Posted on Oct 31, 2014
Why don't officers wear marksmanship badges?
763K
5.72K
1.87K
522
522
0
The day I turned my chevrons in for gold bars I noticed something. All the officers I've ever seen never wore marksmanship badges in dress uniforms. I just assumed they were unauthorized for officers and removed it voluntarily. I honestly never desired to wear the badge (probably because I was only ever a sharpshooter), but I haven't found any documentation specifically preventing officers from wearing them. Do you think officers should wear them?
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 764
CPT (Join to see) - I don't have any argument with the other posts I looked through, and I didn't review them all; although I would say it is a shame that things have been the way they were historically, perhaps it is time for a change.
I had (when I was stationed in Germany) a new LT come to take over the platoon I was in that had just transitioned from enlisted to officer. Many of the things that impressed me most about this officer were the strong influence on his behavior that having been enlisted provided him. The worst LT I ever had was one that was running the platoon I was assigned to at Fr Stewart, who was a recent academy graduate. Army officers are no more perfect than the people they were before they became officers. Everyone is flawed.
The thing to think about with regard to your dress uniform is who will see it and under what circumstances. Are the troops you are leading going to be the ones checking out your uniform or will it be the officers that are reviewing your performance. You don't want to show-up the people over you because they also control your advancement. The troops under you will discern your quality by your behavior.
I had (when I was stationed in Germany) a new LT come to take over the platoon I was in that had just transitioned from enlisted to officer. Many of the things that impressed me most about this officer were the strong influence on his behavior that having been enlisted provided him. The worst LT I ever had was one that was running the platoon I was assigned to at Fr Stewart, who was a recent academy graduate. Army officers are no more perfect than the people they were before they became officers. Everyone is flawed.
The thing to think about with regard to your dress uniform is who will see it and under what circumstances. Are the troops you are leading going to be the ones checking out your uniform or will it be the officers that are reviewing your performance. You don't want to show-up the people over you because they also control your advancement. The troops under you will discern your quality by your behavior.
(0)
(0)
If the officer is using a rifle instead of cordenating the battle response of his unit and hes not a Specops officer cause in a small unit he very well may have to be shooting while also cordinating the effort, but in a platton of inf or company setting like the scene we see where hal moore took out a baynet chaging nva things have really gone to shit, and he still never let go of the radio and doing his primary responsibility of cordinating his batalions efforts to hold a perimter against overwealming numers of enemy troops, his troops got inserted at xray within less than a days march of more than 2 enemy divisons 1 battlion fighting for its life for the net 3 days piled up enemy bodies at better than 10 to 1 but the vietnamesse were willing to pay that price and their were 17 million north vietnamesse plus teh soutehrn communist against 500,000 american by 68 and whatever arvn had the arvn would have been better if their officers were promoted based on merit instead of politics
(0)
(0)
An officer who scores low may be ridiculed by enlisted as well. Throughout history most military leaders were not experts but appointed or payed the men themselves. Royals, wealthy and professional soldiers. Being able to multitask with most weapon systems in use would make sense if leading combat troops.
(0)
(0)
Never hesitated to wear my Distinguished Rifleman Badge but did not wear lesser marksmanship awards when wore the gold Badge.
(0)
(0)
I always wore my marksmanship badges with pride. I earned several when I was enlisted but continued to wear then when I was commissioned including those I earned as an officer. I think some officers didn't want to wear anything less than an expert badge so they decided not to wear anything.
(0)
(0)
I was enlisted before commissioned. Therefore i had to complete weapons qualifications. However, in Officer Crops, weapons qualifications were equally required if you were a Combat Engineer because of the many types of weapons we had to experience, not to mention demolitions; field and expedient.
(0)
(0)
I earned my expert badge at age 14 with a .22 in military school. When I was a junior I qualified with the M-1, sharpshooter, I think. (It's been awhile.). I qualified again in college on both .22 and M-1. Then I qualified with the M-14 and M-16 as a lieutenant. I never wore a qualification badge after I was commissioned. Now, if I could have been allowed to attempt qualification for the artillery bar, I would have worn that one! BTW, how come the artillery badge is only for the gun crew - why not FDC or FO?
(0)
(0)
I just saw an MOH post of MG Patrick Henry Brady who won the CMH in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot for a series of wounded evacuations under heavy fire. The official photo of him as MG show him wearing His expert badge with two bars. I followed his lead through LTC and wore mine with the rifle and pistol bars.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next