National Trophy Match (Dogs of War) Badge along with the top 15% of the teams that competed in these matches. The pendant of the National Trophy Match (Dogs of War) Badge replicated the bronze shield of the national trophy which had the names of the four military services, at that time, (the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and National Guard) embossed on small rectangles below a small replica of the Great Seal of the United States on the left side of the badge's pendant. To the right of this was a prominent design of an ancient warrior with four dogs on leashes (the dogs of war). To the right of the warrior was the following embossed phrase: "National Trophy Presented by the Congress of the United States for Excellence in Team Marksmanship." Below the leashed dogs, at the base of the pendant, is a short embossed statement reflecting why the badge was awarded. This pendant hung from a plain rectangular brooch embossed with the words "THE NATIONAL MATCH TEAM," with the exception of the 1913 badge which was embossed with "NATIONAL TEAM MATCH 1913." As with today's Army Interservice Competition Badges, the awarding of the National Trophy Match (Dogs of War) Badge was separate from the leg points used towered "distinguished status," but did count towards a now defunct requirement whereby an individual must earn a certain number of marksmanship awards, in addition to the required 30 leg points, to achieve "distinguished status." In 1919 this badge gave way to National Trophy Match (Dogs of War) Medals. Although this historic badge is still authorized for wear on U.S. Army service uniforms, today teams that win this prestigious trophy are presented with a National Trophy Match (Dogs of War) Plaque. ==See also==