If a POG, awarded with a CAB (combat action badge), were to transfer to Infantry, would the soldier be authorized to wear the CIB?

COL Victor Hagan After being a ‘Metal Sergeant’ for so long, now I am like a rock that has been rolling down a river for a long time - rounded and smooth.

MAJ Hugh Blanchard - Back when Cartoons were excellent!

No such thing as a silly question

SSG (Join to see) - Careful with that sentiment, Sarn't. Us POGs are not only how you get your food and ammo, but how you get in and out of country in the first place. Do you really think you could complete the mission without those?

SSG Michael Doolittle - There has never been a "Time" requirement for the CIB award. However, U.S. Army Vietnam regulations went so far as to require documentation of the type and intensity of enemy fire encountered by the Soldier. The intended requirement to be "personally present and under fire" has not changed. Nothing about 30 day or 24 hours... The following information is from the United States Army Human Resources Command and mirrors the information in AR 600-8-22.

For award of the CIB a Soldier must meet the following three requirements:
(1) Be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties.
(2) Assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat.
(3) Actively participate in such ground combat. Campaign or battle credit alone is not sufficient for award of the CIB.

Not trying to sound hair splitting, but I think this is one of those fine-line distinctions.
If the soldier is [per (2)] assigned to an infantry unit, etc, and (3) actively engages in combat -- example, unit is attacked (in camp/base), but he is satisfactorily performing NON-infantry duties (assuming this is possible -- that is where the fine line comes in), would he qualify for the CIB, or not?

not always i have one from Vietnam i was on a military advisory team our radio operator was killed it became my job and i did it for 26 months and was awarded one when i got back to the world { never changed my MOS } some times its what you do and how long you did it i was on over 300 operations and ambushes using Cambodian Merchs

When the CIB is given it is given to a person that has earned it,along with it is a certificate stating how it was earned.It is also listed on your DD214.

If All else fails read the manual +1

I like the colonel's answer. In the Navy we would say, when in doubt, read reference (a) and it will answer almost all of your questions.

SSG David Milholen - In my years, that was either RTM or RTFM depending how many times you were asked.

Col Mackey, you are absolutely Correct... We need to read the AR or check with US Army Human Resources Command before making a claim!

Just to clarify... The regulation has AWARD OF THE CIB HAS NO REQUIREMENT FOR SUSTAINED COMBAT, 30 DAYS, OR EVEN 24 HOURS...

ALSO, THE CIB IS NOT LIMITED TO 11 SERIES MOS PERSONNEL. According to AR 600-8-22, specific eligibility criteria for the CIB require that:
(1) A Soldier must be an Army infantry or SF officer (SSI 11 or 18) in the grade of COL/O–6 or below, or an Army enlisted Soldier or warrant officer with an infantry or SF MOS who, subsequent to 6 December 1941, has satisfactorily performed duty while assigned or attached as a member of an infantry, ranger, or SF unit of either a brigade, regimental, or smaller size during any period such unit was engaged in active ground combat. Eligibility for SF personnel in MOSs 18B, 18C, 18E, 18F, and 18Z (less 18D–SF medical sergeant) accrues from 20 December 1989. Retroactive awards of the CIB to SF personnel are not authorized prior to 20 December 1989.

By the way, before anybody challenges the SF requirement... In the Vietnam era, the SF MOS mirrored the Infantry 11 series. During Vietnam, I had an 11F4S MOS (Special Forces Operations and Intelligence Sergeant). My CIB was awarded with that MOS.

I'm with you on this one. I served as a 63SH8. (Wheel mech & recovery ) I've been called that before. Not only did it stir the pot but I settled the score later. I thought we were all brothers/ sisters as soldiers and veterans. Why do some with combat experience look down on the rest??
When all goes sideways don't we all grab our weapons and fight together . Being in a firefight does make you any better than others . I never was faced with that unfortunate situation.

CSM Michael Chavaree IMO most human beings believe “Anyone not like me is WRONG!” And I mean in ANY way: the stuff you just said, the anti-social media remarks I see on social media all the time, different religions, any sentence that starts with “Back in MY DAY”…..

CSM Michael Chavaree - All due respect, you didn't have to explain this, as you can clearly see that I gave correct information, and you attempted to correct THAT.

I witnessed 88M engage the enemy better than infantry soldier. I know infantry chicken out of a fire fight

SSG David Milholen I just enjoyed warming up behind your tanks on cold days. So call me a crunchy, but I appreciate the portable heaters on cold days.

CPT Kurk Harris - LOL Definitely a memory I wont forget. I had hot coffee ready to go on most days. I always had a big crowd when I did that :)

SSG David Milholen - I remember standing on a cold winter day at Fort Riley, KS. It was freezing rain, and we were soaked to the bone. We had to go to the ALOC to refuel, and we were in line behind a platoon of M1s. I remeber standing behind the tanks and feeling warm for the first time in days.

