Posted on Dec 7, 2015
Today I saw a chaplain with a long tab and a combat action badge. Is there a scenario where this is possible?
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Yes. An enlisted SF qualified soldier attends seminary or divinity school and direct commissions as a chaplain and then earns his CAB as a chaplain.
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legit...its just a school like Ranger school. Many people have many MOSs. Depending on the MOS he was working while deployed or in this case combat action incident a long tab does not guarantee a CIB nor do all long tabs serve in SF units.
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I was stationed in Mannheim, Germany from 1999 to 2003 with 515th TC, 181 TC BN. We had a Chaplin Thompson there that wore the Navy Seals Trident from when he was enlisted and was part of the teams. He was an awesome man and I wish I could run into him again sometime, I know he made Major before I left.
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In Bragg around '96, saw an Army Chaplain coming out of JFKSWC who also had a trident. One could think maybe he saw something that changed the scope of his beliefs.
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SF Groups have chaplains. Could be prior service. When I went through BCT in 1977, our chaplain had a CIB, master jump wings and 173rd Airborne Bde patch on his right sleeve.
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As a Chaplain Assistant, I have seen some of these. Most of these Chaplains join SF support groups along with their Chaplain Assistants.
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At NPTU - Charleston, our chaplain is an Air Force captain who before that was an Army reservist and before that a Navy Nuke Machinist Mate SW so he has Navy ESWS on his Air Force uniform
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I know a chaplain who had a CIB, and sf tab. Did everything before his commission into the chaplain corps
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I was a Chaplain Assistant assigned to 3d SFG and one of our chaplains went through the SFQC while I was there. It's not common for this to happen but it has happened.
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Absolutely possible. Many chaplains are prior enlisted or even branch transfers if they meet the qualifications.
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When I came in the Army in 98 my battalion chaplain had the long tab and a lots of other things in his uniform. The CAB adjudication has changed so many times from you been in direct contact with the enemy from you been in the same convoy that experienced an IED strike etc So I believe his tab is legit.
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It seems strange to see, but I've worked with chaplains before that have been awarded Drill Sergeant, Recruiter, Career Counselor, Ranger, Special Forces, Freefall Parachutist, and even one who had a permanent marksman award ( not sure which ) as a result of his enlisted time on the Army Marksman team.
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As an OSUT company commander, we had a chaplain, big guy, with a CIB earned as an enlisted Infantryman in Vier Nam. He also wore aviator wings earned as a warrant officer. He left the service, entered a seminary, then rejoined the army as a US Army Chaplain. We called him "Sky Pilot" and as a "fire & brimstone" Baptist, the snivellers who cried about wanting to see the chaplain......rarely asked for a second interview.
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When I was in SF Command we had an SF tabbed chaplain with a CIB and combat patch from Vietnam. He was prior enlisted (18B), got out, we to seminary, and came back in as a chaplain.
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Many of us Chaplains were something else before joining the Chaplain Corps. I've known Chaplains who, in another life, were Ranger Regiment, Special Forces, and even Navy Seals. Stranger things have happened.
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Yes it is. We have several Chaplains prior service who earned tabs, CABs, and Combat/Expert Infantry Badge. I can name you one I know very well as he is my brother Catholic Priest from Baltimore: CH (LTC) Tyson Wood. SF tab and EIB. Many Chaplains have earned the CAB in Iraq and Afghanistan. We also have a few Chaplains who graduated from Ranger School as Chaplains. I believe we have one or two who went through SF as Chaplains but I am not certain. Patch is the patch for the Army Chaplain Center & School.
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Anyone except infantry can recieve a CAB for being near fire, my question is if you don't know that, or what the long tab he's wearing is, just what kinda sparkly uniform do you sport?
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IDK - Army question. I do have a quick story though. While just arriving to Kuwait for a rotation I saw a 2LT with a 9-level maintenance badge (enlisted badge for E-7 and above) on his chest. He looked young. So, I confronted him and asked him about it. He squared up and said he is a former MSgt that went to OTS and got his commission. Oh...crap! Turns out, he became my deployed supervisor! Crazy. On the same rotation, I knew a SF SrA who was once an Army infantry guy. He wore a CIB on his AF uniform. Lastly, on the same tour, the base CC allowed the Red Horse guys to wear their red baseball caps with their DCUs. We were ordered to support these guys no matter what. This was in 1999-2000. I entered in the new millenia in Kuwait. I also had three girlfriends there...morale was good. This was before all the PC bullshit, PT uniform wearing when off-duty, and so on. We were cool to each other and things got done without fear of someone watching your every move.
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