Week ending December 7, 2014
‘Combat Infantry Badge’ won the week as the most searched term that brought people to the blog. I’m not sure what accounts for the influx – although being deployed now (as opposed to earlier in the GWOT), getting a CIB (Combat Infantryman Badge) has become (for some), a labor of love and patience. Anxious junior infantrymen who want to be tested – and also want to return home with the rifle and wreath on their chest – are warned by senior infantrymen that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be, not worth the potential cost, and don’t worry, hang around long enough and you’ll get it anyway.
There is also a legal-esque approach to the CIB in a retrograding environment. Where blanket orders may have once rained down a unit, today there is often a “prove beyond a reasonable doubt” requirement for the award.
Anyway, I’ve written about the CIB in a few different contexts in the past, which is where the readers probably ended up. Below are the articles.
Why Deployment Experience Really Matters
EIB Week: “Expert” vs. “Combat” Infantryman Badge
EIB Week: Is the EIB the “mark” of the Infantryman?
CIB Ceremony (January 7, 2004)
How can I get my CIB if I lost my paperwork and my iPerms doesn’t have it?
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Carrying the Gun 