CPT Kurk Harris you see....you can't embrace the SUCK! Heater you say?! Not in my Infantry life! Would I like one? Heck yeah! I've never been mechanized ir mobile. 24 years on my feet! And if I'm not on my feet, I was in the air with a sheet of silk over my head until I got back on my feet. Did this SUCK? Yes! Did I want to ride? HECK YEAH!! But I chose to embrace the SUCK! AND, for that, I wear, very proudly my Infantry Blue. You sir are a POG! Embrace it! Otherwise, go back to Infantry, pick up a 120 pound ruck and start walking! We have a 50 click movement through mountains, valleys, several deep water crossings, and downed trees

MSgt J D McKee - too bad, if they had been screwed in both ears, they could have gotten some of that money from 3M for bad ear plugs.......

SFC Sean Murphy - We had AF TACs occasionally traveling with our A detachments in Afghanistan. They were not POGs, unless wearing an AF uniform while you are being shot at makes you one.

SFC Sean Murphy John Chapman…

I love this response. I was an Infantryman when I was enlisted. I earned my EIB, and many of the young troopers I helped to develop and mentor went on to earn their CIBs. They made awesome contributions, and I have the utmost respect for what they accomplished, both in garrison and on the battlefield. I earned my CAB as a nurse at a hospital in Iraq. We saw the carnage of what the combat arms guys went through on a regular basis. As you stated so eloquently, exposure to that carnage wore on us.
I recall a conversation with one of our casualty affairs enlisted guys. A HMMWV was caught in an IED attack. We received the patients and some were dead, others had traumatic amputations. This young Sergeant came to me because he needed to process the event. He was in tears because he threw a mangled leg in the incinerator. He assumed it was just one of the parts from a traumatic amputation. Unfortunately, it was all that remained of a young soldier who had been killed. He sobbed as he poured out the guilt and shame he felt that this soldier's family would not have remains to inter. For me I have my memories of that experience, but I can bare it because I was part the process of saving lives. For him, he will carry that experience, and guilt, for the rest of his life. I respect what the young grunts go through, but I also stand in awe of the weight that these young kids in that hospital have borne. Having been on both sides of this issue, I understand the pain both groups must endure, and give my utmost respect for anyone who did what it took to get whatever badge they wear. All those badges were earned, and they all have the moral and emotional scars that come with their service.

Thank you MSG. Well said

Retired from the military after more than 20 years. And I spent most of my career as a POG.

The truth is the truth. Embrace it. If you are hurt by being called a POG, maybe... Go be a grunt? If you aren't willing to go be a grunt, then don't bitch about being called a POG.

A career professional Soldier worries less about labels then they do about truthful and CONCISE communication. For this post, "POG" is simply better than "person who is serving in anything other than an 11 series or 18 series MOS or also an 11 series or 18 series Soldier if they are not currently serving in an 11 series or 18 series position."

But sure. Feelings and stuff.

SFC O'Mally,
I read a lot of these and all have something worth listening to. I like what you had to say about feelings and the terms POG, and others like, Leg, Grunt, Squid, Surfacepuk, Bubble head, Jar head and even Snake Eater. Some of us just like the idea of being pitted face to face at times with the enemy and see if we really got what it takes. I was there because I loved it yeah I said it, I personaly wanted to do away with any body that caused Americans to jump from 80 stories to their death to keep from being burned to death. I never let that piece of video leave my mind, now or ever. What ever they did in the wars were helpful for me to mine. Im grateful for all of you for the assistance in eradicating the world of a share of them. I was a surface puk and wanted the fight so I went else ware so I could and so can anybody else and if you don't then maybe that's what the has tasked you to. Be proud of your part, Badges don't make the Man, His actions do.

SGT Gabriel Brown - Wonder what Salsa night looks like....

POG units? Curious if you been down range and seen the incoming these “POG” units take on supply runs for what I consider woefully under trained support units

Very well said!

SGT Gabriel Brown unlesss you’re a 68W or corpman that has earned the title “doc”

They are not grunts, they are not POGS…. They are Doc.

The important part here is:
What MOS were you under, when you received the badge? That is what determines what badge you get. You don't get to just "switch it" for convenience.
Same with the CMB, you have to be the right MOS, 68W.
My being an 11B and 11C would not have gotten me the CIB, if my hospital unit was attacked. I would have received a CAB, because I was a 68K, and not a 68W.
I even looked at the possibility of getting it for responding with QRF. It is your primary MOS, that counts.
Like it or not.

All that glitters isn’t necessarily GOLD

How pissy would that 11B Soldier be if he were awarded a CAB on a technicality. !??!

While deployed in Iraq I had a 1sg get awarded the CIB when we took indirect fire when he was in a hard stand building...

The requirements are most certainly NOT "the same minus having an Infantry MOS" for earning a CAB! A CAB can be earned being completely passive. To earn a CIB you must be actively engaged with the enemy. For example, indirect fires, "booby traps" and IEDs (other than command detonated) while more than enough to qualify a Soldier for a CAB, do not qualify a Soldier for a CIB.