Army announces 'Master Combat Badge' to combine CIB and EIB for infantry soldiers

Interesting. I wonder if this will be pushed out to veterans and retirees via a DD215?

This was a horrible decision because the CIB and EIB aren't the same badges and don't hold the same distinction. I get how difficult it is to earn the EIB and why a number of infantry soldiers may feel this sense of having more pride in earning it over a CIB they earned in Afghanistan where they didn't see much action or the action they did see wasn't what they thought it would be.

Well, instead of the Army rubbing their damn bellies and telling them how special they are for earning them both, they should have made the decision to make the CIB and EIB obsolete and create an Infantry Badge with a new design that is to be worn by all graduates of an infantry OSUT course where there are no devices or any other designs. Why stroke the ego of infantry soldiers wanting recognition to show that they got both badges? When it gets to the point that the SMA would entertain this idea to create this "MASTER COMBAT BADGE", it shows how out of touch the Army is when it comes history. There was a clear reason for why the Army in WW2 created two separate badges.

You don't mix a peacetime training event with real world operations where our men and women get killed in action. The guys that whined about being recognized for both simply didn't realize why it is important to keep them separate. The Army blew a massive opportunity to create something new for the next generation of infantry soldiers.

Good evening LTC Eugene Chu. Excellent post. Thank you for sharing this Sir. Excellent concept, but the Army should've left things the way they were.