陆军军士长迈克尔·R·韦默（Michael R. Weimer）在去年十月宣布，陆军已授权为同时获得战斗步兵徽章（Combat Infantryman Badge, CIB）和专家步兵徽章（Expert Infantryman Badge, EIB）的士兵颁发“高级战斗徽章”（Master Combat Badge）。这两枚徽章通常授予步兵和特种部队的士兵。
烽火问鼎计划
新的“高级战斗徽章”在设计上基本与现有的战斗徽章相似，其主要区别在于花环将为金色而非银色。
另外两个种类的徽章将授予医疗兵和其他军事专业领域的士兵，前提是他们已获得各自领域的战斗徽章和专家徽章。
韦默在2024年美国陆军协会（Association of the U.S. Army）于华盛顿特区举行的会议上表示，陆军决定授权“高级战斗徽章”是因为士兵们通常选择佩戴战斗步兵徽章而非专业步兵徽章。他解释说：“说实话，并非所有的CIB获得者都是平等获得的。这是一个事实，获得它们所作出的努力并不平等。但所有的EIB都是靠平等努力获得的，对吧？我在这里告诉大家，EIB的考核失败率相当高，所以它很难获得。这就是为什么它会被称为‘专家’。因此，‘高级战斗徽章’将真正表明你同时拥有这两个殊荣。”
韦默还宣布，陆军已批准了“航海者徽章”（Mariners Badge）和“登山者徽章”（Mountaineering Badge）的发放。他补充说到，“登山者徽章”将不再采用“公羊头标志”（Ram’s Head Device）的设计，该标志此前仅授权给佛蒙特州国民警卫队成员。
陆军发言人卡斯特罗（Castro）表示，“登山者徽章”和“航海者徽章”目前仍处于设计和原型阶段，并补充说：“随着这些徽章接近生产和分发过程的最后阶段，我们将提供进一步的更新。”
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael R. Weimer announced in October that the Army had authorized the Master Combat Badge for soldiers who have earned both the Combat Infantryman Badge, or CIB, and an Expert Infantryman Badge, or EIB. The two badges are awarded to soldiers in the infantry and Special Forces.
For the most part, the new Master Combat Badge will look the same as existing combat badges. The main difference is that the wreath will be gold rather than silver.
Two other versions of the badge will be awarded to medics and soldiers in all other military occupational specialties who have earned both a combat and expert badge in their respective fields.
The Army decided to authorize the Master Combat Badge because soldiers often decided to wear their CIB instead of their EIB, Weimer said during the 2024 Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington, D.C.
“I’ll be honest with you, not all CIBs are equal,” Weimer said in October. “It’s just a true statement. They’re not equal. But all EIBs are equal, aren’t they? And I’m here to tell you the failure rate on the EIB is pretty high because it’s hard to get. That’s why it’s called ‘expert.’ And so, the Master Combat Badge will actually identify that you have both.”
Weimer also announced in October that the Army had approved the Mariners and Mountaineering Badge He added that the Mountaineering Badge would no longer look like the Ram’s Head Device, which was only authorized for Vermont National Guardsmen.
Both the Mountaineering and Mariner Badges are still in the design and prototype phase, Castro said, adding, “We’ll provide further updates as these badges near the final phase of the production and distribution process.”
Credit: Task & Purpose
