What is the history of the Blue Cord?

Lets put this into perspective for all the naysayers who think the Infantry Blue Cord is just that....a cord. When I did this it was in 2010, but I found out that at that time there were a total of 504,000 Soldiers in the Army. Of that number there were 36,000 of us (Infantry). Which put into context just what does the Infantry mean. In other words if you were not Infantry then you were supporting us. Much like a jock strap. It is the Infantry who will go where the fighting is, it is the Infantry who will stay until the fight is won and it is the Infantry that will assault, take, defend and hold any land.

So before people go off on a tangent about changing our heritage to demean our es sprite de corps or undermine what the Infantry Cord means to us. Put your big boy pants on grab a 120lb ruck, get in formation and be prepared to push your body to limits you never thought possible. Anything less does not coincide with our everyday life. Remember "Grunt" is a term we use among each other lovingly but Grunt also means having the intestinal fortitude to overcome and endure any obstacle.

There are quite a few branch only traditions like the blue cord. For instance engineers get to wear special buttons on dress uniforms that are specifically designed for them. Tankers get tanker boots. Cav scouts spurs and stetson. FOs get red socks or something like that. I also forget which mos gets the special suspenders with dress uniform. Rangers get tan beret, SF get green beret. There are so many specifics that different units and branches have we just dont think about it or pay attention to it bc The Infantry is everywhere always. I for one am a avid supporter of removing patches and badges except combat badges from ACUs all together. The velcro shoulders look shitty and people only want to go to AB and AASLT to put something on the chest to feel good not bc they wanna be airborne cause if that were case they wouldnt have to give 10k away to get qualified people to got to airborne units. We need to f9cus on having pride in the Army again and the idea that we are one army not an army of 1 million individuals . We used to be an organization who got up early to shine boots and press uniforms to look spiffy the next day we took pride in representing the Army. Now we can even get a damn haircut or hang shit up so u dont look like a bag of shit when 0900 formation comes around.

Sourced from a couple of sites ...
During the Korean War General “Lightning Joe” Collins, Chief of Staff for the Army, asked a group of advisors what could be done to enhance the morale of the fighting Infantryman. It was decided that they would receive special insignia, so that everyone would know that the soldier was an Infantryman who would be fighting on the front lines.
A light-blue cord was created to be worn over the right shoulder of both officers and enlisted men. Also, light-blue plastic disks were issued to be placed behind the metal “crossed rifles” Infantry branch of service insignia disks. The new enhancements were first worn by the 3rd US Infantry Regiment (“The Old Guard”).
The light-blue cord and disks became standard for all Infantrymen in 1952. Although some other service branches adopted colored plastic disks for their branch insignia (e.g., red for Artillery, yellow for Cavalry) the blue shoulder cord is unique to the Infantry.

End cite.

Currently the only MOS/branch unique items authorized by regulation the Infantry cords and discs. Wear is authorized for Soldiers with Infantry MOS' serving in Infantry slots(Recruiters being an exception here).

Other "cords" are unit awards awarded by foreign nations(France, Belgiun, The Netherlands, RVN etc) known as Fourrageres(or Lanyard in the case of the Netherlands) some of which are authorized for temporary wear by members of the units to which they were awarded. Another example of "cords" are aguilettes worn to identify aides to General Officers and certain civilian members of the Executive Branch. Neither of these items are Branch or MOS specific.

Because God loves the Infantry.

The reality is, unless you have Turned Blue, you never really understand. There is a long engrained history and sense of pride that has been spun down since before any of us were even a dream. We are all soldiers, but we few who proudly were directed to "Follow Me" by Iron Mike, have something special.

The whole reason it was introduced was to destinguish front line troops from remfs back in the day so when you saw the blue chord you knew you were looking at a man who was one of the best the army had to offer. This still holds true to this day the infantry put up with way more nonsense and spend far more time away from family than most non infantry positions.

I am pretty sure the Infantry earned the bike cord and disc during the Korean War if I'm not mistaken.

It is earned at Fort Benning for the completion of training, Respected by the CIB in field when earned at the unit level for development in combat and given authority for your expert knowledge skillset by EIB testing by the Senior Leadership. I know my place, and I respect that as well. It is earned not given away, thus it should stay with the infantry only not any other branch.

Those aren't the only shoulder cords worn in the Army. Some units wear foreign unit awards represented by shoulder cords (the French Fourragere, for example), certain aids wear gold shoulder cords, etc...

Expand this to the other branches, and you'll see shoulder cords are rather common, especially ceremonial ones and those used in school houses. For example, the coveted blue cord, when worn by Air Force personnel, indicates students in positions dealing with SHARP related matters..