Why don't officers wear marksmanship badges?

As an Air Force officer my service did not have a marksmanship badge. But we had a Marksmanship ribbon - it was the second one I earned (after the National Defense Service Medal), and I was always proud to wear it with a bronze star for expert qualification with the M-16 Rifle and .38 caliber Smith and Wesson Combat Masterpiece Revolver. My next to last job in the Air Force was battle commander on the Air Force's only train mobile command post. Our job was to survive as long as possible as a command element and then to fight on foot. Anyone in any of the armed services can end up as an infantryman, and if you do you better hope that you are expert with your firearm. The ribbon might not have meant much to most people, but I stayed expert qualified throughout most of my career, and the ribbon meant a lot to me.

We wear them in The Corps. And we lead from the front.

As an expert marksman with the rifle, machinegun and pistol my entire career as an enlisted and commissioned officer, I found that many of my contemporaries could not hit the side of a barn. They could not shoot straight. Infantrymen with "Bolo" badges; e.g., "Marksman" or "Sharpshooter" badges were embarrassed and therefore advocated NOT wearing the badges. Unlike the Marines, who value marksmanship, our Army "Trainfire" "qualification" (implemented in 1958) does not instill precision shooting. Qualification is a check-the-block requirement whereas my Marine buddies take shooting to a much higher level. Check-it-out...…..photos of Army officers up to WWII showed them wearing the qualification badges. Few..... with notable exceptions ……Medal of Honor recipient COL Robert Howard being one …. show them wearing the badges after the Korean War. Bottom line: because we don't shoot well and most cannot be "Experts", they are against wearing the badges. Too bad. We need to take a lesson from our Marine buddies who are serious about shooting. I've run the known distance range that used to be at Fort Riley for the Marines and watched how they do it. They are superb at teaching and practicing rifle marksmanship and it is not a "check-the-box" exercise for them.

Most Marine officers wear their marksmanship badges.

Maybe they can't hit anything with a rifle LOL

If they earned them, they should ware ther.

I had never dealt with that while in the military because I spent most of it in Nam. My belief, based on nothing more than personal belief is that if they are less than an expert, that lowers them in the eyes of the men under them. Image counts. As a Marine Sgt. the rank got as much if not more respect than I would have had as a Lance Cpl. In truth, I did not earn that rank. I just never got killed or hurt but developed experience in a combat zone. I never went to NCO school, learned the rules, etc. I also was there for 32 months.

Officers aren’t supposed to compete directly with enlisted/noncoms. Would you want to follow a “Marksman” if you shot “expert?”

Yes. But they should wear them properly. That photo looks terrible. 1/8 inch, says so in AR 670-1. That Army regulation also includes officers uniforms. Look it up:)

Too once told me If I qualify expert with my m9 then In the court of public opinion I am not able to miss. Prosecutors will remind the journey you are an expert shot. Shoot sharpshooter and you can leave laudable doubt about your accidents