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

Totally possible.

There was an Army Chaplain that was Awarded the Medal Of Honor in Vietnam.

My squadron PA dropped his packet after busting his jump physical. He reported to his first duty station as a 2LT with a CMB, Long Tab, Senior Jump Wings, and a chest full of medals, and a group SSI-FWTS for Desert Storm. He chose not to wear any of them until after proving his mettle as a battalion surgeon.

I've known a couple of Vietnam grunts who ETSed, and then years later, after seminary and ordination, returned to the Army as a chaplain. They routinely wore their combat patch (both incidentally Americal) and CIBs. When asked, both men were very gracious about addressing the obvious (and likely commonplace) confusion.

My chaplain during my fist deployment wore a long tab and combat patch, before he got commissioned, he was a SF NCO, was authorized the tab and patch, he went thru the CQB training with us, giving pointers here and there, and said I'd it came down to it, he would pick up a weapon and fight to protect his soldiers, I'm not Christian, but that was the best damn chaplain I've ever had, and 15 years later I still have the utmost respect for him

Becoming a chaplain takes years, you’ll very rarely see one under 30. That said, I’d say about 1/3 of them are prior enlisted.

Not sure if others have posted it, but about ten years ago there was a Navy SEAL LT (Georgia Tech NROTC grad) who was injured in the course of his duties, felt the call from God to chaplaincy, became a Chaplain Candidate, somehow ended up in the GA Nat’l Guard and deployed to Iraq. SEAL to chaps, kinda crazy but happens!

I know a chaplain with a CAB, he was prior enlisted, and earned it enlisted side.

If he was in a vehicle transporting him and it was fire upon by the enemy everyone gets a CAB there is really no reason why to questioned or wounder how is a matter of knowing the regulation

There’s this thing call commissioning as a chaplain. It’s like if a medic has a CIB. Doesn’t mean he didn’t reclass from 11B

prior enlisted. Mustang.