Can you wear your Marine unit patch as an Army combat patch if you deployed with the Marines? Policy appears to say no.

Wore a UA FEAF patch on my field jacket while with the 11th SFG - should have been the 7th AF patch but I like the FEAF patch more.....as we say in Australia (have lived there for 20+ years; no worries....(having a few sticks of TNT in my hand may have been more of an issue at the time of this photo....)

Sir, I switched over from the Marines to the Army in 2012 after serving 9 years as an 0311. Within the first 3 months I was in the Army I had an ASU inspection. I looked over the reg thoroughly and saw 2 things that stood out to me as odd.

1.) Former Marines are not authorized to wear a Combat patch/ distinctive unit insignia (DUI) if their deployments were under the Marines at that time. However, if a Soldier was attached to the Marine unit during the same period, they are authorized to wear it.

2.) The Army Service Ribbon (ASR) is not authorized for wear for former Marines for 6 months since we didn’t graduate from Army basic training.

So I showed up in uniform and abided by the regulations. Immediately I looked out of place for not wearing the ASR and DUI as I had deployed 4 times to Iraq and Afghanistan in the USMC. My 1SG told me to wear them cause I’d receive more questions on why I wasn’t wearing them than if I were to wear them.

Since then, I wear a 1st MARDIV DUI and Combat Patch. I’ve been asked maybe 3 times since I’ve been in the Army (7 years now) about wearing it. On one particular instance, a SGM was inquiring about it and why I wore it even though I knew not to wear it. I told him that I served and bled with a lot of brothers in Fallujah during Phantom Fury and I wear it to honor them (my BN lost 51). It was a good conversation and he understood why I wear it.

The fact is, it’s against Army regs. Even though we may not agree with it, it’s still against the regs to do so. Whether you wear it or not, you’re going to get questions on your choice. So the question is, which one are you going to choose?

I wear it anyway. Guadalcanal, Raah

You are authorized to wear the Marine patch as a combat patch , I had friends in the 101st who were former Marines and served with 1st Mar DiV in combat and they wore the patch as combat patch on Army uniform

Don't recall Marines wearing patches in their uniforms since WWII, ( Division or Wing patches only).

Unless you have a 1SG or CSM that's a douchecanoe, nobody says anything about a former Marine wearing the Combat Patch of their former unit.

The answer is no. Read the reg. In fact, there is only one Marine patch authorized (1MARDIVE) as the SSIFWTS and it was for a sliver in time in 2003 and very specific circumstances (and even then no Marine is authorized the patch for that time!). Since the first Iraq deployment, they tightened the regs, the old reg was in effect and still valid today. The Marines did away with unit patches in Vietnam, and some of those "patches" for 1MEF, etc. are just elaborate logos. It sucks to be a combat vet, but not have the ability to wear a patch, but some of the Marine awards are still valid on dress uniforms, as well as the higher awards (Bronze/Silver Star). If you are judged simply based on appearance, it's a shame, but those who know or get to know you all know the truth. Since around 2005, the reg is even very specific about the award: 1 patch per deployment, period. So if you are in a smaller >BN unit (a BN HHC counts as a BN). you wear the higher unit's patch. There is no "30 day rule" nor do you get to choose. And, if your parent unit ripped out after a few weeks, it doesn't matter, that is the patch you earned. You don't get to wear the patch of the incoming parent unit. Once again, read the reg. It doesn't matter what you think should be right, the reg speaks for itself. No letters from GOs from the Marines can change the reg or give you dispensation. Very rarely will anyone challenge the patch you wear, but be ready at a Dining In to defend it if it's on your blues! A good Sr. NCO should be counseling Soldiers on the proper wearing of the patch. I know personally of an officer I knew whose father was a Marine 3-star, and his dad saw an Army Soldier with an unauthorized patch and he ordered the Soldier to remove it.

i believe yes you can You transfer from Military service to another one. Its in your orders

Really a Warrant Officer 3 is going to be disrespectful because a Soldier wants to wear a Marine patch! If you were under a Marine Command as a soldier you may wear their patch!

Yes. A marine combat patch may be worn

My understanding the combat patch, can only be worn when forward deployed

Back during the bad old days in Vietnam, Marines with prior combat service were authorized to wear that patch on the right shoulder, and rightfully so. Well earned.

One of my Drill Sergeants wore 1st Marine Div (vietnam)combat patch in 1982.

I can't imagine why this subject is important to so many of you. Marines don't wear combat patches. SEALS don't wear combat patches. That's good enough for me.

The Marine Corps does not have a combat deployment "patch". The Marine Corps does have the Combat Action Ribbon. If you earned it, it will be in your service record and your original DD214. If the Marine Corps did not award it to you and you think you earned it, you can appeal to the Marine Corps for reconsideration. Like the Army CIB, it has specific requirements for earning it, e.g. engaged in close small arms combat with enemy combatants. If you earned the CAR, you wear it on your ribbon bar. Likewise if you earned a Sea Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal or Overseas Deployment Medal: those are specific awards that were earned and awarded.

It doesn't work like that. The combat patch is Awarded by the Army to Soldiers. Even Marine patches can be awarded to Soldiers. But the issue is that you must be a Soldier at the time. I have seen this and the irony of the whole situation is that Marines usually don't want patches or insignias.

Putting on my Remington Raider cap, were you in the USMC when you deployed? No. You were a soldier attached to a USMC unit. Why not wear the patch of your parent Army unit? Your record would reflect that as a member of, say the 82nd Airborne, you were attached to and deployed with the 2d MarDiv into a combat zone. No ambiguity there.
As a Marine, I'm not familiar with, and never particularly cared about the Army uniform regs associated with all the stuff designated for wear on their uniforms, as has been said, our EGA and service ribbon was enough for me, but it seems to me that your individual service recognition shouldn't depend upon your entire parent unit being assigned to a specific theater, or what unit you were attached to from your parent unit.

No.

OMG Rally Point please stop this thread. I don’t care anymore and 3 years later people are still answering and it keeps notifying me over and over.

There are few who are actually authorized per the regulation, but many who just wear it anyway because they switch to Army and don't want to be a slick sleeve. The reg says, some from WW2 and a few from OIF (early OIF) and that's it. All others are not authorized. It's that simple. This shouldn't be that big of an argument. Your pride doesn't matter. Just because AAFES has the patch doesn't mean it's authorized.