Today I saw a chaplain with a long tab and a combat action badge. Is there a scenario where this is possible?

One of the primary soldiers profiled in book "Black Hawk Down" went on to become a chaplain and returned to the Regiment. Had it all

Yes, this is possible. As I am sure some have mentioned already, Chaplains can wear any awards, decorations or badges they earned prior to becoming a Chaplain. Although I have never seen one with a SF tab, I have seen several with Ranger Tabs, so it is possible.

I have seen some random stuff. It seems legit. A lot of guys do other things when they commission. Maybe one day you will commission and be an SF officer.

we had a Chaplin that got caught in a ambush and picked up a weapon and fired back at the enemy back in 2003 Afghanistan. Also he could have been a regular soldier before he became a chaplin

Maybe he was on the dark, and he walked to the light.

While it is not the norm. There are chaplains in the army that come from many other places in the army. I was in Germany with a chaplain that had been infantry and had used his GI bill to pay for seminary and was a chaplain. It is quite possible that this person was long tabbed and then later became a Chaplain. My question SSG Robert Burns before you said he was stolen valor did you ask him did you talk to him at all?

He's an SF Chaplain. He could have been awarded the CAB prior to or while serving as a Chaplain. Depends on where he's been and what happened while he was there.

Yes, this can happen. Who knows how many years of service he has. Or he could have had a large break in service. He could also be one of those guys who missed deployments to Afghanistan or Iraq because his BN or Company didn't rotate over there. That totally depends on which group he was with, when he was with them, or how long he was with them prior to becoming a chaplain.

My old Chaplain was an E8 18Z before he decided to do the Lord's work and applied to be a Chaplain. He's at 7th SF Group (last I checked), but was at Polk and Drum before that.

It's entirely possible, though not common.

Former enlisted that was commissioned later. Is possible and has been awarded many times over the years. God bless our troops.