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Old 02-15-2005, 15:04   #29
Airbornelawyer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SP5IC
What does it look like? I have seen the Nazi's CCB. It required hand-to-hand combat. It has a grenade & a bayonet emblazoned on it.
little extra historical background:

Germany

The Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen (Infantry Assault Badge, or IAB) was instituted on December 20, 1939 for infantry soldiers who participated in ground combat. It was a silver badge. A bronze version was instituted on June 1, 1940 for Panzergrenadiers and motorized infantry soldiers.

The Panzerkampfabzeichen (Tank Battle Badge, but commonly called the Panzer Assault Badge, or PAB) was also introduced on December 20, 1939 (though there had been tank combat badges in WW1 and the Spanish Civil War). A bronze version was instituted on June 6, 1940 for crews of other armored fighting vehicles who saw ground combat (assault gun, armored car and half-track crews).

The Wehrmacht recognized that there were numerous categories of soldiers who saw combat but did not qualify for the IAB and PAB, so the Allgemeines-Sturmabzeichen (General Assault Badge, or GAB) was added on January 1st, 1940. The main category of soldiers to qualify were combat engineers, combat medics and reconnaissance, artillery, antitank (Panzerjäger), and anti-aircraft units in infantry and armored units.

These were the classes of awards that would correspond to the CIB/CMB and the new Army award. The Nahkampfspange (Close Combat Clasp, or CCC) was a more narrowly focused badge. It required a minimum number of days spent in close combat - not necessarily "hand-to-hand" but, as one Waffen SS veteran described it to a friend of mine, close enough to see the whites of the enemies' eyes. There were three grades - gold, silver and bronze - depending on the number of days of close combat seen. It was not limited to infantry soldiers, but because of the criteria most recipients were soldiers serving in infantry units a battalion level and below. But, for example, battalion and company mortarmen, who could receive the IAB, would not likely qualify for the CCC.

The Luftwaffe added its own Ground Combat Badge (Erdkampfabzeichen der Luftwaffe) on March 31, 1942, and on November 3, 1944 added its own Close Combat Clasp (Nahkampfspange der Luftwaffe) and Tank Battle Badge (Panzerkampfabzeichen der Luftwaffe). Previously, Luftwaffe ground troops, including paratroopers, would have received the Army/Waffen SS awards described above.

United States Army

The CIB was established in World War Two as a doodad to attract people to what was otherwise a not-very-popular MOS. The Air Medal had been established in 1942 for essentially the same purpose, as airmen's morale was pretty low due to high casualties on bombing raids. The Air Medal, though may have led to the creation of the CIB on October 27, 1943. It certainly led to the Bronze Star being established on February 4, 1944: in arguing for the Bronze Star, Gen. Marshall stated "the fact that the ground troops, Infantry in particular, lead miserable lives of extreme discomfort and are the ones who must close in personal combat with the enemy, makes the maintenance of their morale of great importance. The award of the Air Medal have had an adverse reaction on the ground troops, particularly the Infantry Riflemen who are now suffering the heaviest losses, air or ground, in the Army, and enduring the greatest hardships."

Until 1948, award of the CIB also gave one a $10 monthly stipend.

After the CIB was introduced, other branches argued in favor of their own badges, but a War Department review board just after the war ruled these out. Despite this, unofficial versions of a Combat Artilleryman's Badge, a Combat Tanker's Badge and a Combat Cavalryman's Badge showed up. In some cases, these were made by simply pinning a piece of branch insignia on top of a CIB and repainting the blue field in the appropriate branch color, but others involved making a badge and replacing the rifle of the CIB with crossed cannons (on a red background), a tank (on a green background) or crossed sabers (on a yellow background).

The main argument for keeping only the CIB (and CMB) and not approving the others was to maintain the CIB's prestige. The CIB had earned that prestige because of the particularly harrowing nature of infantry combat in World War Two (though I think I might have preferred crawling through the hedgerows to driving around in a Sherman waiting for a Tiger to light me up like a matchbox).

These alternative badges, like their German analogs, would not have been what the Army appears to be envisioning with this CCB. This CCB seems closer to the German CCC, in that while not limited to infantry, it requires infantry-type close combat. As Army official said, the badge "will be presented only to eligible soldiers who are personally present and under fire while engaged in active ground combat" and whose units "close with and destroy the enemy with direct fires."
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