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

Many Chaplains were something else before they were a Chaplain, i.e. Prior Service.

People make career changes. He may not have always been a chaplain.

Like seeing a mustang with a good conduct you better be sure you are on solid ground when you make an accusation

I had a combat action badge from my deployment as a 13B years before becoming a chaplain. I had a friend with a special forces combat patch from before he became a chaplain.

Any Soldier who comes under fire can be put in for a CAB. I've also seen Chaplains who received awards, citations, etc. as Service Members BEFORE becoming a Chaplain.

I might regret saying this, but here goes...the Army seems to spend an inordinate of time focusing on bling. As I've followed different comment feeds on RP, I see dialogues about CABs, combat patches, how to get this ribbon, this badge, this tab, etc. Instead of chasing shiny stuff, why not just get satisfaction from doing your job well and not worry about what you (or someone else) has on their chest?

He may have been SF prior to becoming a Chaplain. I know very little about the CAB, but I don't see why a Chaplain would be exempt. Look at the Chaplains who received the MOH in Vietnam. I had the true pleasure to meet and be in the same command of a Full Navy Captain Chaplain, who wore a WW2 CIB, from Army service, and the Navy Combat Action Ribbon from Vietnam, which used to be equal to the CIB. He was a great guy, but no one...I mean no one gave him any BS. After the morning prayers, he grabbed his golf clubs and hit the beach, when not on the gun line.

I served with a Chaplain for a number of years who was Airborne, Ranger and Pathfinder. He retired recently as a Brigadier General. He was a the "Real Deal"! Don't judge a book by its cover.

When I was an instructor I saw a few Group chaplains come through just to get a tab. It use to piss me off as we are not ranger school. If you are not going to do what we do, then you don't have the right to wear the same tab we do. They do it to be allowed to stay in Special Operations. As sorry as I may think it is, its legit. He may have gone through the Q-course as a Chaplin.

When I was a contractor in Iraq we took a pounding at Camp Taji on 4 May, 2011 (I think, might have been 3 May though). Nobody fired one shot in defense, but every "Green Suiter" on the base at that time got the combat action award--it was reported to have been the worst attack in Iraq up to that point. I think this included all Chaplains, Medics, and Lawyers present--the three least likely to see combat. You know what they say--timing is everything...